BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 549 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 15, 2013 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Mike Gatto, Chair AB 549 (Jones-Sawyer) - As Amended: May 6, 2013 Policy Committee: Education Vote:7-0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: Yes Reimbursable: Yes SUMMARY This bill requires comprehensive school safety plans to include clear guidelines for the roles and responsibilities of mental health and intervention professionals, school resource officers, and police officers on a school campus. Specifically, this bill: 1)Requires the guidelines to conform to the following requirements: a) Require the primary strategies to create and maintain a positive school climate, promote school safety, and increase pupil achievement to emphasize mental health and intervention services, restorative and transformative justice programs, and positive behavior interventions and support. b) Requires the primary function of police and school resource officers is addressing situations that require protecting the physical safety of pupils and staff. c) Requires the school to consider existing strategies and model approaches to minimize the involvement of law enforcement in pupil conduct and minor offenses that do not rise to the level of serious and immediate threat to physical safety. 2)Requires a school or school district that elects to apply for, and receives, state or federal funding for purposes of increasing campus safety (if using the funds for additional law enforcement personnel) to develop a clear memoranda of understanding (MOU) with law enforcement on the roles and responsibilities of law enforcement on and off school campus. AB 549 Page 2 Further requires the MOU to be available to the public. FISCAL EFFECT 1)One-time costs GF/98 state reimbursable, likely between $250,000 and $500,000, to school districts to update their school safety plans to include clear guidelines for the roles and responsibilities of mental health and intervention professionals, school resource officers, and police officers on a school campus, as specified. There are 9,919 public schools in California. 2)One-time GF/98 costs, likely between $300,000 and $600,000, to school districts to establish a MOU with law enforcement, as specified. This assumes between three and five percent of school districts choose to spend state and federal funds on law enforcement personnel. There are approximately 1,000 school districts in the state. 3)Prior to the 2012-13 Fiscal Year (FY), the annual cost of the existing school safety plan mandate was approximately $5 million GF/98. The 2012 Budget Act significantly reduced the number of local education agencies filing K-12 mandate claims, including the school safety plan mandate, with the enactment of the K-12 Mandate Block Grant (see below). SUMMAR CONTINUED 1)Encourages a school district, if electing to receive additional funding for campus safety from a state or federal source, to use the funding to improve school climate, as specified (to the extent this use is permitted by state and federal law). 2)Encourages a school district that has police officers on campus to create a MOU that clearly delineates the respective roles and responsibilities of the school and the police officers in order to maximize resources and to ensure the administrative response to pupil conduct and minor offences are handled pursuant to district policies and state law before involving law enforcement. Further requires the MOU to be public and include participation and input from pupils, parents, and the full school community. COMMENTS AB 549 Page 3 1)Background . Existing law specifies that each school district and county office of education (COE) is responsible for the overall development of all K-12 school's comprehensive school safety plans. It also delineates the contents of these plans, including procedures for dealing with safety-related issues and emergency procedures. The school safety plan is required to be updated annually. Statute requires each schoolsite council to be responsible for the development of the plan. The council is required to consult with a representative from law enforcement in writing and developing the plan. 2)Purpose . According to the author, "Despite evidence that schools are the safest place for our children, the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut has ignited the need for action in communities across America. Across the state, school districts such as Los Angeles Unified School District, have responded to the very rational fears of parents by deploying more law enforcement officers on school campuses. They are an important part of overall community safety; they are not the only means of keeping schools safe and can actually have a counterproductive effect." This bill requires comprehensive school safety plans to include clear guidelines for the roles and responsibilities of mental health and intervention professionals, school resource officers, and police officers on a school campus. 3)Current law authorizes the governing board of a school district to establish a security department under the direction of a chief of security, as designated by the superintendent. Statute expresses legislative intent that the security department is supplementary to city and county law enforcement agencies and is not vested with general police powers. Statue further authorizes the governing board of district to establish a school police department under the supervision of a school chief of police. This department is authorized to employ peace officers, as defined under the Penal Code. 4)K-12 Mandate Block Grant and existing obligations . The 2012 Budget Act allocated $166.6 million for this block grant. AB 549 Page 4 Essentially, a school district, charter school, or county office of education may choose to receive a per-pupil allocation to conduct existing K-12 mandated activities, including developing a school safety plan. If the district, charter school, or COE chooses to receive this allocation it forfeits its ability to claim mandate reimbursement via the existing state process. School districts received approximately $28 per pupil; charter schools approximately $14 per pupil; and COEs approximately $29 per pupil. The advantage of this block grant is school districts will receive annual funding now versus waiting to receive payment under the existing claims process, which the state has deferred paying for a number of years. According to the Legislative Analyst Office (LAO), 634 school districts (approximately 67% of all districts), 35 COEs (approximately 60% of all COEs), and 877 charter schools (approximately 93% of charter schools) participated in the block grant. Presumably if the requirements of this measure are determined to be a state mandated program, its requirements would be added to the block grant. According to the LAO, the state owes approximately $4.2 billion GF/98 in mandate claims from prior years. Until the 2011-12 FY, the state deferred K-14 mandate payments due to the fiscal crisis. Of the $4.2 billion GF/98, K-12 is owed approximately $3.8 billion and California Community Colleges are owed approximately $350 million. Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916) 319-2081