BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1396
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 11, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
SB 1396 (Hancock) - As Amended: April 23, 2014
SENATE VOTE : 24-11
SUBJECT : School climate: multitiered intervention and support
program
SUMMARY : Apportions, to the extent one-time funding is made
available in the Budget Act of 2014, funding to a designated
county office of education (COE) for the purposes of
establishing a multitiered intervention and support program
(MTIS) that includes, but is not limited, the Schoolwide
Positive Behavior Intervention and Support program (SW-PBIS).
Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes findings and declarations, including the following:
a) Narrow state and federal laws related to pupil
suspension and expulsion produce reactive discipline
policies and increased pupil exclusion from school. These
practices have resulted in disproportionality in discipline
practices, as reflected in the high number of suspensions
and expulsions among African Americans and Latino pupils.
b) In order to ensure that all pupils flourish
academically, districts must establish equitable discipline
practices and behavioral interventions that promote
positive social-emotional development and that prevent and
respond to negative behaviors in order to reengage
disconnected pupils.
c) Research shows that efforts to improve school climate,
safety, and learning are not separate endeavors. They must
be designed, funded, and implemented as a comprehensive
schoolwide approach. School districts must work to ensure
through their local control and accountability plans (LCAP)
that pupils have access to universal, targeted, and
individualized psychological, behavioral, and counseling
services and support that will increase their chances for
academic improvement.
SB 1396
Page 2
d) SW-PBIS is a multitiered framework for creating positive
school cultures. The SW-PBIS approach requires the
implementation of preventative and proactive approaches to
discipline and positive discipline methods. In doing so,
SW-PBIS changes the belief systems and behavior of school
staffs, pupils, and the community, resulting in positive,
productive citizens, and safer schools.
e) Elements of SW-PBIS are guided by six core principles,
as follows:
i) Develop a continuum of scientifically based behavior
and academic interventions and supports.
ii) Use data to make decisions and solve problems.
iii) Arrange the environment to prevent the development
and occurrence of problem behavior; increase supervision
where needed.
iv) All school staff teach and encourage prosocial
skills and behaviors in all settings on campus, and
before and after school.
v) Implement evidence-based behavioral practices with
fidelity and accountability.
vi) Screen universally and monitor pupil performance and
progress continuously.
2)Specifies that the designated COE shall be chosen by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) from county offices
that apply for the designation.
3)Provides that the designated COE, as the fiduciary agent,
shall do the following:
a) Be in charge of establishing specific professional
development activities that will lead to statewide
professional development support structures allowing for
the development and expansion of MTIS efforts, including
the incorporation of restorative practices, in each region
of the state.
b) Consult with the Regional K-12 Student Mental Health
Initiative, the National Alliance on Mental Health Illness,
the California Technical Assistance Center on Schoolwide
Positive Behavior Intervention and Support, the California
County Superintendents Educational Services Association,
the California Mental Health Directors Association, the
SB 1396
Page 3
United Advocates for Children and Families, and other
nonprofit agencies throughout the state.
c) Select an advisory committee made up of stakeholders and
mental health professionals who have participated in the
development and expansion of MTIS programs to assist in the
planning and implementation of this project.
d) Consider and include, as appropriate, available
resources for MTIS.
e) Analyze, working in cooperation with the Department of
Finance, the California Department of Education (CDE), and
the Legislative Analyst, the relevant data on the success
of MTIS programs at both the state and national levels, and
establish a set of best practices to be made available to
school districts and consortia of school districts to
expand schoolwide MTIS to address academic and behavioral
issues and to use as a foundation for the annual goals and
state priorities, such as pupil engagement and school
climate, which may be included in LCAP.
4)Requires the professional development and outreach effort to
build upon existing statewide organizations, networks, and
regional organizations that are providing services related to
multitiered intervention and support and other mental health
approaches. The goal would be to organize multitiered
intervention and support trainings and resources to be
disseminated on a regional basis. These trainings, associated
materials, and research shall educate participants on how to
have MTIS program support LCAP strategic goals in alignment
with a multitiered support system framework.
5)Requires, within the context of a state-level plan, funding to
be targeted to all of the following critical activities:
a) Explaining the importance of linking MTIS efforts with
local control funding formula (LCFF) planning.
b) Creating broad exposure to MTIS, which would include
pamphlets, videos, Internet Web site creation, webinars,
and newsletters.
c) Creating regional conferences on MTIS implementation
that would provide free training for teachers, school
psychologists, and administrators.
d) Establishing stipends for release time for school
SB 1396
Page 4
personnel attending these workshops.
e) Developing best practices of current district level MTIS
systems based on the analysis of relevant data pursuant to
this bill and ensuring that these best practices are widely
disseminated.
f) Establishing a cohort of trainers that can be available
to work directly with local school districts seeking to
implement MTIS programs.
g) Establishing a repository for the collection and
dissemination of MTIS best practices.
