Amended in Assembly March 18, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2698

Introduced by Assembly Member Weber

February 19, 2016

An act to begin delete amend Section 52060 end delete begin insert add Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 52080) to Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 end insert of the Education Code, relating to school accountability.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2698, as amended, Weber. begin delete Local control and accountability plans. end delete begin insert School accountability: school climate and restorative justice: assessments: professional development. end insert

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(1) Existing law establishes the Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999 to, among other things, ensure that each child in California receives a high-quality education consistent with all statewide content and performance standards, as specified.

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This bill would, on or before September 1, 2017, require low-performing schools, as designated by the State Department of Education, to conduct a school climate assessment, as specified. The bill would require every assessed school to take steps to ensure that responses to school climate assessments remain anonymous and that no individual is identified. The bill would require these schools to publish the results of the assessment on their Internet Web sites, provided that personally identifiable information or information that can reasonably lead a reader to identify an individual is not shared. The bill would require the outcomes resulting from a school climate assessment to be shared through meaningful engagement and collaboration with pupils, parents, faculty, and staff to develop corrective action recommendations that address the assessment outcomes and would require the recommendations to be incorporated and implemented by the school no later than one year after completion of the assessment, except as provided. By imposing additional duties on school officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst, on or before January 1, 2022, to compile data of changes in pupil academic achievement levels at low-performing schools, including a breakdown by pupil ethnicity, and provide a report to the department, the Governor, and the appropriate legislative budget and policy committees.

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(2) Existing law establishes various professional development and training programs for certificated employees of local educational agencies.

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This bill would require the State Department of Education to oversee the establishment of specific professional development activities and workshops that result in professional development support programs and a network of trainers to expand restorative justice programs, pupil social and emotional support, trauma-informed practices, and cultural competency in regions of the state with identified low-performing schools, as specified. The bill would require the department to convene an advisory committee comprised of stakeholders and professionals who have participated in the development and expansion of these programs to assist in the professional development planning and implementation. The bill would require low-performing schools designated by the department to provide identified professional development programs on or before September 1, 2018. By imposing additional duties on school officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst, on or before January 1, 2022, to compile data of the chronic absenteeism, suspension, expulsion, and dropout rates of the targeted schools and provide a report to the department, the Governor, and the appropriate legislative budget and policy committees, as specified.

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(3) This bill would provide that its provisions shall not be implemented unless funding is provided for its purposes in the annual Budget Act or another enacted statute. The bill would also make legislative findings and declarations relating to its provisions.

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(4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

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This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

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Existing law requires the governing board of each school district to adopt a local control and accountability plan using a template adopted by the State Board of Education.

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This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to that provision.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert .

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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begin insert (a) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert It is the intent of the Legislature to improve
pupil academic outcomes at low-performing schools by improving
school climates to provide a strong foundation for academic
improvement efforts. end insert

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(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following
relating to school climate:

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(1) A school’s climate is a social justice issue, as the state loses
generations of pupils from poor and underserved communities
with few options but to enroll in low-performing schools.

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(2) Over 20 years of research has confirmed that a positive
school climate is directly related to pupil academic achievement
and that school climate is the single most dominant predictor we
now have of pupil academic achievement levels.

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(3) The United States Department of Education recommends
school climate reform as an evidence-based strategy to prevent
school violence.

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(4) The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
recommends school climate reform as a scientifically sound
strategy that promotes healthy relationships, school connectedness,
and pupil retention.

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(5) The federal Institute of Education Sciences includes school
climate as a strategy for dropout prevention.

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(6) Perceptions about school climate impact teacher morale
and pupil achievement. A positive school climate benefits pupils,
teachers, school administrators, school personnel, and parents;
teachers are motivated to teach and pupils are motivated to learn.

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(7) Without school climate assessments, educators and education
leaders lack a comprehensive understanding of the tools and steps
needed to address low pupil achievement levels, pupil dropout
rates, pupil suspensions, and pupil chronic absenteeism.

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(8) School climate assessments are an effective data-driven
strategy that engage pupils, teachers, school administrators, school
personnel, and parents working together to create safe, supportive,
engaging, and successful schools.

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(9) Positive school climates are stable over time absent any
systematic effort to change climate components.

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(10) The meaningful input and perspectives of pupils, commonly
absent in school decisionmaking, are essential components of
school climate assessments to improve pupil emotional and social
well-being.

