BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1839
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 7, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 1839 (Torrico) - As Amended: March 25, 2010
[Note: This bill has been double referred to the Assembly
Revenue and Taxation Committee and will be heard as it relates
to issues under its jurisdiction.]
SUBJECT : School Safety
SUMMARY : Establishes the Safe Schools Initiative, under which
the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) shall award
grants to school districts with high schools located in areas
with the highest crime rates. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires, for purposes of implementing the program, the SPI to
rank the high schools in the state according to the crime
rates of the areas in which the high schools are located.
2)Specifies that all school districts are eligible to apply for
grant funds under the program.
3)Requires the SPI to award grants to applicant school districts
that have jurisdiction over the 100 high schools located in
areas with the highest crime rates.
4)Requires a school district to use grant funds to employ at
least one police officer to provide services at the high
school or high schools in the district that qualified the
school district for the award.
5)Specifies that the grant program shall be funded from the
augmentation of the vehicle license fee collected pursuant to
Section 10752.3 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.
6)Augments, by 0.025%, the annual amount of the license fee for
a vehicle with a market value of $50,000 or more, other than a
trailer or semitrailer, as described in subdivision (a) of
Section 5014.1 of the Vehicle Code, or a trailer coach that is
required to be moved under permit as authorized in Section
35790 of the Vehicle Code, to fund the Safe Schools
Initiative.
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EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes the governing board of any school district to
establish a security department under the supervision of a
chief of security or a police department under the supervision
of a chief of police, as designated by, and under the
direction of, the superintendent of the school district.
(Education Code (EC) 38000)
2)Specifies that individuals employed by a school district
police department, when appointed and duly sworn, are peace
officers and may carry firearms if authorized by the governing
board. (EC 38001)
3)Defines "school security officer" as any person primarily
employed or assigned to provide security services as a
watchperson, security guard, or patrolperson on or about
premises owned or operated by a school district to protect
persons or property or to prevent the theft or unlawful taking
of district property of any kind or to report any unlawful
activity to the district and local law enforcement agencies.
(EC 38001.5)
4)Authorizes the governing board of a school district to
establish a school police reserve officer corps to supplement
a police department and states the intent of the Legislature
to allow school districts to use volunteer school police
reserve officers to the extent necessary to provide a safe and
secure school environment. (EC 35021.5)
5)Authorizes the governing board of a school district to
contract with a private licensed security agency to insure the
safety of school district personnel and pupils and the
security of the real and personal property of the school
district when the personnel normally required to provide such
service fail to do so because of an emergency, including, but
not limited to, war, epidemic, fire, flood, or work stoppage;
or when such an emergency necessitates additional security
services. (EC 38005)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Existing efforts to ensure school safety include the
following:
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School Security and Police Departments . Governing boards are
authorized to establish security departments headed by a Chief
of Security and a police department headed by a Chief of Police.
Security departments are considered supplementary to city and
county law enforcement agencies and are not vested with general
police powers. Individuals employed and compensated as members
of a police department of a school district, when appointed and
duly sworn, are considered peace officers. There is no data on
the number of districts that have security or police
departments. Larger districts are more likely than smaller
districts to have police departments.
School Resource Officer program (SRO) . Many local city or
county law enforcement agencies partner with their local
educational agencies (LEAs) through a SRO program. The SRO
program assigns one or more police officers to work with LEAs to
create and maintain a safe environment and provide support and
training to school and district officials on crime prevention,
gang intervention and school safety. Some SROs assign one
officer to each middle and/or high school in a district or one
officer to work with several middle and/or high schools, while
others assign one officer to work with the whole district. Some
SROs are on campuses daily. According to the California
Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, which
produces a training document for SROs, the SRO concept started
in Michigan in the 1950's and the placement of sworn peace
officers in the schools in now commonplace throughout the
country. There is no statewide data on how many schools have
SROs.
State funding. The state funds two categorical programs that
focus on school safety. The Carl Washington School Safety and
Violence Prevention Act (school safety block grant) provides
grants for LEAs to devise violence prevention strategies in
schools. According to the California Department of Education
(CDE), funds may be used for personnel, materials, strategies or
programs. In 2009-10, the program received almost $80 million,
following a 20% reduction pursuant to the fiscal year (FY)
2009-10 budget agreement (SBX3 4 (Ducheny), Chapter 12, Statutes
of the 2009-10 Third Extraordinary Session), which also gave
LEAs the flexibility to use funds from 39 categorical programs
for any educational purposes for FY 2008-09 through 2012-13. It
is not known whether any or how much of the School Safety and
Violence Prevention Act funds have been diverted to other
programs.
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The School Safety Consolidated Competitive Grant was allocated
$14.3 million in FY 2009-10 for LEAs to establish school safety
and violence prevention programs, with an emphasis on gang
violence prevention. Similar to the School Safety and Violence
Prevention Act, LEAs have authority to use funds allocated to
this program for any educational purpose. It is not known
whether any or how much of these funds have been diverted to
other programs.
