BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






                          SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                              Alan Lowenthal, Chair
                             2011-12 Regular Session
                                         

          BILL NO:       AB 1156
          AUTHOR:        Eng
          AMENDED:       May 27, 2011
          FISCAL COMM:   Yes            HEARING DATE:  June 29, 2011
          URGENCY:       No             CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill

           SUBJECT  :  Pupils:  Bullying.
          
           SUMMARY   

          This bill revises the existing definition of bullying, 
          requires training in the prevention of bullying, and 
          authorizes a pupil who has been a victim of bullying to 
          transfer to another district.  

           BACKGROUND  

          Existing law prohibits the suspension or the recommendation 
          of a pupil for expulsion from school unless a school district 
          superintendent or the principal of the school determines that 
          the pupil has committed certain specified acts, including 
          having engaged in an act of bullying.  Existing law defines 
          bullying to include an act of sexual harassment or hate 
          violence, threats or intimidation directed against a pupil or 
          school personnel, or bullying committed by electronic means, 
          as specified.  (Education Code § 48900, et seq.)

          Existing law defines bullying by means of an "electronic act" 
          as the transmission of a communication, including, but not 
          limited to, a message, text, sound, or image by means of an 
          electronic device, including, but not limited to, a 
          telephone, wireless telephone, or other wireless 
          communication device, computer, or pager.  
          (EC § 32261)

          Existing law, the Interagency School Safety Demonstration Act 
          of 1985, establishes the School/Law Enforcement Partnership 
          comprised of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) 
          and the Attorney General for the development and 
          administration of safe school programs.  (EC § 32260 et. 
          seq.)  




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          Existing law requires each school district and county office 
          of education to be responsible for the overall development of 
          all comprehensive school safety plans for its schools.  
          School safety plans must be evaluated annually and must  
          include (1) an assessment of the current status of school 
          crime committed on school campuses and at school-related 
          functions and (2) 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.  (Education Code § 32281 and § 32282)  

          Existing law requires the California Department of Education 
          (CDE) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to contract with 
          one or more professional trainers to coordinate statewide 
          workshops for local educational agencies (LEAs) and 
          schoolsite personnel to assist them in the development of 
          their respective school safety plans.  According to the CDE, 
          the Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSS) was awarded 
          a $350,000 contract to perform this training and is scheduled 
          to conduct 28 trainings on bullying prevention in 2011.  (EC 
          § 32283)  

           ANALYSIS  

           This bill  :

          1)   Makes findings and declarations regarding the necessity 
               of a safe and civil school environment for effective 
               learning, the impact of bullying and the need to 
               accommodate pupils who have been the victim of bullying. 
                

          2)   Encourages school safety plans, as they are updated and 
               to the extent that resources are available, to include 
               policies and procedures aimed at the prevention of 
               bullying.  

          3)   Requires the professional trainers conducting statewide 
               training workshops to assist local educational agencies 
               to develop their school safety plans to provide training 
               in the prevention of bullying, as defined.  

          4)   Specifies a pupil complies with school district 
               residency requirements in a school district if his or 



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               her residence is located within the boundaries of 
               another district but the pupil meets all of the 
               following conditions:  

               a)        He or she has been determined by the 
                    superintendent of that other school district or the 
                    principal of the school attended in that other 
                    district to have been the victim of an act of 
                    bullying committed by a pupil of the other 
                    district.  

               b)        He or she is unable to transfer to another 
                    school within the other school district, as 
                    certified by the superintendent of the other 
                    district.  

               c)        He or she is unable to receive authorization 
                    for interdistrict attendance in a timely manner.

          5)   Defines bullying to mean any severe or pervasive 
               physical or verbal act or conduct, including 
               communications made in writing or by means of an 
               electronic act, and including one or more acts committed 
               by a pupil or group of pupils directed toward one or 
               more pupils that can be reasonably predicted to have the 
               effect of one or more of the following:  

               a)        Placing a reasonable pupil or pupils in fear 
                    of harm to that pupil's or those pupil's person or 
                    property.  

               b)        Causing a reasonable pupil to experience a 
                    substantially detrimental effect on his or her 
                    physical or mental health.  

               c)        Causing a reasonable pupil to experience 
                    substantial interference with his or her academic 
                    performance.  

               d)        Causing a reasonable pupil to experience 
                    substantial interference with his or her ability to 
                    participate in or benefit from the services, 
                    activities, or privileges provided by a school.  

          6)   Moves the following definition of "electronic act" from 
               Section 32261 to Section 48900 of the Education Code:  




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               a)        Electronic act means the transmission of a 
                    communication, including, but not limited to, a 
                    message, text, sound, or image by means of an 
                    electronic devise, including, but not limited to, a 
                    telephone, wireless telephone, or other wireless 
                    communication device, computer, or pager.  

           STAFF COMMENTS  

           1)   Need for the bill  :  A publication from the U.S. 
               Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and 
               Delinquency Programs (OJJDP) notes that bullying can 
               have short-term and long-term psychological effects on 
               both those who bully and those who are bullied.  
               Long-term consequences have been linked to increases in 
               criminal behavior and substance abuse, and a number of 
               recent teen and youth suicides have been traced to 
               bullying activities, including those perpetrated by an 
               electronic act or the use of social networks to post 
               harassing, malicious, and intentionally harmful 
               messages.  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.  

          A 2007 report from the National Association of Attorneys 
               General Task Force on 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.  The report 
               stated "Bullying was recognized as an important issue in 
               examining school violence.  The growth in the use of 
               technology and social networking sites by younger 
               Americans has fueled a fear among professionals that 
               cyber bullying will become the means most often utilized 
               to harass, threaten, or otherwise cause distress."   
           
           2)   Only pupils  ?  Current law provides that a pupil may be 
               suspended from school or recommended for expulsion for 
               bullying directed toward a pupil or school personnel.  
               This bill removes the term school personnel from the 
               provision, although provisions allowing for suspension 
               or expulsion in cases of intentional harassment, 
               threats, or intimidation directed against school 
               district personnel would remain.  




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           3)   Cyberbullying  .  This Committee has considered a number 
               of bills concerning bullying and cyberbullying, 
               including AB 746 (Campos), which would specify that 
               bullying by means of an electronic act includes posts on 
               social network Internet Web sites such as Facebook.  To 
               be consistent with Committee action on that measure, 
               staff recommends amendments that would incorporate 
               social network posts into the "electronic act" paragraph 
               of subdivision (r) of 48900.  

           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 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 
               before this Committee.  

          AB 630 (Hueso), a two-year bill in the Assembly Education 
               Committee, encourages school districts to reduce 
               bullying through programs that would educate pupils by 
               increasing their awareness of bullying.  

          AB 746 (Campos), specifies that bullying by means of an 



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               electronic act includes a post on a social network 
               Internet Web site.  This measure was passed by this 
               Committee on a 9-1 vote.  

          AB 86 (Lieu, Chapter 646, 2008) defined bullying to mean acts 
               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
           
          Asian and Pacific Islanders Action Network
          California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies
          California Federation of Teachers
          California School Employees Association
          California State PTA
          California Teachers Association
          Mental Health Association in California
          National Organization for Women
          The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy in California

           OPPOSITION
           
          American Civil Liberties Union