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(11) No instances of successful turnaround schools, which are
schools that transformed low-performing, high-poverty schools
into high-performing schools, have been found that did not address
school climate.

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(12) Factors affecting a school’s climate that recognize the
social, emotional, and academic aspects of K-12 pupil learning
can be accurately measured and assessed.

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(c) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following
regarding restorative justice:

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(1) California K-12 schools issued more than half a million
suspensions in the 2013-14 school year, with pupils of color
disproportionately subjected to out-of-school suspensions.

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(2) African American pupils are three times more likely to be
suspended than all other pupils, and studies show that pupils of
color are disciplined more harshly than other pupils, resulting in
serious, negative educational consequences.

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(3) A recent UCLA study concluded that African American
pupils who are expelled from school have a 90-percent likelihood
of being placed in a state correctional institution.

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(4) Exclusionary school removals cause a number of correlated
negative educational, economic, and social problems, including
school avoidance, an increased likelihood of dropping out, and
engagement with the juvenile justice system. This civil rights crisis
has come to be known as the school-to-prison pipeline.

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(5) The American Academy of Pediatrics has found that
suspension can increase stress and may predispose pupils to
antisocial behavior and suicidal ideation.

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(6) Psychologists have found that disciplinary exclusion can
increase pupil shame, alienation, rejection, and the breaking of
healthy adult bonds, thereby exacerbating negative mental health
outcomes for young people.

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(7) Restorative justice programs are a healing practice that
focus on repairing harm and preventing their recurrence.

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(8) Restorative practice, which builds upon restorative justice,
is used to build a sense of school community and restore positive
relationships through the use of restorative circles where pupils
and educators work together to set academic goals, develop
classroom core values, and resolve conflicts.

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(9) A 2011-14 study prepared for the United States Department
for Education’s Office for Civil Rights on restorative justice in the
Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) concluded that (A) the
discipline gap between white and African American pupils
decreased significantly for OUSD pupils who participated in
restorative justice programs, but remained unchanged for pupils
who did not participate in these programs, (B) that there was a
128-percent increase in the reading levels of 9th grade pupils at
OUSD schools with restorative justice programs, compared to an
11-percent increase in schools without such programs, and (C)
four-year graduation rates increased by 60 percent at OUSD
restorative justice schools compared to 7 percent for nonrestorative
justice schools.

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begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

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begin insert Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 52080) is added
to Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the end insert begin insert Education Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

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Chapter   begin insert 6.5. end insert School Climate and Restorative Justice
Act

 

begin insert 52080. end insert   

This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the
School Climate and Restorative Justice Act.

begin insert 52081. end insert   

(a) The Legislature finds that a sustainable, positive
school climate fosters youth development; higher pupil
achievement; lower dropout, suspension, and absenteeism rates;
decreased incidences of violence; and increased teacher retention
and includes the following factors that directly impact K-12 pupils,
teachers, school administrators, school personnel, and parents:

(1) Whether pupils, educators, school administrators, school
personnel, and parents are engaged and respected.

(2) Whether individuals feel socially, emotionally, and physically
safe and whether relations and relationships with and among youth
are prioritized.

(3) Whether pupils, educators, school administrators, school
personnel, and parents work together to develop and contribute
to a shared school vision.

(4) Whether educators and school administrators, incorporating
the views of pupils, model and nurture attitudes that emphasize
the benefits and satisfaction gained from learning based on high
academic expectations.

(5) Whether each individual contributes to the operations and
climate of the school.

(6) Whether disciplinary practices are assessed and an effort
is made to utilize practices that promote positive interventions.

(7) Whether collaboration and cooperation replace a school
climate of confrontation and mistrust, and inclusiveness becomes
the norm.

(b) The Legislature finds that restorative justice programs and
practices foster all of the following:

(1) Positive relationships among pupils, educators, school
administrators, school personnel, and parents.

(2) A school community based on trust, respect, and inclusion.

(3) A reduction in pupil disciplinary actions, expulsions,
suspensions, and chronic absenteeism and the lowering of stress
and antisocial behavior.

(4) Improved mental health and pupil academic outcomes.

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For purposes of this chapter, the following terms have
the following meanings:

(a) (1) “Low-performing school” means a low-performing
school, as designated by the department, which shall incorporate
chronic absenteeism rates, suspension rates, expulsion rates, and
dropout rates in making its designations.

(2) A low-performing school could be a school operated by a
school district, a school operated by a county office of education,
or a charter school.

