BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-12 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 9
AUTHOR: Ammiano
AMENDED: June 14, 2011
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 22, 2011
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill
SUBJECT : Pupil rights: Bullying.
SUMMARY
This bill requires a school district to include specific
information in its policies and procedures regarding
discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying. This
bill also requires the policies to include complaint
procedures and alternative discipline policies for pupils who
engage in this behavior.
BACKGROUND
Existing law, the California Student Safety and Violence
Prevention Act, prohibits harassment and other forms of
discrimination, including on the basis of actual and
perceived sexual orientation and gender in educational
instructional services and programs. (Education Code § 200
et seq.)
The Safe Place to Learn Act (SPLA) requires the California
Department of Education (CDE) to monitor local educational
agencies (LEAs) adherence to antidiscrimination and
antiharassment policies. Under this act, the CDE is
required, as part of its Categorical Program Monitoring (CPM)
process, to assess whether LEAs have done all of the
following:
a) Adopted a policy that prohibits discrimination and
harassment based, as specified, under current law,
including, but not limited to, actual or perceived
gender identity and sexual orientation.
b) Adopted a process for receiving and investigating
complaints of discrimination based on current law, as
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specified above.
c) Publicized antidiscrimination and antiharassment
policies, including the manner in which to file a
complaint, to pupils, parents, employees, agents of the
governing board, and the general public.
d) Posted antidiscrimination and antiharassment policies
in the schools and offices, including staff lounges and
pupil meeting rooms.
e) Maintained documentation of complaints and their
resolution for a minimum of one review cycle.
f) Ensured that complainants are protected from
retaliation and the identity of a complainant alleging
discrimination or harassment remains confidential, as
appropriate.
g) Identified a responsible LEA officer for ensuring
district or office compliance with the requirement of
the uniform complaint process.
The SPLA also requires CDE to display information on
curricula and other resources that specifically address
bias-related discrimination and harassment, as specified
under current law (including, but not limited to, actual or
perceived gender identity and sexual orientation), on the
California Healthy Kids Resource Center Internet Web site.
The CDE is also required to develop a handout describing the
rights and obligations of existing law as it relates to
discrimination and the policies addressing bias-related
discrimination and harassment in schools and post the handout
on the CDE Internet Web site. (EC § 234 et seq.)
Existing law specifies that no person shall be subjected to
discrimination on the basis of disability, gender,
nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation,
or any characteristic that is contained in the definition of
hate crimes set forth in Section 422.55 of the Penal Code in
any program or activity conducted by an educational
institution that receives or benefits from state financial
assistance or enrolls pupils who receive state financial aid.
(EC § 220)
ANALYSIS
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This bill , commencing on July 1, 2012:
1) Specifies it is the policy of the State to ensure that
local educational agencies continue to work to reduce
violence, intimidation, and bullying.
2) Requires the CDE, as part of its CPM process, to assess
whether local educational agencies have done all of the
following:
a) Adopted a policy that prohibits
discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and
bullying based on actual or perceived
characteristics and disability, gender, gender
identity, gender expression, nationality, race or
ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or
association with a person or group with one or more
of these actual or perceived characteristics. The
policy shall include a statement that the policy
applies to all acts related to school activity or
school attendance occurring within a school under
the jurisdiction of the superintendent of the
school district.
b) Adopted a process for receiving and
investigating complaints of discrimination,
harassment, intimidation, and bullying based on any
actual or perceived characteristics and disability,
gender, gender identity, gender expression,
nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual
orientation, or association with a person or group
with one or more of these actual or perceived
characteristics. Specifies that the complaint
process must include but is not limited to:
i) A requirement that, if school
personnel witness an act of discrimination,
harassment, intimidation, or bullying, he or
she shall take immediate steps to intervene
when safe to do so.
ii) A timeline to investigate and
resolve complaints of discrimination,
harassment, intimidation or bullying that
shall be followed by all schools under the
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jurisdiction of the school district.
iii) An appeal process afforded to the
complainant should he or she disagree with the
resolution of a complaint filed.
iv) Forms developed pursuant to this
process must be available in the primary
language of students, as specified.
c) Publicized adopted antidiscrimination,
antiharassment, anti-intimidation, and antibullying
policies. Requires a school district to publish
the policy in all parent-student handbooks issued
in the school district and include a statement
about where pupils and parents can obtain a
complaint form and requires a district to publish
the policy and information about where a complaint
form can be obtained in the district's Internet Web
site and all individual school Web sites as
applicable.
d) Requires school districts to ensure that
complaints alleging discrimination, harassment,
intimidation, or bullying are confidential.
3) Requires the CDE to include discrimination, harassment,
intimidation, or bullying information in the model
handout.
4) Expresses the intent of the Legislature that school
districts provide grade-level appropriate, professional
development training to school personnel to implement
the school district policy that prohibits
discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying.
5) Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI)
to post on his or her Internet Web site and provide to
each school district, a list of statewide resources,
including community-based organizations, that provide
support to youth who have been subjected to school-based
discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying,
and their families.
6) Specifies that the act shall not be construed to limit
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pupil rights to free speech as specified.
7) Specifies that the act shall not be construed to require
an exhaustion of any administrative complaint process
before civil law remedies may be pursued.
8) Makes a number of findings and declarations regarding
the State's commitment to a safe and civil educational
environment, the effects of discrimination, harassment,
intimidation and bullying, and specifies its intent to
clarify and supplement existing law on discrimination,
harassment, intimidation, and bullying in public
schools.