6)Requires the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) to review the
impacts of this professional development effort and report to
the Governor, CDE, and the Legislature by June 30, 2017, on
the breadth and best practices of the training.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Expresses the intent of the Legislature to encourage school
districts, COEs, 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,
including vandalism, drug and alcohol abuse, gang membership,
gang violence, hate crimes, bullying, including bullying
committed personally or by means of an electronic act, teen
relationship violence, and discrimination and harassment,
including, but not limited to, sexual harassment. (Education
Code (EC) Section 32261)
2)Encourages schools, as comprehensive school safety plans are
reviewed and updated, to include in school safety plans clear
guidelines for the roles and responsibilities of mental health
professionals, community intervention professionals, school
counselors, school resource officers, and police officers on
school campus, if the school district uses these people. The
guidelines may include primary strategies to create and
maintain a positive school climate, promote school safety, and
increase pupil achievement, and prioritize mental health and
intervention services, restorative and transformative justice
programs, and positive behavior interventions and support.
(EC Section 32282.1)
3)Provides that a suspension shall only be imposed when other
means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct.
SB 1396
Page 5
Specifies that other means of correction may include, but are
not limited to, the following:
a) A conference between school personnel, the pupil's
parent or guardian, and the pupil.
b) Referrals to the school counselor, psychologist, social
worker, child welfare attendance personnel, or other school
support service personnel for case management and
counseling.
c) Study teams, guidance teams, resource panel teams, or
other intervention-related teams that assess the behavior,
and develop and implement individualized plans to address
the behavior in partnership with the pupil and his or her
parents.
d) Referral for a comprehensive psychosocial or
psychoeducational assessment.
e) Enrollment in a program for teaching prosocial behavior
or anger management.
f) Participation in a restorative justice program.
g) A positive behavior support approach with tiered
interventions that occur during the schoolday on campus.
h) After school programs that address specific behavioral
issues or expose pupils to positive activities and
behaviors. (EC Section 48900.5)
4)Specific to students with exceptional needs, requires the
individualized education program team shall consider the use
of positive behavioral interventions and supports for students
whose behavior impedes his or her learning. (EC Section
56341)
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1)CDE costs of $1million - $2 million to contract with a COE to
create professional development content, and to make
professional development opportunities available to schools
statewide (including stipends for release time for school
personnel attending workshops).
2)Significant costs, likely in the hundreds of thousands of
dollars for the LAO to complete the required report.
COMMENTS : Alternatives to suspensions and expulsions . Under
current law, pupils can be suspended or recommended for
SB 1396
Page 6
expulsion for committing a number of acts. Over the last
several years, legislative efforts have focused on how to reduce
out-of-school suspensions while encouraging or mandating schools
to use alternative, more positive, methods to address pupil
behavior. The belief is that keeping students in school and
addressing the causes for bad behavior will be more effective
than students sitting at home watching television or engaging in
harmful activities on the streets. For example, AB 1729
(Ammiano), Chapter 425, Statutes of 2012, requires schools to
impose suspensions only when other means of correction fail to
bring about proper conduct. Other means of corrections include
the following:
1)A conference between school personnel, the pupil's parent or
guardian and the pupil.
2)Referrals to the school counselor, psychologist, social worker
or other school support service personnel for case management
and counseling.
3)Study teams, guidance teams, resource panel teams, or other
intervention-related teams that assess behavior, and develop
and implement individualized plans to address the behavior in
partnership with the pupil and his or her parents.
4)Referral for a comprehensive psychosocial or psychoeducational
assessment.
5)Enrollment in a program for teaching prosocial behavior or
anger management.
6)Participation in a restorative justice program.
7)A positive behavior support approach with tiered interventions
that occur during the schoolday on campus.
8)After school programs that address specific behavioral issues
or expose pupils to positive activities and behaviors,
including, but not limited to, those operated in collaboration
with local parent and community groups.
9)Community service programs such as outdoor beautification;
community or campus betterment; and teacher, peer or youth
assistance programs.
A number of school districts have implemented programs such as
SW-PBIS or restorative justice initiatives, including Los
Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Ana, Oakland, Elk
Grove, and Irvine Unified School Districts. As expressed in the
findings and declarations section of this bill, restorative
justice is a set of principles and practices grounded in the
values of showing respect, taking responsibility, and
strengthening relationships. Restorative practices, applied on
SB 1396
Page 7
a schoolwide context, are used to build a sense of school
community and resolve conflict by repairing harm and restoring
positive relationships. School districts that have restorative
justice programs have seen reductions in the number of
out-of-school suspensions.