(b) “School climate” means the quality, culture, and character
of school life, based on the patterns of pupils’, school personnel’s,
and parents’ school life perceptions and experiences, and reflects
a school’s norms, goals, values, expectations for behavior,
interpersonal relationships, teaching and learning practices, safety,
and organizational structures. School climate is a learning
environment created through the interaction of personal
relationships, physical setting, and psychological conditions.

(c) “School climate assessment” means an evaluation of a
school’s climate to assess existing school climate and culture to
inform school academic improvements, and that incorporates the
use of pupil, teacher, school administrator, school personnel, and
parent individual and group surveys, interviews, school data, and
direct observations.

(d) “Restorative justice” means a set of ethical principles and
practices grounded in the values of showing respect, taking
responsibility, and strengthening pupil relationships that prevent,
respond to, and repair harmful pupil behaviors, enabling school
personnel to intervene more effectively by increasing pupil support
without compromising accountability.

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(a) On or before September 1, 2017, low-performing
schools shall conduct a school climate assessment, consistent with
the provisions of this chapter.

(b) (1) Every assessed school shall take steps to ensure that
responses to school climate assessments remain anonymous and
that no individual is identified. These schools shall publish the
results of the assessment on their Internet Web sites, provided that
personally identifiable information or information that can
reasonably lead a reader to identify an individual shall not be
shared.

(2) Outcomes resulting from a school climate assessment shall
be shared through meaningful engagement and collaboration with
pupils, parents, faculty, and staff to develop corrective action
recommendations that address the assessment outcomes.

(A) The recommendations shall be incorporated and
implemented by the school no later than one year after completion
of the assessment.

(B) If the recommendations are not implemented, the school
shall provide a report to the department explaining its reasons for
not executing corrective actions.

(c) On or before January 1, 2022, the Legislative Analyst’s
Office shall compile data of changes in pupil academic
achievement levels at low-performing schools, including a
breakdown by pupil ethnicity, and provide a report to the
department, the Governor, and the appropriate legislative budget
and policy committees.

begin insert 52084. end insert   

(a) (1) The department shall oversee the establishment
of specific professional development activities and workshops that
result in professional development support programs and a network
of trainers to expand restorative justice programs, pupil social
and emotional support, trauma-informed practices, and cultural
competency in regions of the state with identified low-performing
schools.

(2) The department shall convene an advisory committee
comprised of stakeholders and professionals who have participated
in the development and expansion of these programs to assist in
the professional development planning and implementation.

(3) Low-performing schools designated by the department shall
provide identified professional development programs on or before
September 1, 2018.

(b) In the development of these programs, the department shall
take into account the following:

(1) Linking research-based strategies with local control and
accountability plans and local control funding formula
apportionments, specifically with respect to school climate and
meaningful pupil engagement.

(2) Stipends for release time for school personnel attending
identified professional development programs.

(3) Collecting best practices of existing districtwide, countywide,
or charterwide programs and ensuring these best practices are
widely disseminated.

(4) Developing a network of educators who have effectively
implemented these best practices and can provide training to other
schools and school districts, county offices of education, and
charter schools.

(5) Developing evaluation tools to measure the effectiveness of
research-based strategies.

(c) On or before January 1, 2022, the Legislative Analyst’s
Office shall compile data of the chronic absenteeism, suspension,
expulsion, and dropout rates of the targeted schools and provide
a report to the department, the Governor, and the appropriate
legislative budget and policy committees. The report shall also
compile a list of best practices used to accomplish improvements
in academic outcomes and a reduction in disciplinary actions.

begin insert 52085. end insert   

This chapter shall not be implemented unless funding
is provided for its purposes in the annual Budget Act or another
enacted statute.

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begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

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If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

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SECTION 1.  

Section 52060 of the Education Code is amended
to read:

52060.  

(a) On or before July 1, 2014, the governing board of
each school district shall adopt a local control and accountability
plan using a template adopted by the state board.

(b) A local control and accountability plan adopted by the
governing board of a school district shall be effective for a period
of three years, and shall be updated on or before July 1 of each
year.

(c) A local control and accountability plan adopted by the
governing board of a school district shall include, for the school
district and each school within the school district, both of the
following:

(1) A description of the annual goals, for all pupils and each
subgroup of pupils identified pursuant to Section 52052, to be
achieved for each of the state priorities identified in subdivision
(d) and for any additional local priorities identified by the
governing board of the school district. For purposes of this article,
a subgroup of pupils identified pursuant to Section 52052 shall be
a numerically significant pupil subgroup as specified in paragraphs
(2) and (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 52052.

