BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON Public Safety
Senator John Vasconcellos, Chair S
1999-2000 Regular Session B
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SB 1831 (Hughes) 1
As Amended March 30, 2000
Hearing date: April 4, 2000
Penal Code
SH:br
SCHOOL SAFETY ACADEMY PILOT PROJECT
HISTORY
Source: Attorney General
Prior Legislation: None
Support: California School Employees Association;
California Federation of Teachers; California
Child, Youth and Family Coalition
Opposition:Unknown
KEY ISSUES
SHOULD A NEW SCHOOL SAFETY ACADEMY PILOT PROGRAM BE CREATED, TO BE
ADMINISTERED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, FOR THREE ACADEMIES TO
PROVIDE GROUP TRAINING RELATING TO SCHOOL SAFETY FOR 3 YEARS, AS
SPECIFIED?
SHOULD $4,836,000 BE APPROPRIATED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FOR
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ALLOCATION TO THE SCHOOL SAFETY ACADEMIES AND TO PAY FOR
ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS?
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to create a new School Safety
Academy Pilot Program, to be administered by the Department
of Justice, for three academies to provide group training
relating to school safety for 3 years, as specified, and to
appropriate $4,836,000 to fund the pilot programs.
The California Constitution provides that all students and
staff of public primary, elementary, junior high and senior
high schools have the inalienable right to attend campuses
which are safe, secure and peaceful. (Article I, Section
28(c)) The Legislature recognizes that right in statute.
(Penal Code section 628.5 and Education Code
section 32261)
Existing law creates the School Community Policing
Partnership Act of 1998 to provide financial assistance to
school districts and county offices of education to ensure
safe, secure, and peaceful school campuses as guaranteed by
the California Constitution through the use of a community
policing approach to school crime and safety issues. The
School Community Policing Partnership Grant Program is
administered by the State Department of Education through
the School/Law Enforcement Partnership to (1) develop
application criteria and procedures for local education
agencies; (2) award grants to school districts, county
offices of education, or a consortium of school districts
and county offices of education; (3) evaluate the
effectiveness of the funded projects; and (4) report
biennially to the Legislature and Governor on the results
of the program. (Education Code sections 32296 et seq.)
Existing law creates the School Safety and Violence
Prevention Act for the purpose of promoting school safety
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and emphasizing violence prevention among children and
youth in public schools, grades 8-12. (Education Code
section 32228 et seq.)
Existing law provides for reporting on school crime and
requires all school districts to submit school crime date
to the State Department of Education and requires the DOE
to make that data available, including a report to the
Legislature of a summary of the statewide aggregated data
not later than March 1 of each year for the previous school
year, as specified. (Penal Code sections 628 et. seq.)
Existing law creates the School Violence Prevention and
Response Act of 1999 and the School Violence Prevention and
Response Task Force with responsibilities which include
making recommendations on how to enhance state and local
programs and training to adequately prepare school
districts and county offices of education to meet the
challenges stemming from disruptive and violent acts, or
both, on or near school campuses; these recommendations
shall include a discussion regarding the manner in which
the recommendations may be implemented within existing
resources. (Education Code section 32239.5 et seq.)
Existing law provides that the governing board of any
school district may establish a security department under
the supervision of a chief of security or a police
department under the supervision of a chief of police, as
designated by, and under the direction of, the
superintendent of the school district. School district
police are granted peace officer status, as prescribed.
(Education Code sections 38000 et seq. and Penal Code
section 830.32)
Existing law creates in the State Department of Education
School Safety and Security Resource Unit; the Interagency
School Safety Demonstration Act of 1985; and the School/Law
Enforcement Partnership comprised of the Superintendent of
Public Instruction and the Attorney General and sets forth
various requirements for that partnership, including the
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establishment of statewide interagency school safety cadre.
(Education Code sections 32251, 32260, 32262, 32290)
Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that all
California public schools, in kindergarten, and grades 1 to
12, inclusive, operated by school districts, in cooperation
with local law enforcement agencies, community leaders,
parents, pupils, teachers, administrators, and other
persons who may be interested in the prevention of campus
crime and violence, develop a comprehensive school safety
plan that addresses the safety concerns identified through
a systematic planning process. Law enforcement agencies
include local police departments, county sheriffs' offices,
school district police or security departments, probation
departments, and district attorneys' offices. A "safety
plan" means a plan to develop strategies aimed at the
prevention of, and education about, potential incidents
involving crime and violence on the school campus.
