BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
SB 316 (Block) - School Safety: Door locks
Amended: April 23, 2013 Policy Vote: Education 9-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 23, 2013 Consultant: Jacqueline
Wong-Hernandez
SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
Bill Summary: SB 316 requires modernization projects submitted
to the Division of the State Architect (DSA) under the State
School Facility Program (SFP) to include locks that allow
classrooms and rooms with an occupancy of five persons or more
to be locked from the inside as a condition for receipt of state
bond funds beginning January 1, 2016, and requires, if federal
funds become available for purposes of school safety, that
school districts first consider using these funds to install
locks in every classroom and room with an occupancy of five
persons or more.
Fiscal Impact (as approved on May 23, 2013): The requirements of
this bill are conditions for receipt of state bond funds for
modernization projects; the new bond funding a school receives
will pay the cost of this bill but puts pressure on the bond
funding by directing money toward a new requirement.
Locks: Potentially significant costs to schools to purchase
specified locks for each classroom. Each lock costs
approximately $300.
Mandate: The requirement that, if federal funds for school
safety become available, schools consider using the funds
for specified door locks is unlikely to drive new
reimbursable costs.
Background: Existing law provides, as a condition of receipt of
state bond funds, that all new construction projects submitted
to the DSA include locks that allow classrooms and rooms with an
occupancy of five persons or more to be locked from the inside
and that these locks conform to Title 24 California Code of
Regulations specifications and requirements. Doors locked from
the outside at all times and pupil restrooms are exempt from
these requirements. (Education Code §17075.50)
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Proposed Law: SB 316 requires that all modernization projects
submitted to the DSA under the SFP include locks that allow
classrooms and rooms with an occupancy of five persons or more
to be locked from the inside as a condition for receipt of state
education bond funds beginning January 1, 2016. This bill also
requires, if federal funding becomes available for purposes of
school safety, that school districts first consider using these
funds to install locks that allow every classroom and room with
an occupancy of five persons or more to be locked from the
inside.
Staff Comments: This bill requires interior door locks on
modernization projects submitted for funding under the SFP
beginning in 2016, which suggests that these projects, like new
construction projects, would be eligible for state bond funds to
assist in meeting the costs of compliance. This bill does not
specifically provide that bond funding can be used for
installation of interior locks; if schools use part of their
base modernization grant to fund these requirements, less money
would be left for projects that may be a higher priority for the
school.
According to the DSA, to the extent the addition of a new lock
requires "alteration," a variety of Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) compliance requirements could be triggered. These
could vary from simply requiring more extensive alteration to a
doorframe, to more extensive construction activity such as
walkway and bathroom modifications, resulting in much more
significant project costs. This would create significant
additional cost pressure on a school's modernization funding.
With regard to the mandate identified by legislative counsel,
this bill would merely require that districts first "consider"
safety locks if federal funding is provided. It is unclear how
this would be enforced, and schools are not likely to be able to
quantify resources and workload resulting from that
consideration; this provision is unlikely to be reimbursable.
AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED: Amend per author to require the State
Allocation Board to adopt regulations to adjust the
modernization pre-pupil grant allowance to include the
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associated cost to install the required locks.
The committee amendments would make the provisions of this bill
apply to bond funding approved in the future.