(2) A description of the specific actions the school district will
take during each year of the local control and accountability plan
to achieve the goals identified in paragraph (1), including the
enumeration of any specific actions necessary for that year to
correct any deficiencies in regard to the state priorities listed in
paragraph (1) of subdivision (d). The specific actions shall not
supersede the provisions of existing local collective bargaining
agreements within the jurisdiction of the school district.

(d) All of the following are state priorities:

(1) The degree to which the teachers of the school district are
appropriately assigned in accordance with Section 44258.9, and
fully credentialed in the subject areas, and, for the pupils they are
teaching, every pupil in the school district has sufficient access to
the standards-aligned instructional materials as determined pursuant
to Section 60119, and school facilities are maintained in good
repair, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 17002.

(2) Implementation of the academic content and performance
standards adopted by the state board, including how the programs
and services will enable English learners to access the common
core academic content standards adopted pursuant to Section
60605.8 and the English language development standards adopted
pursuant to former Section 60811.3, as that section read on June
30, 2013, or Section 60811.4, for purposes of gaining academic
content knowledge and English language proficiency.

(3) Parental involvement, including efforts the school district
makes to seek parent input in making decisions for the school
district and each individual schoolsite, and including how the
school district will promote parental participation in programs for
unduplicated pupils and individuals with exceptional needs.

(4) Pupil achievement, as measured by all of the following, as
applicable:

(A) Statewide assessments administered pursuant to Article 4
(commencing with Section 60640) of Chapter 5 of Part 33 or any
subsequent assessment, as certified by the state board.

(B) The Academic Performance Index, as described in Section
52052.

(C) The percentage of pupils who have successfully completed
courses that satisfy the requirements for entrance to the University
of California and the California State University, or career technical
education sequences or programs of study that align with state
board-approved career technical education standards and
frameworks, including, but not limited to, those described in
subdivision (a) of Section 52302, subdivision (a) of Section
52372.5, or paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of Section 54692.

(D) The percentage of English learner pupils who make progress
toward English proficiency as measured by the California English
Language Development Test or any subsequent assessment of
English proficiency, as certified by the state board.

(E) The English learner reclassification rate.

(F) The percentage of pupils who have passed an advanced
placement examination with a score of 3 or higher.

(G) The percentage of pupils who participate in, and demonstrate
college preparedness pursuant to, the Early Assessment Program,
as described in Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 99300) of
Part 65 of Division 14 of Title 3, or any subsequent assessment of
college preparedness.

(5) Pupil engagement, as measured by all of the following, as
applicable:

(A) School attendance rates.

(B) Chronic absenteeism rates.

(C) Middle school dropout rates, as described in paragraph (3)
of subdivision (a) of Section 52052.1.

(D) High school graduation rates.

(E) High school dropout rates.

(6) School climate, as measured by all of the following, as
applicable:

(A) Pupil suspension rates.

(B) Pupil expulsion rates.

(C) Other local measures, including surveys of pupils, parents,
and teachers on the sense of safety and school connectedness.

(7) The extent to which pupils have access to, and are enrolled
in, a broad course of study that includes all of the subject areas
described in Section 51210 and subdivisions (a) to (i), inclusive,
of Section 51220, as applicable, including the programs and
services developed and provided to unduplicated pupils and
individuals with exceptional needs, and the programs and services
that are provided to benefit these pupils as a result of the funding
received pursuant to Section 42238.02, as implemented by Section
42238.03.

(8) Pupil outcomes, if available, in the subject areas described
in Section 51210 and subdivisions (a) to (i), inclusive, of Section
51220, as applicable.

(e) For purposes of the descriptions required by subdivision (c),
the governing board of a school district may consider qualitative
information, including, but not limited to, findings that result from
school quality reviews conducted pursuant to subparagraph (J) of
paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 52052 or any other
reviews.

(f) To the extent practicable, data reported in a local control and
accountability plan shall be reported in a manner consistent with
how information is reported on a school accountability report card.

(g) The governing board of a school district shall consult with
teachers, principals, administrators, other school personnel, local
bargaining units of the school district, parents, and pupils in
developing a local control and accountability plan.

(h) A school district may identify local priorities, goals in regard
to the local priorities, and the method for measuring the school
district’s progress toward achieving those goals.

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