BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1738
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Date of Hearing: March 15, 2000
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Kerry Mazzoni, Chair
AB 1738 (Washington) - As Amended: March 9, 2000
SUBJECT : School safety.
SUMMARY : Extends the Carl Washington School Safety and
Violence Prevention Act (CWSSVPA) to include kindergarten and
grades 1-7 and appropriates $100 million for this purpose.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Extends the CWSSVPA to include kindergarten and grades 1-7.
2)Authorizes school districts receiving funds pursuant to the
CWSSVPA to use the funds to establish youth-to-youth peer
programs at schoolsites, including, but not limited to, peer
mediation, peer helpers, conflict managers, peer education,
and peer tutoring.
3)Authorizes any school district that chooses not to participate
individually in the CWSSVPA, or if funding available through
the CWSSVPA would be insufficient, to form a consortium with
other school districts to participate in the CWSSVPA.
Provides that such consortiums are subject to the provisions
of the CWSSVPA to the same extent as an individual school
district.
4)Requires that the portion of funds that a school district
would have received, if the school district chooses not to
participate either individually or as part of a consortium, be
distributed on a pro rata basis to participating school
districts.
5)Adds intent language that schools receiving funds pursuant to
the CWSSVPA reduce the ratio of students to credentialed
student services personnel, including, but not limited to,
school counselors, school psychologists, school social
workers, and school nurses.
6)Adds intent language that school receiving funds pursuant to
the CWSSVPA promote and increase student participation in peer
programs.
AB 1738
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7)Appropriates $100 million. Authorizes up to 1% of the total
funds appropriated to be allocated to the Superintendent of
Public Instruction (SPI) for administrative costs and
technical assistance.
EXISTING LAW
1)Establishes the CWSSVPA, for which $100 million was
appropriated, to be administered by the SPI. Includes county
offices of education in the CWSSVPA, for which $1 million was
appropriated. Requires the SPI to provide funds to schools
serving grades 8-12 to promote school safety and reduce
schoolsite violence. Requires funds to be allocated to school
districts on the basis of enrollment.. Requires a minimum
allocation of $5,000 for each schoolsite, or a minimum of
$10,000 for each school district, whichever is greater.
Requires funds to be use for one or more of the following:
a) 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.
Requires any law enforcement personnel hired pursuant to
this act to be trained and sworn peace officers;
b) Providing effective and accessible on-campus
communication devices and other school safety
infrastructure needs;
c) Establishing an in-service training program for school
staff to learn to identify at-risk students, to communicate
effectively with those students, and to refer those
students to appropriate counseling;
d) Establishing cooperative arrangements with local law
enforcement agencies for appropriate school-community
relationships; or
e) For any other purpose that the school or school district
determines would contribute to providing safe schools and
preventing violence among students.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriates $100 million from the General
Fund.
AB 1738
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COMMENTS :
Prior legislation . AB 1113 (Florez), Chapter 51, Statutes of
1999, established the SSVPA for grades 8-12. AB 658
(Washington), Chapter 645, Statutes of 1999, renamed the SSVPA
as the CWSSVPA, authorized county offices of education to
participate in the CWSSVPA, and appropriated $1 million for
county offices of education to participate.
Related legislation . SB 1440 (Rainey), of the current session,
extends the CWSSVPA to include kindergarten and grades 1-7. AB
1031 (Shelley), of the current session, establishes the
Youth-to-Youth Peer Grant Program, to be administered by the
Department of Education.
Arguments in support . According to the author, "AB 1738 is
needed to extend to grades K-7 the school safety and violence
prevention protection created by the Carl Washington School
Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 1999. Last year's bill
covered grades 8-12. The Act would provide 100 million dollars
to school districts and county offices of education to increase
the number of school counselors (etc), to teach violence
prevention to students and instructors, and to provide school
safety infrastructure (communications devices, metal detectors,
security guards, etc.) to grades K-7."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : (as of 3/10/00)
Support
State Department of Education
California Career Development Association
California School Nurses Organization
Los Angeles Unified School District
A School Counselor
An individual
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Lynn Lorber / ED. / (916)319-2087