BILL ANALYSIS Ķ
AB 677
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
677 (Dodd) - As Amended April 30, 2015
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| |Higher Education | |11 - 2 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill requires K-12 and higher education institutions to
equip the doors of every classroom with locks that allow the
doors to be locked from the inside. Specifically, this bill:
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1)Requires, on and after January 1, 2016, modernization projects
submitted to the Division of the State Architect (DSA) and
funded through future bond funds, as specified, to include
locks that allow doors to classrooms and any room with an
occupancy of five or more persons to be locked from the
inside.
2)Requires, no later than January 1, 2022, the governing board
of each school district and each county superintendent of
schools, for each school within its jurisdiction, to equip the
doors of every classroom and every room with an occupancy of
five or more persons with locks that allow the doors to be
locked from the inside. These requirements are also contingent
upon future bond funds.
3)Requires the California Community Colleges (CCC) and
California State University (CSU) Trustees, and the urges the
University of California (UC) Regents, when constructing or
modernizing a campus or facility within its jurisdiction, to
equip classrooms, offices, or other rooms where students and
school staff gather with locking mechanisms that allow the
doors to be locked from the inside, or equip doors with the
best alternative technology that accomplishes the same result.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Annual state school construction bond cost pressure,
potentially in the range of $700,000 to $2.2 million, to
require locks that allow doors to classrooms or any other
specified room to be locked from the inside, as specified.
The most recent estimate of classrooms that need to be
modernized annually for the next five years to meet the
state's need is 7,083. Costs related to modernizing classroom
door locks can range from $500 to $1,500 for each door
depending on the extent of repair needed.
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AB 127 (Nuņez), Chapter 35, Statutes of 2006, authorized
Proposition 1D: the Kindergarten-University Public Education
Facilities Bond Act of 2006 for $10.416 billion. New
construction and modernization funds authorized by this bond
have been exhausted since 2012. Any cost pressure related to
this bill would be applied to future bond measures.
2)Annual State and local facility projects costs to CCC, CSU and
UC, likely in the millions, to require locks that allow doors
to classrooms, or any other specified room, to be locked from
the inside, as specified.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, following the recent school
shooting tragedies in Newtown, Connecticut and Taft,
California, the state needs to rethink safety procedures in
schools. "Lockdowns," a temporary confinement of students and
staff to classrooms, offices and other rooms during or
following a disturbance, have proven to be an effective tool
used on school campuses to facilitate the safety of both
students and staff during a violent or potentially violent
situation. In many cases, lockdown procedures are required in
school safety plans. The door locks in many school classrooms,
offices and other rooms where students and school staff gather
can only be locked from the outside. The safety of students
and school staff may be jeopardized as staff must enter
hallways in an attempt to lock their doors during a
"lockdown."
Existing law, authorized by AB 211 (Mendoza), Chapter 430,
Statutes of 2010, requires, as a condition for state education
bond funds, all new construction projects submitted to the DSA
on and after July 1, 2011, to include locks that allow a door
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to be locked from the inside of a classroom or any room that
accommodates five or more people.
The California Federation of Teachers is sponsoring this bill
to extend the requirement to K-12 modernization projects
submitted to the DSA. The bill also requires all schools to
be equipped with locks that can be locked from the inside by
January 1, 2022, regardless of whether the school is
undergoing any rehabilitation. This requirement would be
contingent upon a school facilities bond approved by the
voters.
2)Opposition. The California Association of School Business
Officials (CASBO) is opposed to this bill due to significant
fiscal pressure on school general fund budgets. The note that
retrofitting door locks on older buildings could trigger other
required upgrades, such as compliance with revised ADA
requirements. With 10,134 schools in California, the cost
could reach several millions, if not billions. Further, CASBO
notes the provision requiring all rooms to be retrofitted with
security locks by January 1, 2022, if a new state school bond
is approved, is problematic because school bond funds are not
specifically allocated for the replacement of security locks
at the state level. Because of the way school bond funding
works, school districts must apply under the current state
school facilities program to receive matching funds from a
state bond, which would only cover funding for the specific
project under consideration and not the replacement of
security locks at all schools. CASBO recognizes the need to
modernize existing school infrastructure and to enhance
critical components of school buildings. However, they
encourage these issues to be considered in a comprehensive
fashion and in the context of California's ongoing discussions
to finance school facilities construction and modernization.
AB 677
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Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081