BILL ANALYSIS
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1831|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 445-6614 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1831
Author: Hughes (D)
Amended: 5/22/00
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 6-0, 4/25/00
AYES: Vasconcellos, Burton, Johnston, McPherson, Polanco,
Rainey
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 13-0, 5/25/00
AYES: Johnston, Alpert, Bowen, Burton, Escutia, Johnson,
Karnette, Kelley, Leslie, McPherson, Mountjoy, Perata,
Vasconcellos
SUBJECT : School Safety Academy Pilot Project
SOURCE : Attorney General
DIGEST : This bill creates a new School Safety Academy
Pilot Program, to be administered by the State Department
of Justice, for three academies to provide group training
relating to school safety for three years, as specified,
and to appropriate $825,000 to fund the pilot programs, as
specified.
ANALYSIS : The California Constitution provides that all
students and staff to public primary, elementary, junior
high, and senior high schools have the inalienable right to
attend campuses, which are safe, secure and peaceful.
Existing law creates the School Community Policing
CONTINUED
SB 1831
Page
2
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 (DOE)
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.
Existing law creates the School Safety and Violence
Prevention Act for the purpose of promoting school safety
and emphasizing violence prevention among children and
youth in public schools, grades 8-12.
Existing law provides for reporting on school crime and
requires all school districts to submit school crime date
to the DOE 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.
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.
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
SB 1831
Page
3
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.
Existing law creates in the DOE 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 (AG) and sets forth various
requirements for that partnership, including the
establishment of statewide interagency school safety cadre.
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.
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.
Existing law requires a school site plan which shall
contain numerous requirements, including improved school
environment as measured by indicators such as (A) the
SB 1831
Page
4
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.
Existing law establishes the Commission on Peace Officers
Standards and Training (POST) with staffing support from
the AG. 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.
This bill:
1.Requires that the State Department of Justice (DOJ), in
cooperation with the POST, 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 DOJ 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.DOJ is to provide funding to the school safety academies
to develop and implement integrated, comprehensive school
safety training for those responsible for school safety
and school community violence prevention, with the
SB 1831
Page
5
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.
K. Effective school safety strategies and planning.
L. Role of law enforcement on school campuses.
M. Role of child protective services workers.
N. Hate crimes.
5.Requires each school safety academy develop a specialty
that will advance school community policing practices.
6.Requires DOJ 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.
7.Appropriates $825,000 from the General Fund to DOJ to
implement the School Safety Academy Pilot Project for
state operations and local assistance. Of this amount,
the sum of $750,000 shall be used for local assistance
beginning in the 2000-01 fiscal year.
DOJ may reallocate funds that are not used by a school
safety academy. DOJ may use up to $75,000 for state
operations for the last six months of the 2000-01 fiscal
year to implement this project.
8.Makes related changes.
9.Sunsets January 2, 2006.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
SB 1831
Page
6
Local: No
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2000-01 2001-02
2002-03 Fund
SSAPP $ 750* $ 750 $
750 General
Administration 75* $ 101
$ 101 General
*$825,000 is appropriated in the bill.
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/24/00)
Attorney General
California School Employees Association
California Federation of Teachers
California Child, Youth and Family Coalition
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : 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
SB 1831
Page
7
opportunities for interagency school partnerships and
enhances school safety."
RJG:cm 5/26/00 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****