Amended in Assembly April 27, 2016

Amended in Assembly April 11, 2016

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 add and repeal Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 52080) of Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to school accountability.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2698, as amended, Weber. School accountability: school climate and restorative justice: assessments.

(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.

This bill would require begin delete high-need end delete begin insert low-achieving end insert schools, as defined, on or before September 1, 2017, to begin and, on or before July 1, 2018, to complete 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, teachers, and school personnel begin insert in order end insert to develop corrective action recommendations begin delete that address the assessment outcomes end delete and would require the recommendations to be incorporated and implemented by the school district 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 State Department of Education to develop and post to an easily accessible page on the department’s Internet Web site a listing of available school climate assessment instruments and organizations. 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 alternative discipline programs, such as restorative justice and positive behavioral interventions and supports, to make recommendations to the department. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst’s Office, on or before January 1, 2023, to compile data of the changes in pupil academic achievement at targeted begin delete high-need end delete begin insert low-achieving end insert schools, including a breakdown by pupil ethnicity, and 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.

The bill would repeal these provisions on July 1, 2023.

(2) 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.

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.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

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

SECTION 1.  

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

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

(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 high-need, low-achieving schools.

(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.

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

(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.

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

(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.

(7) Without school climate assessments, teachers 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.

(8) The use of school climate assessments is an effective
data-driven strategy that engages pupils, teachers, school
administrators, school personnel, and parents working together to
create safe, supportive, engaging, and successful schools.

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

(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.

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

(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.

begin insert

(c) The Legislature finds and declares that creating 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 results in the following outcomes that directly
impact K-12 pupils, teachers, school administrators, school
personnel, and parents:

end insert begin insert

(1) Pupils, teachers, school administrators, school personnel,
and parents are engaged and respected.

end insert begin insert

(2) Individuals feel socially, emotionally, and physically safe
and relationships with and among youth are prioritized.

end insert begin insert

(3) Pupils, teachers, school administrators, school personnel,
and parents work together to develop and contribute to a shared
school vision.

end insert begin insert

(4) Teachers 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.

end insert begin insert

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

end insert begin insert

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

end insert begin insert

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

end insert begin delete

(c)

end delete

begin insert (d) end insert  The Legislature finds and declares all of the following
regarding alternative discipline programs, such as restorative justice
and positive behavioral interventions and supports:

(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.

(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.

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

(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.

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

(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.

(7) Alternative discipline programs, such as restorative justice
and positive behavioral interventions and supports, are healing
practices that focus on repairing harm and preventing its recurrence.

(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 teachers work together to set academic goals, develop
classroom core values, and resolve conflicts.

(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.

begin insert

(e) The Legislature finds and declares that alternative discipline
programs and practices foster all of the following:

end insert begin insert

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

end insert begin insert

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

end insert begin insert

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

end insert begin insert

(4) Improved mental health and pupil academic outcomes.

end insert

SEC. 2.  

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

 

Chapter  6.5. School Climate and Student

begin delete AchievementAct end delete begin insert Achievement Act end insert

 

52080.  

This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the
School Climate and Student Achievement Act.

begin delete

52081.  

(a) The Legislature finds that creating 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 results in the following outcomes that directly impact K-12
pupils, teachers, school administrators, school personnel, and
parents:

(1) Pupils, teachers, school administrators, school personnel,
and parents are engaged and respected.

(2) Individuals feel socially, emotionally, and physically safe
and relationships with and among youth are prioritized.

(3) Pupils, teachers, school administrators, school personnel,
and parents work together to develop and contribute to a shared
school vision.

(4) Teachers 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) Each individual contributes to the operations and climate of
the school.

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

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

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

(1) Positive relationships among pupils, teachers, 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.

end delete

begin delete 52082. end delete

begin insert 52081. end insert   

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

begin delete

(a) (1) “High-need schools,” as also defined by the federal
Every Student Succeeds Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.), means
a public elementary or secondary school that is located in an area
in which the percentage of pupils from families with incomes
below the poverty line is 30 percent or more.

end delete begin insert

(a) (1) “Low-achieving school” means a school that is identified
by the Superintendent or the state board as being in the lowest
performing 5 percent of all schools and that is identified for
comprehensive support and improvement pursuant to the
accountability system requirements of the federal Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6311), as
amended by the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (Public Law
114-95).

end insert

(2) A begin delete high-need end delete begin insert low-achieving end insert 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’, teachers’, 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, as defined pursuant to subdivision (b), to assess
existing school culture and to provide information to influence
pupil academic outcome improvements, and that incorporates the
use of begin delete pupil, teacher, school administrator, school personnel, and
parent individual and group end delete begin insert school climate end insert surveys, interviews,
school data analysis, and direct observations.

(d) “Alternative discipline programs, such as restorative justice
and positive behavioral interventions and supports,” 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.

begin delete 52083. end delete

begin insert 52082. end insert   

(a) On or before September 1, 2017, begin delete high-need end delete
begin insert low-achieving end insert schools shall begin and, on or before July 1, 2018,
complete a school climate assessment, consistent with the
provisions of this chapter.

(b)  begin delete (1) end delete begin delete   end delete Every assessed school shall begin delete take end delete begin insert do all of the following: end insert

begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert Take end insert 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)  begin delete Outcomes end delete begin insert Share the outcomes end insert resulting from a school
climate assessment begin delete shall be shared end delete through meaningful engagement
and collaboration with pupils, teachers, school personnel, and
parents begin insert in order end insert to develop corrective action begin delete recommendations
through school district local control and accountability plan
committees that address the assessment outcomes. end delete

begin insert recommendations. end insert

begin insert

(3) Share the outcomes and corrective action recommendations
with the school district local control and accountability plan
committees.

end insert begin delete

(A)

end delete

begin insert (c) end insert   begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert The recommendations begin insert shared pursuant to paragraph
(3) of subdivision (b) end insert shall be incorporated and implemented by
the school district no later than one year after completion of the
assessment.

begin delete

(B)

end delete

begin insert (2) end insert  If the recommendations are not implemented within one
year of the completion of the assessment, the governing board of
the school district shall, within 60 days, hold a public meeting
explaining its reasons for not executing corrective actions.

begin delete 52084. end delete

begin insert 52083. end insert   

(a) The department shall develop and post to an easily
accessible page on the department’s Internet Web site a listing of
available school climate assessment instruments and organizations.

(b) The department shall convene an advisory committee
comprised of stakeholders and professionals who have participated
in the development and expansion of alternative discipline
programs, such as restorative justice and positive behavioral
interventions and supports, to make recommendations to the
department that take into account the following:

(1) Improving pupil social and emotional support and expanding
trauma-informed practices and cultural competency in regions of
the state with identified begin delete high-need end delete begin insert low-achieving end insert schools.

(2) Collecting best practices of existing districtwide, countywide,
and charterwide alternative discipline programs and ensuring these
best practices are widely disseminated.

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

(4) Developing evaluation tools to measure the effectiveness of
research-based alternative discipline strategies.

(c) On or before January 1, 2023, the Legislative Analyst’s
Office shall compile data of the changes in pupil academic
achievement at targeted begin delete high-need end delete begin insert low-achieving end insert schools, including
a breakdown by pupil ethnicity, and 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 begin delete compile a list of best practices end delete begin insert include profiles of schools
that implemented a school climate assessment and strategies end insert used
to accomplish improvements in academic outcomes and a reduction
in disciplinary actions.

begin delete 52085. end delete

begin insert 52084. end insert   

This chapter shall remain in effect only until July 1,
2023, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that is enacted before July 1, 2023, deletes or extends that date.

SEC. 3.  

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.