BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 1411
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|Author: |Runner |
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|Version: |March 28, 2016 Hearing |
| |Date: March 30, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Lenin Del Castillo |
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Subject: Pupil discipline: bullying: notifications
SUMMARY
This bill requires an anti-bullying, "Respect for All" sign, to
be posted in a common area of all public schools no later than
January 1, 2018.
BACKGROUND
Existing law requires school districts to adopt a policy that
prohibits discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying
based on the actual or perceived characteristics in the Penal
Code, as specified, and disability, gender, gender identity,
gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion,
sexual orientation, or association with a person or group with
one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics.
(Education Code § 234.1)
Existing law:
1) Requires each school district and county office of
education to be responsible for the overall development of
all comprehensive school safety plans for its schools. The
schoolsite council is required to write and develop a
comprehensive school safety plan relevant to the needs and
resources of that particular school.
2) Authorizes the schoolsite council to delegate
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responsibility for the development of the school safety
plan to a school safety planning committee, composed of the
principal, one teacher who is a representative of the
recognized certificated employee organization, one parent
whose child attends the school, one classified employee who
is a representative of the recognized classified employee
organization, and other members if desired.
3) Requires the comprehensive school safety plan to include
(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 detail procedures for complying with
existing laws; disaster procedures; policies regarding
suspension or expulsion; a discrimination and harassment
policy; and, a safe and orderly environment conducive to
learning.
4) Requires the comprehensive school safety plan to be
evaluated at least once a year. (Education Code § 32281
and Education Code § 32282)
Existing law also authorizes schools to suspend or recommend for
expulsion a student who engages in an act of bullying, which is
defined as any severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or
conduct, including communications made in writing or by means of
an electronic act, directed toward one or more students that has
or can be reasonably predicted to have the effect of one or more
of the following:
1) Placing a reasonable student or students in fear of harm to
that student's or those students' person or property.
2) Causing a reasonable student to experience a substantially
detrimental effect on his or her physical or mental health.
3) Causing a reasonable student to experience substantial
interference with his or her academic performance.
4) Causing a reasonable student to experience substantial
interference with his or her ability to participate in or
benefit from the services, activities, or privileges
provided by a school. (Education Code § 48900(r)(1))
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Existing law defines "electronic act" as the creation or
transmission, originated on or off the schoolsite, by means of
an electronic device, including but not limited to a telephone,
wireless telephone, or other wireless communication device,
computer, or pager, of a communication, including but not
limited to any of the following:
1) A message, text, sounds, or image.
2) A post on a social network website including, but not
limited to:
a) Posting to or creating a burn page, as defined,
created for the purpose of having one or more of the
effects listed above.
b) Creating a credible impersonation of another
actual student, as defined, for the purpose of having
one or more of the effects listed above.
c) Creating a false profile, as defined, for the
purpose of having one or more of the effects listed
above. (Education Code § 48900(r)(2))
Existing law prohibits a student from being suspended or
expelled unless the act is related to a school activity or
school attendance. Schools are specifically authorized to
suspend or expel a student for acts that are related to a school
activity or school attendance that occur at any time, including
but not limited to:
1) While on school grounds.
2) While going to or coming from school.
3) During the lunch period whether on or off the campus.
4) During, or while going to or coming from, a
school-sponsored activity.
(Education Code § 48900(s))
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ANALYSIS
This bill:
1) Requires the principal of each school, by no later than
January 1, 2018, to ensure that a conspicuous notice that
is accessible to all pupils is posted in a common area of
the school.
2) Requires that the first line of the notice include only the
words "Respect for All."
3) Requires that under the first line of the notice, there
shall be four bulleted notifications as follows:
a) "All students are entitled to a
fear-free learning environment."
b) "Any student who has been the victim of
discrimination, harassment, intimidation, bullying, or
cyberbullying by another student should report the
incident to a teacher or other school employee."
c) "A student, parent, teacher, or other
concerned party may report incidents of bullying or
other cases of student victimization to the district
superintendent of schools or the county superintendent
of schools."
d) "A student found to have threatened,
intimidated, or bullied another student may be subject
to suspension or recommended for expulsion pursuant to
Section 48900 of the Education Code, or to criminal
prosecution."
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. The author's office indicates that
"while bullying was historically dismissed as a rite of
passage, modern educators recognize bullying as a systemic
problem that is difficult to solve. Bullying is both an
impediment to effective education and a painful experience
that can scar the victim with sometimes tragic results.
Bullying and discrimination based upon ethnicity, religion,
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or sexual identity can be particularly hurtful. In recent
years, cyberbullying has proven to be both prevalent and
difficult to control because it occurs outside of the
school facility. Despite teacher training and
anti-bullying advertising campaigns, the problem persists.
Many students and parents are unaware of the anti-bullying
provisions within the Education Code."
2) Purpose of the sign. The author's office indicates that
this bill seeks to inform every child that they are
entitled to a fear free learning environment and that there
is help at their school and beyond the school walls to
protect their rights. Specifically, "the objective of
posting an actual, tangible "Respect for All" sign in each
school is to help deter prospective bullies and to provide
some relief to victims by directing them to a path for
remediation."
3) Existing efforts to address bullying. Current law
prohibits discrimination in public schools on the basis of
disability, gender, gender expression, nationality, race or
ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other
characteristic that is contained in the definition of hate
crimes. Additionally, the State Department of Education
(SDE) is required to monitor, through its categorical
monitoring process, whether school districts have adopted
policies prohibiting discrimination based on the actual or
perceived characteristics including disability, gender,
gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity,
religion, sexual orientation, or association with a person
or group with one or more of those characteristics.
Further, the SDE is required to monitor whether school
districts have adopted a process for receiving and
investigating complaints relating to discrimination,
harassment, intimidation, and bullying, including a
requirement that school personnel who witness such acts
take immediate steps to intervene when safe to do so and a
timeline for the investigation and resolution of
complaints, and an appeal process. SDE is also required to
develop an online training module on bullying and
cyberbullying for school staff, school administrators,
parents, students, and community members.
Given the efforts that are currently in place to address
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bullying, the committee may wish to consider whether the
additional requirements imposed by this measure are
necessary.
4) Prior legislation.
AB 827 (O'Donnell, Chapter 562, Statutes of 2015), requires
SDE, as part of its compliance monitoring process, to
assess whether local educational agencies have provided
information to certificated staff serving grades 7-12 on
schoolsite and community resources for lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) students.
SUPPORT
None received.
OPPOSITION
Anti-Defamation League
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