BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 58
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
58 (Rodriguez)
As Amended May 28, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+---------------------+---------------------|
|Education |7-0 |O'Donnell, Chávez, | |
| | |Kim, McCarty, | |
| | |Santiago, Thurmond, | |
| | |Weber | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+---------------------+---------------------|
|Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Gordon, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Quirk, | |
| | |Rendon, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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AB 58
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SUMMARY: Requires school safety plans to include procedures in
response to individuals with guns on school campuses, requires
charter schools to develop school safety plans, and makes other
changes to the school safety plan. Specifically, this bill:
1)Specifies that "principal" includes the principal's designee or
administrator in charge of a school for charter schools without
a principal.
2)Strikes reference to "the principal's designee" throughout the
provisions related to the school safety plan.
3)Adds nongovernmental organizations to the provision requiring
the school safety plan to include a procedure to allow specified
entities to use school buildings, grounds, and equipment for
mass care and welfare shelters during disasters or other
emergencies.
4)Specifies that "tactical responses to criminal incidents"
includes procedures related to individuals with guns on school
campuses and at school-related functions. Requires drills to
prepare for active shooters or other armed assailants to be
based on the specific needs and context of each school and
community. Requires schools to consider the most cost-effective
method of preparing pupils and staff for an active shooter
situation while balancing the physical and psychological risks
associated with these drills. Requires the school resource
officer and school-employed mental health professionals to be
integrally involved in the planning and evaluation process to
ensure appropriate implementation, regardless of the nature of
the drills a school chooses.
5)Defines "active shooter" as an individual who is actively
engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined
and populated area.
AB 58
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6)Expresses the intent of the Legislature that schools use the
material and services of the School/Law Enforcement Partnership
Program, including the handbook "Safe Schools: A Planning Guide
for Action," and the report by the National Association of
School Psychologists and the National Association of School
Resource Officers on "Best Practice Considerations for Schools
in Active Shooter and Other Armed Assailant Drills" in the
development of their school safety plan.
7)Strikes the provision authorizing the school safety plan to be
evaluated and amended, as needed, and the requirement for the
school safety plan to be evaluated at least once a year.
8)Requires the school accountability report card (SARC) to include
the date the school safety plan was adopted and a description of
the safety plan's elements.
9)Deletes the provision requiring each school district or county
office of education (COE) to annually notify the California
Department of Education (CDE) by October 15 of any schools that
have not complied with the development of the school safety
plan, and instead requires, no later than October 15, 2016, and
each year thereafter, each superintendent of a school district
and COE to provide written notification to the Superintendent of
Public Instruction (SPI) certifying that each school within the
school district and county has complied with the requirement to
develop a comprehensive school safety plan or has included the
information about the school safety plan on the SARC.
10)Specifies that confidential information relating to tactical
responses to criminal incidents shall not be included at a
public meeting.
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11)Requires each principal to keep and maintain a copy of the most
recent school safety plan for that school and to ensure that an
updated copy of the comprehensive school safety plan, either
written or electronic, to be readily available to staff members,
law enforcement, first responders, and the public. Requires
each superintendent or COE to keep a copy of the most recent
school safety plan submitted to the COE and every notification
made to the SPI identifying each school within the district or
county that has not complied with the requirement to develop a
school safety plan.
12)Requires the petition for a charter school to include in the
procedures that the charter school will follow to protect the
health and safety of pupils and staff the development of a
school safety plan, which must encompass the topics required to
be included in the school safety plan.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, potential annual Proposition 98/General Fund state
reimbursable mandated costs in the low hundreds of thousands for
school districts and COEs to update school safety plans, make
plans available for inspection and, starting in 2016, certify that
each school has adopted a plan.
COMMENTS: Background. Existing law specifies that school
districts and COEs are responsible for the overall development of
school safety plans. Each school is required to develop a school
safety plan that includes processes, procedures, and policies to
ensure student and staff safety at a school site. The components
of the plan range from daily processes, such as procedures for
safe ingress and egress of pupils, parents and school employees;
to disaster and emergency procedures such as those during and
after earthquakes; to behavioral policies such as discrimination
and harassment policies. The school safety plan is developed by a
school site council or a school safety planning committee.
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Current law requires a school to submit the school safety plan to
the school district or COE for approval and requires the school
district or COE to annually notify the CDE of any schools that
have not complied with the requirement to develop a school safety
plan. The SPI is authorized to impose a fine of not more than
$2,000 against a school district or COE for any willful failure to
make any required report. According to the CDE, there has been no
report of noncompliance by schools and no district or COE has been
fined for willfully failing to report a school that has not
developed a school safety plan. It is unclear whether this is
because there have been no violations and every school in the
state has developed its school safety plan, or whether districts
or COEs have not reported schools that have not developed their
school safety plans.
New procedure to respond to armed assailants. This bill expands
the "tactical response to criminal incidents" procedure in the
school safety plan to include procedures in situations where there
are active shooters or armed assailants on school campuses. The
procedures shall include drills using the most cost-effective
method, but must include school resource officers and
school-employed mental health professionals in the planning and
evaluation of the training programs and drills. The author
states, "Lessons learned from school emergencies highlight the
importance of preparing school officials and first responders to
implement emergency operations plans. Law enforcement officers
may not be present when a shooting begins. The first law
enforcement officers on the scene may arrive after the shooting
has ended. Making sure staff knows how to respond and instruct
their students can prevent and reduce the loss of life."
Written notification to the SPI. This bill strikes the
requirement that each school district or COE annually notify the
CDE by October 15 of any schools that have not complied with the
development of the school safety plan, and instead requires, no
later than October 15, 2016, and each year thereafter, each
superintendent of a school district and COE to provide written
AB 58
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notification to the SPI certifying that each school within the
school district and county has complied with the requirement to
develop a comprehensive school safety plan or has included the
information about the school safety plan on the SARC.
Charter schools. Under current law, charter schools are exempt
from most provisions of the Education Code, including the
requirement to develop school safety plans. This bill requires a
petition for a charter school to include in the procedures that
the charter school will follow the development of a school safety
plan, which must encompass the topics required to be included in
the school safety plan.
Analysis Prepared by:
Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN:
0000817