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.) AB 1156 Page 2 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 AB 1156 Page 3 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: AB 1156 Page 4 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. AB 1156 Page 5 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 AB 1156 Page 6 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