(Education Code section 35294)
Existing law contains Legislative findings and declarations
that include that the education mission of schools may be
thwarted when school campuses are not safe, secure, and
peaceful and effective school management can improve school
safety and decrease violence and criminal behavior.
Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature that the
Commission on Teacher Credentialing adopt standards that
address the principles of school safety in the preparation
of future classroom teachers, school administrators, school
counselors, and other pupil personnel service providers as
a condition for licensing these prospective practitioners.
(Education Code section 44276.1)
Existing law requires a school site plan which shall
contain numerous requirements, including improved school
environment as measured by indicators such as (A) the
incidence among pupils of absenteeism, suspension,
expulsion, and dropouts and the incidence and costs of
school violence, vandalism, and theft of school or private
property while participating in school activities.
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(Education Code section 52015)
Existing law establishes the Commission on Peace Officers
Standards and Training with staffing support from the
Attorney General. Duties of POST include establishing
minimum standards and training requirements relating to
specified peace officers and developing and implementing
programs to increase the effectiveness of law enforcement
and when such programs involve training and education
courses to cooperate with and secure the cooperation of
state-level officers, agencies, and bodies having
jurisdiction over systems of public higher education in
continuing the development of college-level training and
education programs. (Penal Code section 13500 et seq.)
This bill does the following:
1.Requires that the Department of Justice, in cooperation
with the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and
Training, establish a three year School Safety Academy
Pilot Project utilizing the school safety academies. The
School Safety Academy Pilot Project is to be administered
by the Department of Justice for the purpose of providing
comprehensive school safety training for those
responsible for school safety and school community
violence prevention, as specified.
2.Defines "school safety academies" to mean the current
regional community policing institutes in Sacramento, Los
Angeles, and San Diego Counties.
3.States that each academy is to provide training to
juvenile specialists, school district police officers,
school resource officers, school security officers,
school administrators, campus supervisors and monitors,
parent volunteers, and others responsible for school
safety and school community violence prevention.
4.The Department of Justice is to provide funding to the
school safety academies to develop and implement
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integrated, comprehensive school safety training for
those responsible for school safety and school community
violence prevention, with the training to include, but
not be limited to, the following:
(A) Role of school police officers.
(B) Role of school administrators.
(C) Role of campus security and safety
personnel.
(D) School and community relations.
(E) School crime reporting.
(F) Conflict resolution and youth mediation.
(G) Crisis intervention and response.
(H) Juvenile justice system.
(I) Diversity training.
(J) Role of probation and parole officers.
(AA) Effective school safety strategies and
planning.
(BB) Role of law enforcement on school campuses.
(CC) Role of child protective services workers.
(DD) Hate crimes.
1.Requires each school safety academy develop a specialty
that will advance school community policing practices.
2.Requires the Department of Justice to evaluate the
effectiveness of the pilot project by contracting with an
independent evaluator to develop and deliver a final
evaluation report to the Legislature and the Governor on
or before January 31, 2005; the pilot project authority
is repealed on January 1, 2006.
3.Appropriates $4.836 million for the three-year pilot
program, with $1.5 million appropriated for each regional
center and the Department of Justice authorized to use up
to 7% of that total for administration.
4.Makes related changes.
COMMENTS
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1. Need for This Bill
According to the sponsor:
There is no single training center or institution in
California for those individuals responsible for
school safety to train together. Current school
safety training programs are discipline-based and,
therefore, fragmented statewide. While there are many
individual school safety training programs being
offered by various training systems, no one entity has
brought all of the appropriate school safety personnel
together to train them at the same time. Many areas
related to school community policing and violence
prevention, including collaboration with other
agencies and conflict resolution/youth mediation are
not covered in current training. Furthermore, school
safety personnel without peace officer status,
teachers or parents volunteering on school campuses
cannot take POST courses.
The academies will provide comprehensive training to
all individuals who work in or around a school campus.
Additionally, the academies would provide
cross-training between disciplines which increases the
opportunities for interagency school partnerships and
enhances school safety.
2. How Would This Bill Work ?
Discussions with the sponsor indicate an expectation that
the regional academies will present 4 or more classes per
year, with approximately 30 attendees per class. The
expectation would be to develop a formal accreditation
which would result in attendees being given a certificate
which might meet any continuing education credits which may
apply to any of the attendees. Attendance would be
subsidized by the academies.
