BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 1993 (Fox) - Bullying: Training Module
Amended: May 27, 2014 Policy Vote: Education 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: June 30, 2014
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1993 requires the California Department of
Education (CDE) to develop an online training module regarding
bullying.
Fiscal Impact: $100,000 - $130,000 (General Fund) in one-time
costs for the CDE to develop and publish a bullying training
module.
Background: Existing law 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:
a) Placing a reasonable student or students in fear of harm
to that student's or those students' person or property.
b) Causing a reasonable student to experience a
substantially detrimental effect on his or her physical or
mental health.
c) Causing a reasonable student to experience substantial
interference with his or her academic performance.
d) 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. (EC � 48900(r)(1))
Existing law defines an "electronic act" as the creation and
transmission, originated on or off the schoolsite, by means of
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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: a) a message, text, sounds, or image; or b) post on
a social network website, as specified. (EC � 48900(r)(2))
The Safe Place to Learn Act requires the Superintendent of
Public Instruction to post on the Internet and provide to each
school district a list of statewide resources that provide
support to youth who have been subjected to school-based
discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying. The
website must also include a list of statewide resources for
youth who have been affected by gangs, gun violence, and
psychological trauma caused by violence at home, at school, and
in the community. (EC � 234.5)
Proposed Law: This bill requires the CDE to develop an online
training module to assist all school staff, school
administrators, parents, students and community members in
increasing their knowledge of the dynamics of bullying and
cyberbullying. This bill further requires the online training
module to include, but not be limited to, identifying an act of
bullying or cyberbullying, and implementing strategies to
address bullying and cyberbullying.
Related Legislation: AB 1455 (Campos) authorizes schools to
refer a victim of bullying, or other students affected by
bullying, for case management, counseling, and participation in
a restorative justice program. AB 1455 is awaiting action on
the Senate Floor.
SB 840 (Lara) 2014 would have required each local educational
agency to develop and implement a policy against bullying. SB
840 was held under submission in this Committee.
SB 231 (Correa) 2013 would have required the CDE to establish
the California Bullying Prevention Advisory Council for the
purpose of providing information about bullying, abuse, safety,
and referrals to other agencies. SB 231 was held under
submission in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Staff Comments: The CDE will require additional resources to
develop a bullying training module and publish it online. The
CDE estimates that it will require $40,000 in contract costs to
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hire module developers, which would include educational leaders
with expertise in bullying and cyberbullying, technology/online
learning experts, and classroom teachers. It will also incur
$15,000 in costs to publish the module online, through the K-12
High Speed Network.
The remainder of the costs would be for CDE to staff the
project, and coordinate its completion. This bill is vague in
its requirements for what must be included in the training
module and how complex and comprehensive it must be. Thus, costs
will be driven by the CDE's interpretation of what it must do,
and how efficiently it completes that work. The CDE estimates
that it would need a .5 Education Programs Consultant (EPC) for
one year (at a cost of $58,000), and a .2 Associate Governmental
Programs Analyst (AGPA) for one year (at a cost of $18,000), to
manage the project. The EPC would serve as project lead, and
would be responsible for identifying experts from the field to
provide input for the project, determine the criteria,
strategies, and format needed to be included in the module and
possible developers who have the expertise in online
professional learning, bullying, and cyberbullying. The limited
AGPA support would be to prepare the contracts, monitor the
budget, and pay invoices. To the extent that the CDE can
complete this project in fewer than 1,400 staff hours, costs
could be reduced.