BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1511
AUTHOR: De Leon
AMENDED: April 29, 2009
FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE: June 17, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Lynn Lorber
NOTE: This bill has been referred to the Committees on
Education and Public Safety. A "do pass" motion should
include referral to the Committee on Public Safety.
SUBJECT : School campus prosecutors.
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes a school district or county office of
education to enter into a memorandum of understanding with
a district attorney or prosecuting city attorney in order
to promote public safety.
BACKGROUND
Current law authorizes any school district to:
1) Establish a security department under the supervision
of a chief of security or a police department under
the supervision of a chief of police. Current law
further delineates minimum qualifications and
conditions of employment, such training approved by
the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training
relating directly to the role of school police reserve
officers.
2) Employ personnel to ensure the safety of school
district personnel and pupils and the security of the
real and personal property of the school district.
3) Assign a school police reserve officer who is
deputized to a schoolsite to supplement the duties of
school police personnel. Current law states
legislative intent that a school district police or
security department is supplementary to city and
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county law enforcement agencies and is not vested with
general police powers.
The Interagency School Safety Demonstration Act establishes
the duties of the School/Law Enforcement Partnership,
comprised of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and
the Attorney General, as follows:
1) The development of programs and policies necessary to
help school develop a school safety plan.
2) The administration of safe school programs and all
training, procedures and activities related to school
safety.
3) Cooperation with other states and state and federal
agencies on matters relating to school safety.
The Interagency School Safety Demonstration Act also:
1) States legislative intent to encourage school
districts, county offices of education, law
enforcement agencies and agencies serving youth to
develop and implement interagency strategies,
in-service training programs, and activities that will
improve school attendance and reduce school crime and
violence.
2) Requires the School/Law Enforcement Partnership to
establish a statewide school safety cadre for the
purpose of facilitating interagency coordination and
collaboration among school districts, county offices
of education, agencies serving youth, allied agencies,
community-based organizations, and law enforcement
agencies to improve school attendance, encourage good
citizenship, and to reduce school violence and crime.
3) States legislative intent that all California public
schools, in cooperation with local law enforcement
agencies, community leaders, parents, pupils,
teachers, administrators and other interested parties,
develop a comprehensive school safety plan.
The School Safety Block Grant provides grant funding to
schools serving grades 8-12. The 2009-10 Budget
appropriated $61 million for this grant, with an additional
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$38.7 million deferred to the 2010-11 fiscal year. School
Safety Block Grant funding is included in the categorical
program flexibility (Tier III), allowing school districts
to use this funding for any educational purpose for the
2008-09 fiscal year to the 2012-13 fiscal year. This grant
funding was reduced by 15.38% in 2008-09, and faces an
additional 4.46% reduction in 2009-10.
The School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grant provides
grant funding to schools serving grades K-12. This grant
consolidates funding that previously went separately to the
following programs:
1) Safe school planning and partnership mini-grants.
2) School community policing.
3) Gang-risk intervention.
4) Safety plans for new schools.
5) School community violence prevention.
6) Conflict resolution.
The 2009-10 Budget appropriated $17.9 million for this
grant. School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grant
funding is included in the categorical program flexibility
(Tier III), allowing school districts to use this funding
for any educational purpose for the 2008-09 fiscal year to
the 2012-13 fiscal year. This grant funding was reduced by
15.38% in 2008-09, and faces an additional 4.46% reduction
in 2009-10.
ANALYSIS
This bill authorizes a school district or county office of
education to enter into a memorandum of understanding with
a district attorney or prosecuting city attorney in order
to promote public safety. Specifically, this bill:
1) Authorizes the governing board of a school district or
a county superintendent of schools to enter into a
memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a district
attorney or prosecuting city attorney having filing
jurisdiction over the school district in order to
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facilitate the placement of one or more prosecutors on
one or more school campuses in order to promote public
safety.
2) Requires participation to be at the option of each
agency. A school district, district attorney, or
prosecuting city attorney cannot be required by the
other party to enter into the MOU.
3) Requires the two agencies to work together to develop
the terms and conditions of the MOU. The MOU must
incorporate the conditions pursuant to this bill, and
provisions deemed by the agencies as reasonably
necessary to fulfill the purpose of school safety and
to ensure compliance with the MOU and this bill. The
MOU must include, but is not limited to, the
following:
a) The time period for the agencies'
participation in the school safety program and
the procedures for the placement of one or more
prosecutors directly onto one or more campuses
under the jurisdiction of the school district.
b) The scope of work to be given to the
prosecutor and how the prosecutor is to work with
the administration of the specific school.
c) A procedure for funding the school safety
program that includes declarations that the
agencies have adequate funs available to provide
for the costs that arise from placing a
prosecutor on a school campus.
d) Performance measures to evaluate the
effectiveness of the school safety program,
including annual progress reports.
e) A statement that the primary purpose of the
partnership is to promote pupil safety and that
the prosecutor shall attempt, whenever possible,
to prevent problems before they escalate.
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4) Establishes that nothing in this bill prohibits a
school district or county office of education from
adopting an alternative model of collaboration.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Permissive Education Code . This bill authorizes an
action that can already be undertaken under existing
law. Given this, the committee may wish to consider
whether the bill is necessary.
2) Role of a prosecutor . This bill sets forth that it is
the criminal prosecutor's responsibility to ensure
that children feel safe in and around schools. This
bill also declares that the local prosecutor's office
is in an ideal position to work with the corresponding
local school district to implement strategies aimed at
reversing conditions that produce and perpetuate an
unsafe school environment. As mentioned in the
Assembly Public Safety Committee analysis of this
bill, deputy district attorneys and city attorneys are
not trained in the same manner as peace officers;
peace officers are trained and hired to ensure the
safety of all; prosecutors are trained and hired to
prosecute crimes after those crimes have occurred.
There is little nexus between an attorney being
present on campus and the prevention of crime.
This bill does not set forth the duties of a prosecutor on
a school campus, instead leaving those details to each
memorandum of understanding.
SUPPORT
Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney (sponsor)
Los Angeles School Police Department
Los Angeles Unified School District
OPPOSITION
American Civil Liberties Union