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 
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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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