BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                   AB 680|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 680
          Author:   Block (D)
          Amended:  7/6/11 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE  :  7-1, 6/29/11
          AYES:  Lowenthal, Alquist, Blakeslee, Hancock, Liu, Price, 
            Simitian
          NOES:  Huff
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Runner, Vargas, Vacancy
           
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  75-0, 5/23/11 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    School safety plans

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill authorizes a school district or county 
          office of education to develop portions of the school 
          safety plans that include tactical responses outside of the 
          existing process involving the schoolsite council, and 
          allows districts to choose not to disclose the tactical 
          plan.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

          1. Requires each school district and county office of 
             education to be responsible for the overall development 
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             of all comprehensive school safety plans for its 
             schools.  The schoolsite council is required to write 
             and develop a comprehensive school safety plan relevant 
             to the needs and resources of that particular school.  
             Existing law authorizes the schoolsite council to 
             delegate responsibility for the development of the 
             school safety plan to a school safety planning 
             committee.  

          2. Requires the comprehensive school safety plan to include 
             (a) an assessment of the current status of school crime 
             committed on school campuses and at school-related 
             functions and (b) identification of appropriate 
             strategies and programs that will provide or maintain a 
             high level of school safety and detail procedures for 
             complying with existing laws, disaster procedures, 
             policies regarding suspension or expulsion, a 
             discrimination and harassment policy, and a safe and 
             orderly environment conducive to learning. 

          3. Requires the schoolsite council or school safety 
             planning committee to hold a public meeting to allow 
             public comment, and requires the notification of 
             specified people and entities prior to this meeting.  
             Existing law requires each school to submit its school 
             safety plan to the school district or county office of 
             education for approval and requires a school district or 
             county office of education to notify the California 
             Department of Education by October 15 of every year of 
             any school that is not in compliance. 

          4. The California Public Records Act requires public 
             records to be open to inspection at all times during the 
             office hours of the state or local agency and provides 
             that every person has a right to inspect any public 
             record, except as specified.  Any reasonably segregable 
             portion of a record must be available for inspection by 
             any person requesting the record after deletion of the 
             portions that are exempted by law.

          Each state or local agency, upon a request for a copy of 
             records that reasonably describes an identifiable record 
             or records, must make the records promptly available to 
             any person upon payment of fees covering direct costs of 







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             duplication, or a statutory fee if applicable.  Upon 
             request, an exact copy must be provided unless 
             impracticable to do so.  This does not apply to records 
             that are exempt from disclosure as provided by law.

          Each agency, upon a request for a copy of records, must, 
             within 10 days from receipt of the request, determine 
             whether the request, in whole or in part, seeks copies 
             of disclosable public records and must promptly notify 
             the person making the request of the determination and 
             the reasons therefore.  In unusual circumstances, as 
             defined, this time limit may be extended by written 
             notice to the person making the request, setting forth 
             the reasons for the extension and the date on which a 
             determination is expected to be dispatched.  An 
             extension must not exceed 14 days.  

          5. Specifies that the Public Records Act does not require 
             disclosure of records that are, among other types of 
             records, a document prepared by or for a state or local 
             agency that assesses its vulnerability to terrorist 
             attack or other criminal acts intended to disrupt the 
             public agency's operations and that is for distribution 
             or consideration in a closed session.  

          6. Specifies that the Public Records Act does not require 
             the disclosure of an information security record of a 
             public agency, if, on the facts of the particular case, 
             disclosure of that record would reveal vulnerabilities 
             to, or otherwise increase the potential for an attack 
             on, an information technology system of a public agency. 
              

          7. Requires an agency that withholds information to justify 
             the withholding, either because the record is exempt 
             from being released or because the public interest to 
             withhold the information outweighs the public interest 
             to disclose the record.  

          8. Requires any materials provided to a schoolsite council 
             to be made available to any member of the public who 
             requests the materials pursuant to the Public Records 
             Act.
           







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          This bill authorizes a school district or county office of 
          education to develop portions of the school safety plan 
          that include tactical responses outside of the existing 
          process involving the schoolsite council, and allows 
          districts to choose not to disclose the tactical plan.  
          Specifically, this bill:

          1. Authorizes a school district or county office of 
             education to, in consultation with law enforcement 
             officials, elect to not have its schoolsite councils 
             develop and write those portions of their comprehensive 
             school safety plans that include tactical responses to 
             criminal incidents that may result in death or serious 
             bodily injury at the public schoolsite.

          2. Authorizes the portions of a comprehensive school safety 
             plan that includes tactical responses to criminal 
             incidents, in consultation with law enforcement 
             officials and representatives of exclusive bargaining 
             units of employees of that school district or county 
             office of education, as specified, to be developed by 
             administrators of the school district or county office 
             of education.

          3. Authorizes a school district or county office of 
             education to elect not to disclose those portions of the 
             comprehensive school safety plan.

          4. Defines "tactical responses to criminal incidents" to 
             mean steps taken to safeguard pupils and staff, to 
             secure the affected school premises, and to apprehend 
             the criminal perpetrator or perpetrators.

          5. Specifies that his bill does not preclude the governing 
             board of a school district or county office of education 
             from conferring in a closed session with law enforcement 
             officials to approve a tactical response plan developed 
             in consultation with those officials pursuant to the 
             bill.

           Comments  

           Public records  .  The Public Records Act allows an agency to 
          withhold disclosing any record if, on the facts of the 







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          particular case, the public interest served by not 
          disclosing the record clearly outweighs the public interest 
          served by disclosure of the record.  However, existing law 
          also requires any materials provided to a schoolsite 
          council to be made available to any member of the public 
          who requests the materials pursuant to the California 
          Public Records Act.  Schools do not have the legal 
          authority to develop school safety plans outside of the 
          schoolsite council process, which is open to the public.

           Related Legislation

           SB 755 (Lieu), 2011-12 Session, would have made several 
          changes to requirements regarding school safety plans, 
          including adding specific dates by which plans must be 
          annually updated and approved, and access to the plans by 
          law enforcement within a specific time period after 
          request.  (Held under submission in Senate Appropriations 
          Committee)

          AB 496 (Alejo), 2011-12 Session, would have required the 
          school safety plan also to include a protocol for ensuring 
          that all school personnel have access to classrooms and 
          other school facilities during a disaster or other 
          emergency if a school restricts that access during regular 
          hours of school operation.  (Held under submission in 
          Assembly Appropriations Committee)

          AB 269 (Ma), 2011-12 Session, would have required a charter 
          school to comply with all laws governing the health and 
          safety of pupils and school employees, including school 
          safety plans.  (Held under submission in Assembly 
          Appropriations Committee)

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No   
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/17/11)

          Association of California School Administrators
          Los Angeles School Police Department
          San Diego County Police Chiefs' and Sheriff's Association
          San Diego Schools Police Officers Association
          San Diego Unified School District







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          Santa Ana Unified School District
          Stockton Unified School District Police


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  75-0, 5/23/11
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, 
            Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, 
            Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, 
            Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, 
            Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Beth Gaines, Galgiani, 
            Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall, 
            Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, 
            Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie 
            Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, 
            Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. 
            Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, 
            Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, 
            Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Cook, Donnelly, Furutani, Gorell, 
            Mansoor


          CPM:mw  8/17/11   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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