BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 231
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Date of Hearing: June 26, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
SB 231 (Correa) - As Amended: May 28, 2013
SENATE VOTE : 38-0
SUBJECT : California Bullying Prevention Coordinating Center
SUMMARY : Enacts the Michael Joseph Berry Peer Abuse Prevention
and Awareness Act of 2013 and establishes the California
Bullying Prevention Coordinating Center (Center) to be
administered by the California Department of Education (CDE).
Specifically, this bill :
1)Expresses the intent of the Legislature to establish the
Center to address issues relating to bullying and peer abuse,
with a particular focus on issues that impact pupils in
kindergarten through grade 12 and their families, peers, and
communities.
2)Requires the Center to establish a Coordinating Center
Advisory Council. Specifies that members of the advisory
council shall include individuals who have experience in areas
including, but not limited to, all of the following:
a) Hotline telephone services that are nationally
accredited and provided on a regional or statewide basis;
b) Social media, such as texting, blogging, chat rooms, and
other forms of cyber communications;
c) Behavioral health services;
d) Crisis prevention and intervention services;
e) Suicide prevention and intervention services;
f) Providing services in a linguistically and culturally
competent manner; and,
g) Other areas related to bullying and peer abuse.
3) Specifies that members of the advisory council shall be
appointed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI),
and serve at his or her pleasure. Specifies that members of
the advisory council shall be reimbursed only for reasonable
expenses associated with the performance of their duties, and
shall not receive any salary, per diem, or other compensation.
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4)Specifies that the goals and objectives of the Center shall
include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
a) Providing technical assistance to the CDE, school
districts, and other appropriate entities on best
practices, strategies, and other interventions that may
assist in reducing the incidence of bullying and peer
abuse;
b) Providing recommendations through which pupils,
families, school personnel, and other stakeholders may
access existing resources and supports that are related to
bullying and peer abuse;
c) Providing recommendations through which the CDE may
improve the collection and analysis of data related to
bullying and peer abuse;
d) Providing recommendations on future legislation,
regulations, and public policy that could be implemented to
reduce the incidence of bullying and peer abuse; and,
e) Providing recommendations on future antibullying
communication strategies, such as a bullying prevention
hotline.
5)Requires the CDE to recommend to school districts appropriate
guidelines, best practices, and information that school
districts may disseminate to pupils and their families about
the existence, goals, and objectives of the Center.
6)Requires the CDE to recommend that districts include
appropriate information about the Center on school districts'
Internet Web site, in any revision of a school's comprehensive
school safety plan, and in any new material developed that
relates to issues of bullying or peer abuse, such as a
school's annual parent newsletter.
7)Requires the CDE to recommend that school districts provide
information on the Center to all pupils, who are involved in
any complaint procedure related to peer abuse, bullying,
harassment, or discrimination and to their families.
8)Specifies that the operation of the provisions of this bill in
any fiscal year is contingent upon the certification by the
SPI that sufficient funding is available for the
implementation of the provisions of this bill in that fiscal
year.
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9)Prohibits the use of General Fund moneys to implement the
provisions of this bill.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Safe Place to Learn Act and states that it is
the policy of the state to ensure that all local educational
agencies (LEAs) continue to work to reduce discrimination,
harassment, violence, intimidation, and bullying. (Education
Code (EC) Section 234)
2)Requires the CDE, as part of its Categorical Program
Monitoring Process, to monitor adherence of LEAs of the
following requirements: 1) adopt a policy prohibiting
discrimination, harassment, intimidation and bullying; 2)
adopt a process and timeline for receiving and investigating
complaints of discrimination, harassment, intimidation and
bullying; 3) post the policy in all schools and offices; and
4) maintain documentation of complaints and ensure that
complainants are protected from retaliation. (EC 234.1)
3)Requires the CDE to display current information, and
periodically update information, on curricula and other
resources that address bias-related discrimination,
harassment, intimidation, and bullying, on the California
Healthy Kids Resource Center Internet Web site and other
appropriate CDE Web sites. (EC 234.2)
4)Requires the CDE to develop a model handout describing the
rights and obligations to provide all pupils with equal rights
and opportunities in educational institutions, free from
discrimination and harassment. Requires the model handout to
be posted on appropriate CDE Internet Web sites. (EC 234.3)
5)Requires the SPI to post, and annually update, on his or her
Internet Web site and provide to each school district a list
of statewide resources, including community-based
organizations, that provide support to youth who have been
subjected to school-based discrimination, harassment,
intimidation, or bullying, and their families. (EC 234.5)
6)Provides that a pupil may be suspended or expelled for
committing any of a number of specified offenses, including
"bullying". Defines "bullying" to mean any severe or
pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct, including
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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 as defined in Education Code Sections 48900.2,
48900.3, or 48900.4, directed toward one or more pupils that
has or 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 pupils' 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. (EC 48900)
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, one-time staff costs of approximately $170,000 to
establish the Center, and potentially significant ongoing costs.
Potentially significant CDE workload to staff the Council. The
bill prohibits the use of General Fund moneys to implement the
provisions of this bill.