School Safety Plans . Existing law requires school site councils
or school safety planning committees to develop a comprehensive
school safety plan to be submitted to the LEA. The LEA is
required to notify the CDE of any school not in compliance with
this requirement. The plans must include an assessment of the
current status of school crime committed on school campuses and
at school-related functions and identification of appropriate
strategies and programs that will provide or maintain a high
level of school safety and address the school's procedures for
complying with existing laws related to school safety, including
child abuse reporting procedures; disaster procedures; an
earthquake emergency procedure system; policies regarding pupils
who commit specified acts that would lead to suspension or
expulsion; procedures to notify teachers of dangerous pupils; a
discrimination and harassment policy; the provisions of any
schoolwide dress code; procedures for safe ingress and egress of
pupils, parents, and school employees to and from school; a safe
and orderly environment conducive to learning; rules and
procedures on school discipline; and hate crime reporting
procedures.
Purpose of this bill . This bill increases the vehicle license
fee by .025% for any vehicle with a market value over $50,000 to
provide grants to 100 high schools located in areas with the
highest crime rates. The author estimates that the fee increase
would generate approximately $10 to $15 million per year. The
bill specifies that the grant shall be used to employ at least
one police officer to provide services at the high school or
high schools in the district that qualified the school district
for the award. The author estimates the cost of one police
officer to be $100,000. It is unclear whether the funds can
only be used to hire police officers or whether the LEA is
authorized to used the funds for other purposes after hiring one
police officer.
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The author states, "California's future economic success depends
on the quality of education we deliver to students. Part of
building that success in our classrooms depends on creating a
learning environment that is safe and secure for all students,
regardless of what neighborhood or community they come from. In
these tough economic times, when budgets are being slashed, we
should not sacrifice campus security, especially in those
communities hardest hit by crime. It is not uncommon for
schools to place police officers on campus. The Los Angeles
Unified
School District currently has 363 sworn campus police officers
placed among their schools.
However, LAUSD has over 900 schools within its jurisdiction."
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) opposes this bill
because it does not believe that police presence on school
campuses will decrease incidences of crime. The ACLU advocates
for more positive behavioral interventions. ACLU states,
"Although individual schools may have varying results, overall,
the bill's program will not make our schools safer, and it will
have the unintended consequence of fast tracking California
youth, especially youth of color, into the criminal justice
system. Research has shown the best way to increase school
safety is to implement alternatives to policing, such as
positive behavior interventions. Despite high profile incidents
of violent crime on school campuses, the majority of school
discipline in California is directed at minor instances of
misbehavior. We are concerned this bill will only further
criminalize youth, particularly youth of color, for minor
misbehavior."
The California Taxpayers' Association opposes the bill because
"budgetary earmarks, such as the one proposed in this bill, are
not good fiscal policy. This bill proposes to raise money with
a General Fund tax to pay for a very narrow program, while other
vital General Fund programs are facing major cuts. General Fund
taxes should be allocated to the General Fund."
Technical Issues . This bill requires the SPI to rank high
schools in California according to the crime rates in the areas
where the high schools are located. It is unclear how "area"
with the highest crime rate is defined. The Attorney General's
(AG's) office reports city, county and statewide level crime
statistics. However, none of those statistics are adequate
indicators for this purpose. Ranking high schools according to
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even the most micro level (city level) crime statistics
available would not provide distinction between high schools
located in different parts of a city. This is especially
problematic for high schools located in larger cities. It is
unclear whether statistics can be obtained according to zip
codes or neighborhoods on a statewide level. According to the
AG's office, local law enforcement agencies may report crime
statistics that are more geographically targeted. For example,
the Los Angeles County Sheriff's office reports crime statistics
by police precincts or stations, the San Francisco Police
Department allows mapping by addresses or landmarks (e.g.,
public schools), and the Fresno Police Department breaks down
crimes by city geographical areas (e.g., northeast, southwest,
etc.). However, these types of reports are not uniform and
cannot be used to compare crime rates across localities. The
Los Angeles Unified School District Police Department reports
crime statistics on a school by school basis, but not all
districts have police departments.
A second issue has to do with the types of crime statistics to
be used. Crime rate statistics reported by the AG's office are
broken down by violent, property, or larceny-theft. Statistics
for felony and misdemeanor crimes are also available as well as
crimes committed by adults or juveniles. This bill does not
specify the specific crime indicator or indicators to be used by
the SPI to rank high schools.
According to the author's office, this bill is intended to
provide a total of 100 grants to high schools located in areas
with the highest crime rates, which means that districts not
interested in requesting a grant for an eligible high school can
be skipped to the high school next on the list until 100 grants
are awarded. The bill as written can be interpreted to provide
eligibility only to the 100 high schools with the highest crime
rates, which could result in fewer than 100 grants being awarded
if there are eligible districts that do not apply for a grant.
Committee suggested amendments .
1)In addition to hiring police officers, allow grants to also be
used for other interventions in conjunction with local law
enforcement agencies.
2)Require the SPI to consult with the AG to determine the most
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appropriate crime rate statistics or indicators to be used to
identify the list of high schools eligible to apply for grant
funds.
3)Clarify that grants shall be awarded in descending order based
on the high school located in the area with the highest crime
rate.
Related legislation . AB 1511 (De Leon), pending on the Senate
Floor, authorizes a governing board of a school district or a
county superintendent of schools to enter into a memorandum of
understanding with a prosecuting city attorney's office or
district attorney's office having filing jurisdiction over the
school district to facilitate the placement of one or more
prosecutors on one or more school district campuses in order to
promote public safety.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Peace Officers Research Association of California
Opposition
American Civil Liberties Union
California Taxpayers' Association
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087