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There are some portions of this bill that may not be
entirely clear:
Is it entirely up to the regional academies to develop a
curriculum, including each to provide training for rural
school areas; would that lead to unnecessary duplication of
effort ?
What role should the Commission on Peace Officer Standards
and Training actually perform in designing training,
especially persons other than law enforcement ?
This bill assigns no role to the Department of Education or
the Superintendent of Public Instruction (see Comment 4
below regarding SB 1580 which would appropriate $100
million to the Superintendent for school safety grants with
participation by the Attorney General); would consultation
with those offices and others take place regardless of any
language in the bill ?
This bill creates a three-year pilot project; appropriates
money to the local academies for the three years; the bill
would take effect on January 1, 2001, and would sunset on
January 1, 2006, but does not indicate when, during the
five years the bill would remain in effect, the three years
commences and ends for the pilot projects (and the money
appropriated for that period, which is limited to the three
years but is not otherwise appropriated "without regard to
fiscal year until it is expended"); presumably some time
would need to transpire before the program could be
implemented, although it may be assumed that would occur
some time in 2001 and that publicizing the program and
selecting the attendees may take some additional time; are
the timelines for the program - and funding - clear in this
bill ?
This bill appropriates $4,836,000 for the program with $1.5
million for each of the local academies and another
$336,000 not specified except that the Department of
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Justice is authorized to use up to 7% of that total amount
appropriated for administration costs; 7% of $4.5 million
is $315,000, so it may be that the total appropriated
should be $4,815,000; however, it may also be argued that
since a specific amount is "left-over" for the Department,
the bill might be clearer if that amount was referenced
rather than the 7%; regardless, should the amount
appropriated be changed to $4,815,000 ?
This bill requires a report back on or before January 31,
2005; the sponsor indicates that an annual report is
intended as well and that the reports are to be funded
through the $315,000 appropriated for administrative costs;
should annual reports be specified, and, if so, should no
date be specified since it is unclear when the pilots will
actually commence ?
SHOULD ANY OF THESE ISSUES BE ADDRESSED AT THIS TIME?
3. Are Provisions in the Penal and Education Codes
Pertaining to School Safety Focussed ?
The California Constitution and the Education and Penal
Codes set forth a variety of rights, goals, and programs
aimed at achieving school safety.
The sponsor of this bill suggests a need for focussed
training statewide. This bill adds another component to
the mix of school safety efforts statewide. As noted
above, existing law creates the School Community Policing
Partnership Act of 1998 to provide financial assistance to
school districts and county offices of education to ensure
safe, secure, and peaceful school campuses as guaranteed by
the California Constitution through the use of a community
policing approach to school crime and safety issues.
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The School Community Policing Partnership Grant Program is
administered by the State Department of Education through
the School/Law Enforcement Partnership to (1) develop
application criteria and procedures for local education
agencies; (2) award grants to school districts, county
offices of education, or a consortium of school districts
and county offices of education; (3) evaluate the
effectiveness of the funded projects; and (4) report
biennially to the Legislature and Governor on the results of
the program. (Education Code sections 32296 et seq.) It
may be that the existing partnership Act could be augmented
to carry out the implementation of this bill, since there is
an already existing school/law enforcement relationship.
DOES THIS BILL ACCOMPLISH THE GOAL OF PROVIDING THE FOCUS
ARGUABLY NOW MISSING IN TRAINING TO ACHIEVE SCHOOL SAFETY?
SHOULD THIS NEW PILOT PROGRAM BE CREATED WITHIN THE
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE?
4. Related Legislation
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SB 1580 (Alpert and Speier) would expand the present intent
of the Legislature that public schools with kindergarten
and grades 1 to 7, have access to supplemental resources to
establish programs and strategies that promote school
safety and emphasize violence prevention among children and
youth in the public schools, to include kindergarten and
grades 1 to 12, inclusive. SB 1580 calls for the
Superintendent of Public Instruction to award grants - with
the Attorney General participating in the evaluation
process - and appropriates $100,000,000 for that purpose.
5. Technical Amendments
The sponsor indicates an error in the current amended
version of this bill on page 4, lines 1-5, the following
change should be made:
32297.5. The Department of Justice shall provide
funding to implement the training developed pursuant
to Section 32297.3 for a period of three years.
Funding shall not be used for the development and the
delivery of school safety training.
SHOULD THIS AMENDMENT BE ADOPTED?
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