This bill establishes a process for supporting MTIS efforts,
synonymous with multitiered systems of support (MTSS),
throughout the state if funding is made available for this
purpose in the 2014-15 fiscal year budget. The sponsor of this
bill, the California Association of School Psychologists (CASP),
describes MTIS as a "school- and community-based continuum of
care that provides expertise and services to students to meet
their academic, behavioral, social-emotional and mental health
needs." SW-PBIS is a form of MTIS that some school districts
have adopted. According to CASP, SW-PBIS is not a program or a
curriculum; it is a decision-making framework that guides
selection, integration, and implementation of the best
evidence-based academic and behavioral practices for improving
important outcomes for all students. At the universal,
school-wide level, PBIS requires the implementation of
preventative and proactive approaches to discipline and positive
discipline methods. In doing so, PBIS changes the belief
systems and behavior of school staffs, students, and the
community, resulting in positive, productive, citizens and safer
schools."
SW-PBIS has roots in the Individuals with Disabilities Act of
1997, used to identify specific learning disabilities. The US
Department of Education encourages SW-PBIS strategies and has an
Internet Web site with resources to provide technical assistance
to school districts. As indicative in the name, MTIS, the
strategies are based on a tiered system, similar to the
following:
Source: www.pbis.org
MTIS is a proactive way to change the culture at a schoolsite in
order to prevent the need for disciplinary measures. It focuses
not only on student behavior, but also on academic engagement
and achievement. However, if needed, actions can be taken at a
more targeted level, such as through smaller group activities or
monitoring, or individual referrals to interventions or
services, such as counseling. Adoption of MTIS must be
SB 1396
Page 8
implemented on a schoolwide level in order for the strategies to
be most effective.
Use of funds . This bill directs the SPI to choose a COE, from
applications submitted by COEs, to be a fiduciary agent and
coordinator of activities with the goal of enabling schools
throughout the state to implement MTIS strategies, including
professional development and trainings; development of materials
such as pamphlets, videos, webinars, newsletters, and Web sites;
hosting regional conferences; developing best practices; and
establishing a repository for the collection and dissemination
of MTIS best practices. The bill also allows the funds to be
used to provide stipends for release time for school personnel
to attend trainings and workshops. The bill does not specify
the criteria for selecting the COE.
LCAP . The bill makes references to LCFF and requires the
trainings, materials, and research to educate participants on
how to have MTIS program support LCAP strategic goals in
alignment with a multitiered support system framework. Under
LCFF, local educational agencies are required to adopt a LCAP
that addresses specified priorities, including school climate,
pupil engagement, parent involvement, and improving academic
achievement. The author and sponsor believe that MTIS can
support the priorities by providing local schools and districts
with an evidence-based framework to produce targeted pupil
behavioral and academic outcomes.
Best practices . The bill requires the COE, working with the
Department of Finance, CDE, and the LAO, to analyze relevant
data on the success of MTIS programs at both the state and
national levels, and establish a set of best practices that
school districts can use. It is unclear whether this set of
best practices is different from the best practices specified in
another part of the bill.
Consultations . The bill requires several layers of
consultations. The bill requires the COE to consult with named
organizations for unspecified reasons. The organizations
identified includes the Regional K-12 Student Mental Health
Initiative, the National Alliance on Mental Health Illness, the
California Technical Assistance Center on Schoolwide Positive
Behavior Intervention and Support, the California County
Superintendents Educational Services Association, the California
Mental Health Directors Association, the United Advocates for
SB 1396
Page 9
Children and Families, and other nonprofit agencies throughout
the state. The author may wish to specify the purpose for which
the COE is to consult with these groups. In addition, the bill
requires the COE to select an advisory committee made up of
stakeholders and mental health professionals who have expertise
in MTIS programs to assist in the planning and implementation of
the project. Presumably, the stakeholders the COE is required
to consult with can be members of the advisory committee.
Report . The bill requires the LAO to review the impact of this
bill and submit a report to the Governor, CDE, and the
Legislature by June 30, 2017 on the breadth and best practices
of the training. The author may wish to consider extending the
date for the report to provide more time for implementation by
schools and evaluation by the LAO.
Arguments in support . CASP states, "First, one of the most
important goals at every school should be the creation of
positive cultures in schools. PBIS is one of the most effective
approaches to creating a positive school culture. This approach
is in use and growing in a number of California schools. The
passage of SB 1396 will allow school leaders to become familiar
with these strategies as well as understand how suspensions and
expulsions affect students both socially and academically.
Second, CASP believes it is critical to spread the use of
preventative and positive school discipline practices in
California. Third, CASP believes that with the training and
professional development required in SB 1396, all California
school districts would be able to establish a statewide model
that will allow all districts to implement PBIS multi-tiered
frameworks that are aligned with the priorities established by
the Local Control Funding Formula."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Association of School Psychologists (sponsor)
American Civil Liberties Union
California School Boards Association
Children's Defense Fund-California
Children Now
The Latina Center
Several individuals
SB 1396
Page 10
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087