BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 212
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 19, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

                     SB 212 (Florez) - As Amended:  May 18, 2009 

          Policy Committee:                             Education Vote:8-1

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction  
          (SPI) to develop information and guidelines regarding the  
          prevention of communicable diseases at schoolsites, as  
          specified.  
          Specifically, this bill:  

          1)Requires the information and guidelines to, at a minimum,  
            address the maintenance of locker rooms, athletic equipment,  
            and synthetic ground covers for athletic fields and ways to  
            minimize the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus  
            aureus (MRS) and meningococcal disease.  

          2)Requires the information and guidelines to include information  
            provided to school staff, including classified employees, for  
            training and information to minimize the spread of MRS and  
            meningococcal disease.  

          3)Requires the SPI to post the approved guidelines on the State  
            Department of Education's (SDE) Internet website.  

          4)Authorizes a school district to provide for the annual  
            cleaning and sterilizing of high school wrestling equipment,  
            as specified.  (Current law requires cleaning and  
            sterilization of football equipment.)

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          One-time GF administrative costs, likely between $80,000 and  
          $115,000, to develop the guidelines and post on the SDE's  
          Internet website.  









                                                                  SB 212
                                                                  Page  2

           COMMENTS  

           Purpose  .  MRS is a bacterium that causes infections in different  
          parts of the body. It is a form of staph.  MRS is generally  
          viewed as more difficult to treat than most strains of staph  
          because it's resistant to some commonly used antibiotics.  Most  
          often, it causes mild infections on the skin, causing pimples or  
          boils. However, MRS can also cause more serious skin infections  
          or infect surgical wounds, the bloodstream, the lungs, or the  
          urinary tract.  


          MRSA is spread by contact, which means an individual may get the  
          infection by touching another person who has it on the skin.  
          Likewise, it can also be spread by touching objects that have  
          the bacteria on them.  In February 2007, the California  
          Department of Health Services produced a pamphlet: MRS for  
          Athletes-What you need to Know.  This pamphlet directs pupils to  
          "disinfect by applying a chemical product that kills the  
          bacteria on a cleaned surface for a period of time specified by  
          the manufacturer (usually 10 minutes)."


          This bill requires the SPI to develop information and guidelines  
          regarding the prevention of communicable diseases, including  
          MRS, at schoolsites.  



             











           Analysis Prepared by  :    Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081