COMMENTS : Under existing law, a principal or a superintendent
may suspend or recommend expulsion of a pupil for committing any
of a number of specified acts, including bullying and bullying
via an electronic act (cyberbullying). Under existing law,
"bullying" means 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 engaging in sexual harassment,
hate violence, harassment, threats, or intimidation, directed
toward one or more pupils that has or can be reasonably
predicted to cause fear and have an impact on a student's
physical and mental health, academic performance, or a student's
ability to participate in school and school activities.
Existing law also establishes the Safe Place to Learn Act and
requires LEAs to establish polices prohibiting discrimination,
harassment, intimidation and bullying, based on the actual or
perceived characteristics, including disability, gender, gender
identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity,
religion, and sexual orientation. The Safe Place to Learn Act
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also requires the establishment of a process for students to
report such actions, and LEAs to investigate such complaints.
The SPI is required to post on the CDE Internet Web site
resources for youth who have experienced discrimination,
harassment, intimidation and bullying.
This bill establishes the California Bullying Prevention
Coordinating Center and directs the SPI to appoint members to an
Advisory Council with specific expertise in the areas of:
1)Hotline telephone services that are nationally accredited and
provided on a regional or statewide basis;
2)Social media, such as texting, blogging, chat rooms, and other
forms of cyber communications;
3)Behavioral health services;
4)Crisis prevention and intervention services;
5)Suicide prevention and intervention services;
6)Providing services in a linguistically and culturally
competent manner; and,
7)Other areas related to bullying and peer abuse.
The bill states that the objectives of the Center is to provide
technical assistance and recommendations to the CDE, LEAs and
students and their families on the resources, interventions,
strategies, and best practices to reduce bullying and peer
abuse, collect data, and make recommendations on legislation,
regulations and public policy. These may be appropriate
functions for the advisory council, but it is unclear how a
"Center" meets these objectives. Staff recommends an amendment
to direct the objectives as duties of the advisory council.
The connotation of the term "Center" is an organization with a
physical location. According to the author's office, the intent
of the Center is to be a repository of information and resources
to combat bullying and peer abuse. The information to be
collected will be based on recommendations made by the advisory
council. As such, staff recommends replacing "Coordinating
Center" with "Clearinghouse." This would be consistent with the
clearinghouse for multilingual documents currently maintained by
the CDE.
Staff also recommends an amendment to clarify the functions and
purpose of the Clearinghouse, which includes acting as a
repository of information regarding anti-bullying resources,
links and services available, establish recommendations that
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school district can share on bullying prevention measures on
school district's Internet Web site, in any revision of a
school's comprehensive school safety plan, and in any new
material developed relating to issues of bullying or peer abuse.
Who is Michael Joseph Berry? Michael Joseph Berry was a junior
high school youth from the Sacramento area who committed suicide
in 2008 due to bullying and harassment by classmates. He had
received hateful homophobic emails, texts, and social media
postings, and according to the Internet Web site of an
organization founded by his mother to prevent peer abuse, no one
stepped in to defend Michael or report the harassment to
authorities. The organization, B.R.A.V.E. (Bullies Really Are
Violating Everyone), is the sponsor of this bill.
The Bureau of State Audits is currently conducting an audit to
evaluate the CDE's, LEAs', and school sites' implementation of
school safety and nondiscrimination laws. The audit includes an
assessment of the extent to which LEAs and schoolsites have
implemented statutory requirements to develop policies that
prohibit, updated and distributed materials, provided school
staff training on how to respond to reports of, and adopted a
process for receiving, investigating and resolving complaints
about discrimination, harassment, intimidation and bullying in
schools. The audit will also identify programs or workshops,
and any best practices used by LEAs to address discrimination,
harassment, intimation and bullying. The audit is expected to
be completed and submitted to the Legislature in August and may
provide much of the information sought by this bill.
The bill does not take effect unless the SPI certifies that
sufficient funding is available for the implementation of this
bill.
Arguments in support . The author states, "Approximately 25-30
percent of all students throughout the U.S. are subject to
bullying?.Bullying is a serious problem in K-12 schools that
impacts the academic performance and the self-esteem of all
students. Poor academic performance and a devastating array of
psychological problems are severe consequences of bullying, on
both the victims and perpetrators. Long-term consequences of
bullying have been linked to an array of disorders that include
criminal behaviors, substance abuse, and numerous mental health
problems. Thus, bullying is a public health crisis that
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requires immediate attention and effective intervention."
Related legislation . AB 514 (Bonta), pending in the Senate,
requires the SPI to include on his or her Internet Web site a
list of statewide resources for youth who have been affected by
gangs, gun violence, and psychological trauma caused by violence
that can occur at home, at school and in the community.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Civil Liberties Union (prior version)
Association of Regional Center Agencies
California Federation of Teachers
California State PTA
California Teachers Association
Junior League of Orange County, CA, Inc. (prior version)
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
Sacramento LGBTQ Youth Task Force (prior version)
The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy California Collaboration
The Center for Violence-Free Relationships (prior version)
The Help Group (prior version)
Many individuals
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087