BILL NUMBER: AB 1738 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 26, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 9, 2000
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Washington
JANUARY 10, 2000
An act to amend Sections 32228 and 32228.1 of, and to add Section
32228.4 to, the Education Code, relating to school safety ,
and making an appropriation therefor .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1738, as amended, Washington. Educational counseling.
Existing law establishes the Carl Washington School Safety and
Violence Prevention Act, which requires the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to provide funds to school districts and county offices
of education serving pupils in any of grades 8 to 12, inclusive, for
the purpose of promoting school safety and reducing schoolsite
violence and other specified purposes.
This bill would expand the School Safety and Violence Prevention
program to school districts and county offices of education that
serve pupils in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and expand
the specified purposes for which funds may be appropriated to
participating school districts and county offices of education. The
bill would expand upon the goals of the act, as intended by the
Legislature. The bill would also appropriate $100,000,000
to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for allocation
exclusively to school districts or county offices of education for
the purposes of the act and authorize the allocation of 1% of the
appropriated funds to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for
administrative costs and technical assistance required by the act.
The funds appropriated by this bill would be applied toward the
minimum funding requirements for school districts and community
college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the
California Constitution.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes no
. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 32228 of the Education Code is amended to read:
32228. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that public
schools serving pupils in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive,
have access to supplemental resources that provide additional
personnel and services to establish programs and strategies that
promote school safety and emphasize violence prevention among
children and youth in the public schools.
(b) It is further the intent of the Legislature that schoolsites
receiving funds pursuant to this article accomplish all of the
following goals:
(1) Teach pupils techniques for resolving conflicts without
violence.
(2) Train school staff and administrators to support and promote
conflict resolution and mediation techniques for resolving conflicts
between and among pupils.
(3) Reduce incidents of violence at the schoolsite.
(4) Reduce the ratio of pupils to credentialed pupil services
personnel. For purposes of this article, credential pupil services
personnel shall include, but not be limited to, school counselors,
school psychologists, school social workers, and school nurses.
(5) Promote and increase pupil participation in peer programs.
SEC. 2. Section 32228.1 of the Education Code is amended to read:
32228.1. (a) The School Safety and Violence Prevention Act is
hereby established. This statewide program shall be administered by
the Superintendent of Public Instruction, who , subject to funds
being appropriated therefor, shall provide funds to school
districts serving pupils in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12,
inclusive, for the purpose of promoting school safety and reducing
schoolsite violence. As a condition of receiving funds pursuant to
this article, an eligible school district shall certify, on forms and
in a manner required by the Superintendent of Public Instruction,
that the funds will be used as described in this section.
(b) From funds appropriated in the annual Budget Act or any other
measure, funds shall be allocated to school districts on the basis of
prior year enrollment, as reported by the California Basic
Educational Data System, of pupils in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12,
inclusive, for any one or more of the following purposes:
(1) Providing schools with personnel, including, but not limited
to, licensed or certificated school counselors, school social
workers, school nurses, and school psychologists, who are trained in
conflict resolution. Any law enforcement personnel hired pursuant to
this article shall be trained and sworn peace officers.
(2) Providing effective and accessible on-campus communication
devices and other school safety infrastructure needs.
(3) Establishing an in-service training program for school staff
to learn to identify at-risk pupils, to communicate effectively with
those pupils, and to refer those pupils to appropriate counseling.
(4) Establishing cooperative arrangements with local law
enforcement agencies for appropriate school-community relationships.
(5) Establishing youth-to-youth peer programs at schoolsites,
including, but not limited to, peer mediation, peer helpers, conflict
managers, peer education, and peer tutoring.
(6) For any other purpose that the school or school district
determines that would materially contribute to meeting the goals and
objectives of current law in providing for safe schools and
preventing violence among pupils.
SEC. 3. Section 32228.4 is added to the Education Code, to read:
32228.4. (a) If any school district chooses not to participate
individually in the program authorized under this article, or if
funding available through the program authorized under this article
would be insufficient to conduct the program in accordance with the
requirements of this article, that district may form a consortium
with other school districts to participate in the program and shall
be subject to the provisions of this article to the same extent as an
individual school district.
(b) If a school district chooses not to participate in the program
authorized under this article either individually or as part of a
consortium, that portion of funding that the school district would
have received for the program shall be distributed on a pro rata
basis to participating school districts.
SEC. 4. The sum of one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) is
hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Superintendent of
Public Instruction for allocation exclusively to school districts
authorized for the purposes of funding the activities and full
participation of the school districts as set forth in Article 3.6
(commencing with Section 32228) of Chapter 2 of Part 19 of the
Education Code. To perform the duties of this section, up to 1
percent of the total funds appropriated for purposes of this section
may be allocated to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for
administrative costs and technical assistance.