BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1264
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1264 (Conway)
As Amended January 16, 2014
Majority vote
EDUCATION 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 16-0
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|Ayes:|Buchanan, Olsen, Ch�vez, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, Allen, |
| |Gonzalez, Nazarian, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Weber, Williams | |Calderon, Campos, Eggman, |
| | | |Gomez, Holden, Linder, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, |
| | | |Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Makes various changes to the comprehensive school
safety plans. Specifically, this bill :
1)Expands the definition of "tactical response to criminal
incidents" to include a plan to safeguard against incidents
that include a firearm, explosive, or other deadly weapon.
2)Requires a school district or county office of education (COE)
to publicly announce its adoption or update of a tactical
response plan, but does not require disclosure of those
portions of the plan that may be kept private.
3)Requires the comprehensive school safety plan to include a
tactical response plan as specified in existing law.
4)Makes minor, clarifying changes.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, one-time General Fund/Proposition 98 state
reimbursable mandated costs of between $250,000 to $500,000 for
school districts to update school safety plans to include
tactical response plans, as specified. If the requirements of
this measure are determined to be a state mandate, the
requirements and associated costs would be added to the K-12
mandate block grant.
AB 1264
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COMMENTS : Existing law requires each school to develop a school
safety plan that includes processes, procedures, and policies to
ensure student and staff safety at a school site. The
components of the plan range from daily processes, such as
procedures for safe ingress and egress of pupils, parents and
school employees; to disaster and emergency procedures such as
those during and after earthquakes; to behavioral policies such
as discrimination and harassment policies. The school safety
plan is developed by a school site council or a school safety
planning committee. Current law requires a school to submit the
school safety plan to the school district or COE for approval
and requires the school district or COE to annually notify the
California Department of Education (CDE) of any schools that
have not complied with the requirement to develop a school
safety plan. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is
authorized to impose a fine of not more than $2,000 against a
school district or COE for any willful failure to make any
required report. According to the CDE, there has been no report
of noncompliance by schools and no district or COE has been
fined for willfully failing to report a school that has not
developed a school safety plan. It is unclear whether this is
because there has been no violation and every school in the
state has developed its school safety plan, or whether districts
or COEs have not reported schools that have not developed their
school safety plans.
In 2011, AB 680 (Block), Chapter 438, Statutes of 2011,
authorized school districts and COEs to choose to allow
administrators, in consultation with law enforcement agencies,
to develop a tactical response plan, approve the plan in closed
session and announce the vote in open session following the
closed session. The bill was sponsored by San Diego Unified
School District with concerns that because the school safety
plan is a public document and subject to the California Public
Records Act, exposing the tactical response plan to public
review would give those with criminal intent an advantage in the
event of a violent situation, which would compromise the safety
of students and staff. The bill was drafted in consultation
with law enforcement and first amendment rights representatives.
This bill expands the definition of "tactical responses to
criminal incidents" from "steps taken to safeguard pupils and
staff, to secure the affected school premises, and to apprehend
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the criminal perpetrator or perpetrators" to "steps taken to
safeguard pupils and staff, to secure the affect school
premises, and to apprehend the criminal perpetrator or
perpetrators, including, but not limited to, a plan to safeguard
against incidents that include a firearm, explosive, or other
deadly weapon." The bill also requires the school district or
COE to publicly announce its adoption or update of a tactical
response plan, but clarifies that the school district or COE is
not required to disclose the portions of the plan that may be
kept private. Current law already requires an announcement of
the adoption of the plan; this bill expands the requirement to
include update of the plan.
This bill inserts into the list of components that are required
of the school safety plan a requirement to develop a tactical
response plan as provided for in AB 680. The author states that
the provisions under AB 680 simply authorize the development of
a tactical response plan to be developed in closed session, but
do not require it.
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0002986