BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1156| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ 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 AB 1156 Page 2 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. AB 1156 Page 3 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. AB 1156 Page 4 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, AB 1156 Page 5 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 AB 1156 Page 6 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. AB 1156 Page 7 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, AB 1156 Page 8 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 **** END ****