9) Provides for local educational agencies to be reimbursed
for costs associated with complying with the
requirements of this act if the Commission on State
Mandates determines that the act contains mandated
costs.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill : According to the author's office,
"California has taken some steps to address
discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying,
but we must do more to remedy the glaring gaps in
existing law. AB 9 draws upon tested approaches and
best practices to ensure that schools have adequate
policies and procedures in place to prevent
discrimination and harassment and respond to incidents
quickly."
The sponsor of this bill, Equity California, detail the story
of Seth Walsh, a 13 year-old boy in Tehachapi,
California who committed suicide in September 2010 after
experiencing persistent and long-term bullying due to
his sexual orientation and gender expression.
Specifically, Equality California states: "Seth's
mother and close friends report that teachers and school
administrators were aware that Seth was being harassed
and, in some instances, participated in the harassment.
Yet Seth's mother's pleas to the school for help were
brushed aside."
2) Bullying and harassment . A 2007 report from the
National Association of Attorneys General Task Force on
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School and Campus Safety noted that bullying is an
important issue in examining school violence and
recommended states continue to implement and expand
bullying prevention measures. A publication from the
U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Programs (OJJDP) notes that bullying can
take three forms: physical, verbal, and psychological
and can have short-term and long-term psychological
effects on both those who bully and those who are
bullied. Long-term consequences have also been linked
to increases in criminal behavior and substance abuse.
A 2001 report by the National Institute of Child Health
and Human Development (NICHD) estimated that 1.6 million
children in grades 6 through 10 in the United States are
bullied at least once a week and 1.7 million bully
others frequently. According to the OJJDP, a study of
6,500 middle school students in South Carolina revealed
that 23% said they had been bullied regularly during the
previous three months. In contrast to measures this
Committee has considered on bullying and cyber-bullying
that focused on student discipline, this bill focuses on
policies and procedures concerning bias-related
behaviors and how those policies and procedures are
communicated across and throughout a school district.
3) Mandated costs . According to the Assembly
Appropriations Committee analysis, this bill has General
Fund/Proposition 98 state reimbursable mandated costs,
likely between $350,000 and $600,000 to school districts
to modify existing policies, as specified. In 2009-10,
there were 1,021 school districts statewide with 9,888
schools under their jurisdiction. In addition, this
bill would result in General Fund administrative costs
to the CDE, likely between $100,000 and $200,000 to
modify the CPM process, provide information to school
districts, and post required information on its Internet
Web site.
The Committee has previously expressed concern about imposing
new mandates on school districts in the current fiscal
climate. Notwithstanding the potential benefits the
requirements could have in improving school safety, the
Committee may wish to consider whether this bill imposes
a new financial burden on districts at a time when they
are anticipating significant revenue reductions.
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4) Related and prior legislation .
SB 453 (Correa) expands the definition of bullying to include
acts motivated by specified actual or perceived
characteristics of the victim, adds bullying, as
specified, to the list of acts for which expulsion may
be recommended, and requires school safety plans to
include policies and procedures relating to bullying.
This measure was passed by this Committee on a 7-0 vote.
SB 755 (Lieu) makes numerous changes to the requirement that
each school have a school safety plan, imposes new
penalties for schools and districts that fail to meet
these requirements, and requires school districts and
county offices of education to be responsible for the
development of school safety plans, as specified. This
bill was passed by this Committee on a 7-2 vote.
SB 919 (Lieu) defines sexting as the sending or receiving of
sexually explicit pictures or video images via an
electronic act and adds sexting to the list of acts for
which a pupil may be suspended or expelled. This bill
was passed by this Committee on a 10-0 vote.
AB 227 (Hall) adds the prevention of cyberbullying, content
control software, and the responsible use of mobile
communication technology to the components that are
required to be included in existing guidelines and
criteria for developing school district educational
technology plans. This measure is pending in this
Committee.
AB 630 (Hueso), a two-year bill in the Assembly Education
Committee, encourages school districts to reduce
bullying through training programs that would educate
pupils by increasing their awareness of bullying.
AB 1156 (Eng) requires the training of schoolsite personnel
in the prevention of bullying, allows a child who is a
victim of an act of bullying to meet residence
requirements in another district, and expands the
definition of bullying to include various specified
acts. This measure is pending in this Committee.
AB 86 (Lieu, Chapter 646, 2008) defined bullying to mean acts
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that are committed personally or electronically, acts
directed against another pupil that constitutes sexual
harassment, hate violence, severe or pervasive
intentional harassment, threats, or intimidation and
gave school officials grounds to suspend a pupil or
recommend a pupil for expulsion for bullying. This bill
was passed by this Committee on a 7-2 vote.
SUPPORT
Advancement Project
American Civil Liberties Union
Anti-Defamation League
Asian Pacific American Legal Center
Books not Bars
California Association of School Councilors
California Coalition for Youth
California Communities United Institute
California Faculty Association
California Foundation for Independent Living Centers
California National Organization for Women
California Police Chiefs Association
California Psychological Association
California PTA
California School Health Centers Association
Californians for Justice
Capitol Resource Family Impact
City of West Hollywood
Community United Against Violence
Disability Rights California
Equal Rights Advocates
Equity California
Gay-Straight Alliance Network
Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay
Area
Legal Services for Children
Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom
National Association of Social Workers
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Council of La Raza
Oakland Unified School District
Peace Partners
Public Advocates
Public Counsel Law Center
Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center
Safe Passages
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San Diego Unified School District
San Francisco Japanese American Citizens League
San Francisco Unified School District
State Board of Equalization member Betty T. Yee
The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy in California
The Center Orange County
The Trevor Project
Youth Law Center
OPPOSITION
None received.