BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 58 (Rodriguez) - School safety plans.
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|Version: July 9, 2015 |Policy Vote: ED. 7 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: August 17, 2015 |Consultant: Jillian Kissee |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: This bill requires charter school petitions to include
the development of a school safety plan, and makes other changes
to the development, reporting, and other compliance requirements
related to the plan.
Fiscal
Impact:
Potential new requirements for school safety plans:
Potentially significant costs to expand the scope of the
existing comprehensive school safety plan reimbursable mandate
for which the state paid in excess of $3 million, annually
before it was included in the mandate block grant. Costs
would be dependent upon the Commission on State Mandate's
interpretation of whether this bill constitutes a reimbursable
state mandate. If determined to be a mandate, this could
create pressure to increase the K-12 Mandate Block Grant to
reflect its inclusion. (Proposition 98)
AB 58 (Rodriguez) Page 1 of
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Unknown, potentially significant reimbursable state mandate
costs for school districts and county offices of education due
to increased oversight responsibilities related to the
inclusion of school safety plans in charter petitions.
(Proposition 98)
The California Department of Education (CDE) anticipates any
costs related to implementing this bill would be minor and
absorbable.
Background: Existing law requires each school district and county office
of education (COE) to be responsible for the overall development
of all comprehensive school safety plans for its schools. The
school site council is required to write and develop a
comprehensive school safety plan relevant to the needs and
resources of that school. School districts and COEs, in
consultation with law enforcement, are authorized to elect to
write portions of the school safety plan, instead of school site
councils, that include tactical responses to criminal incidents.
(EC § 32281)
Existing law requires the comprehensive school safety plan to
include, among other things: (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 address detail procedures for
complying with existing laws and maintaining a safe and orderly
environment conducive to learning. The comprehensive school
safety plan is required to be evaluated at least once a year.
(EC § 32282)
Existing law exempts charter schools from most provisions of the
Education Code, including the requirement to develop school
safety plans. Instead, charter petitions must include the
procedures that the school will follow to ensure the health and
safety of students and staff, and the procedures by which
students can be suspended or expelled. This bill requires a
charter school petition to include the development of a school
safety plan.
AB 58 (Rodriguez) Page 2 of
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Proposed Law:
This bill makes the following changes to school safety plans:
Requires a charter petition to include the development of a
school safety plan, as specified, in its description of
procedures that the school will follow to ensure the health
and safety of students and staff.
Specifies that "tactical responses to criminal incidents"
include procedures related to individuals with guns on school
campuses and at school-related functions. It also states that
drills related to these incidences must be based on the needs
and context of each school and community; requires that
schools consider the most cost-effective method of preparing
students and staff for an active shooter situation while
balancing the physical and psychological risks associated with
these drills; and requires the school resource officer and
school-employed mental health professionals be involved in the
planning and evaluation process to ensure appropriate
implementation.
Provides Legislative intent that schools use a report in
developing their school safety plan regarding best practices
for active shooter and other armed assailant drills.
Requires each superintendent of a school district and COE to
provide written notification to the CDE certifying that each
of its schools has complied with the development of the plan
or reporting on the status of the plan, as specified. Current
law requires reporting of schools that are out of compliance.
Requires principals and superintendent of school districts to
keep copies of the most recent comprehensive school safety
plan and ensure that an updated copy be readily available to
specified entities, including the public.
AB 58 (Rodriguez) Page 3 of
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Modifies the requirement that each school annually report on
the status of its school safety plan in the school
accountability report card, to specify that the report is to
be accurate, be for the upcoming school year, and include the
date the school safety plan was adopted and a description of
the plan's elements.
Related
Legislation: AB 1264 (Conway, 2014) expanded the definition of
"tactical response to criminal incidents" to include a plan to
safeguard against incidents that include a firearm, explosive,
or other deadly weapon, and required a school district or county
office of education to publicly announce its adoption or update
of a tactical response plan. AB 1264 was pending in the Senate
Education Committee, but was never heard.
SB 49 (Lieu, 2013) among other things, required school safety
plans to include procedures related to individuals with guns on
school campuses and at school-related functions, including,
training programs related to active shooters and active
terrorists. SB 49 was held in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee.
SB 634 (Price, 2013) required, among other things, comprehensive
school safety plans to include procedures for conducting school
safety drills. SB 634 was held in this Committee.
Staff
Comments: Charter school petitions are currently required to
include "a reasonably comprehensive description of the
procedures that the school will follow to ensure the health and
safety of pupils and staff." This bill adds, as part of that
requirement, that a charter school petition specifically include
a comprehensive school safety plan that adheres to the
requirements of this bill. To the extent charter schools either
do not have a school safety plan, if this bill is enacted,
charter schools will likely incur significant costs to modify or
create a plan as prescribed. However, charter schools have been
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determined by the Commission on State Mandates to be ineligible
to claim reimbursements for state mandates.
State costs could be incurred to the extent charter authorizers
experience a significant increase in workload related to
ensuring compliance of the incremental component required to be
in the charter petition and file successful mandate claims for
state reimbursement. In addition, school districts or COEs
could submit claims for training staff on the new law.
This bill also specifies that "tactical responses to criminal
incidents" include procedures related to individuals with guns
on school campuses and at school-related functions. It also
states that drills related to these incidents must be based on
the needs and context of each school and community; requires
that schools consider (but not select) the most cost-effective
method of preparing students and staff for an active shooter
situation; and requires the school resource officer and
school-employed mental health professionals be involved in the
planning and evaluation process to ensure appropriate
implementation. Existing law does not explicitly require school
safety plans to include "tactical responses to criminal
incidents." However, there seems to be an implied intent that
these elements be developed and included in the safety plans in
which case they could be determined reimbursable under state
mandate law.
In the existing comprehensive school safety plan, the Commission
on State Mandates determined that implementation of the plan is
not mandated by the state and, therefore, not reimbursable.
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