BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1156|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1156
Author: Eng (D), et al.
Amended: 8/31/11 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
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-3, 8/25/11
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Lieu, Pavley, Price, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Emmerson, Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 50-27, 6/2/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Pupils: bullying
SOURCE : California State PTA
DIGEST : 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.
ANALYSIS : 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
CONTINUED
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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.
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.
Existing law, the Interagency School Safety Demonstration
Act of 1985, establishes the School/Law Enforcement
Partnership comprised of the Superintendent of Public
Instruction and the Attorney General for the development
and administration of safe school programs.
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.
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 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 was awarded a $350,000 contract to perform this
training and is scheduled to conduct 28 trainings on
bullying prevention in 2011.
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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, contracted by the
DOJ and the CDE, to conduct 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. 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/her physical
or mental health.
C. Causing a reasonable pupil to experience
substantial interference with his/her academic
performance.
D. Causing a reasonable pupil to experience
substantial interference with his/her ability to
participate in or benefit from the services,
activities, or privileges provided by a school.
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5. Defines "reasonable pupil" to mean a pupil, including,
but not limited to, an exceptional needs pupil, who
exercises average care, skill, and judgment in conduct
for a person of his/her age, or for a person or his/her
age with his/her exceptional needs.
6. Moves the following definition of "electronic act" from
Section 32261 to Section 48900 of the Education Code:
A. Electronic act means the transmission of a
communication, including, but not limited to, a
message, text, sound, or image, or a post on a social
network Internet Web site, by means of an electronic
devise, including, but not limited to, a telephone,
wireless telephone, or other wireless communication
device, computer, or pager.
7 Specifies that a pupil who has been determined by
personnel of either of the district of residence or the
district of proposed enrollment to have been the victim
of an act of bullying, as defined, committed by a pupil
of the district of residence shall, at the request of
the person having legal custody of the pupil, be given
priority for interdistrict attendance under any existing
interdistrict attendance agreement or, in the absence of
an agreement, be given additional consideration for the
creation of an interdistrict attendance agreement.
8. Specifies that if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the provisions of this bill contains
costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be
made pursuant to current law.
Comments
Need for this bill . A publication from the United States
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,
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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
estimated that 1.6 million children in grades 6 through 10
in the U.S. 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."
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.
Cyberbullying . Senate Education Committee has considered a
number of bills concerning bullying and cyberbullying,
including AB 746 (Campos), Chapter 72, Statutes of 2011,
which specifies 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
bill, staff recommends amendments that would incorporate
social network posts into the "electronic act" paragraph of
subdivision (r) of 48900.
Related/Prior Legislation
SB 453 (Correa), 2011-12 Session, 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
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recommended, and requires school safety plans to include
policies and procedures relating to bullying. (Placed on
Senate Appropriations Committee Suspense File)
SB 755 (Lieu), 2011-12 Session, 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. (Held
under submission in Senate Appropriations Committee)
SB 919 (Lieu), 2011-12 Session, 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.
Passed the Senate with a vote of 38-0 on May 31, 2011.
(Held under submission in Assembly Appropriations
Committee)
AB 227 (Hall), 2011-12 Session, 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. (Held under
submission in Senate Appropriations Committee)
AB 630 (Hueso), 2011-12 Session, encourages school
districts to reduce bullying through programs that would
educate pupils by increasing their awareness of bullying.
(In Assembly Education Committee)
AB 746 (Campos), Chapter 72, Statutes of 2011, specifies
that bullying by means of an electronic act includes a post
on a social network Internet Web site. Passed the Senate
with a vote of 29-6 on June 23, 2011.
AB 86 (Lieu), Chapter 646, Statutes of 2008, defines
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. Passed the
Senate with a vote of 21-12 on August 11, 2008.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
Anti-bullying training Potentially significant
cost pressure General
Transfer rights ------ Potentially significant costs
------ Local
School safety plans ------ Substantial cost
pressure ------ Local
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/31/11)
California State PTA (source)
Alhambra Unified School District
Asian and Pacific Islanders Action Network
California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies
California Federation of Teachers
California School Employees Association
California Teachers Association
Garvey School District
Mental Health Association in California
National Organization for Women
The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy in California
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 50-27, 6/2/11
AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan,
Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro,
Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill,
Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez,
Portantino, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torres,
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Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly,
Fletcher, Beth Gaines, Garrick, Grove, Hagman, Halderman,
Harkey, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller,
Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Silva, Smyth,
Valadao, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Butler, Gorell, Hall
CPM:kc 8/31/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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