BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      AB 58


                                                                    Page  1





           Date of Hearing:  April 8, 2015


                           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION


                              Patrick O'Donnell, Chair


          AB 58  
          (Rodriguez) - As Amended March 26, 2015


          SUBJECT:  School safety plans


          SUMMARY:  Makes each county office of education (COE) the entity  
          responsible for the overall development of all comprehensive  
          school safety plans and requires school safety plans to include  
          procedures in response to individuals with guns on school  
          campuses.  Specifically, this bill:  


          1)Strikes references to school districts in the following  
            provisions related to school safety plans:


             a)   In the provision requiring a school district or COE to  
               be responsible for the overall development of school safety  
               plans.


             b)   In the provision authorizing a school district or COE to  
               allow the portions of the school safety plan that include  
               tactical responses to criminal incidents to be developed by  
               administrators of the school district or COE instead of by  
               the schoolsite council.










                                                                      AB 58


                                                                    Page  2





             c)   In the provision authorizing a governing board of a  
               school district or COE to confer in closed session with law  
               enforcement officials to approve a tactical response plan.


             d)   In the provision authorizing a school district or COE to  
               work with the Office of Emergency Services and the Seismic  
               Safety Commission.


             e)   In the provision requiring a school district or COE to  
               cooperate with a public agency in establishing a procedure  
               to allow a public agency to use school buildings, grounds  
               and equipment during disasters or other emergencies.  


             f)   In the provision requiring each school to forward its  
               school safety plan to the school district or COE for  
               approval.


          2)Adds nongovernmental organizations to the provision requiring  
            the school safety plan to include a procedure to allow  
            specified entities to use school buildings, grounds, and  
            equipment for mass care and welfare shelters during disasters  
            or other emergencies.

          3)Adds as a required component of the school safety plan  
            procedures related to individuals with guns on school campuses  
            and at school-related functions, including but not limited to,  
            training programs related to active shooters and active  
            terrorists.  Requires training programs and drills to prepare  
            for active shooters or other armed assailants to be based on  
            the specific needs and context of each school and community.   
            Requires schools to consider the most cost-effective method of  
            preparing students and staff for an active shooter situation  
            while balancing the physical and psychological risks  
            associated with these drills.  Requires the school resource  
            officer and school-employed mental health professionals to be  








                                                                      AB 58


                                                                    Page  3





            integrally involved in the planning and evaluation process to  
            ensure appropriate implementation, regardless of the nature of  
            the drills a school chooses.  

          4)Defines "active shooter" as an individual who is actively  
            engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined  
            and populated area.


          5)Expresses the intent of the Legislature that schools use the  
            report by the National Association of School Psychologists and  
            the National Association of School Resource Officers on "Best  
            Practice Considerations for Schools in Active Shooter and  
            Other Armed Assailant Drills" in the development of their  
            school safety plan.  


          6)Requires an updated file of all safety-related plans and  
            materials to be readily available for inspection by law  
            enforcement and school employees, in addition to the public.


          7)Requires the school accountability report card (SARC) to  
            include the date the school safety plan was adopted and a  
            description of the safety plan's elements.  


          8)Requires each principal to provide a written or electronic  
            notice to each teacher and classified employee of that school  
            that the adopted school safety plan is readily available for  
            inspection.

          9)Deletes the provision requiring each school district or COE to  
            annually notify the California Department of Education (CDE)  
            by October 15 of any schools that have not complied with the  
            development of the school safety plan, and instead requires,  
            no later than October 15, 2016, and each year thereafter, each  
            COE to provide written notification to the Superintendent of  
            Public Instruction (SPI) identifying each school within the  








                                                                      AB 58


                                                                    Page  4





            county that has not complied with the requirement to develop a  
            comprehensive school safety plan or included the information  
            about the school safety plan on the SARC.  

          10)Specifies that confidential information relating to tactical  
            responses to criminal incidents shall not be included at a  
            public meeting. 

          11)Requires each principal to keep and maintain a copy of the  
            most recent school safety plan for that school, and each COE  
            to keep a copy of the most recent school safety plan submitted  
            to the COE and every notification made to the SPI identifying  
            each school within the district or county that has not  
            complied with the requirement to develop a school safety plan.


          12)Requires all books, documents, records, and other papers kept  
            and maintained to be open for inspection and copying during  
            business hours at the district office or during school hours  
            at a school, on business days, excluding legal holidays,  
            within 48 hours of a written, verbal, or electronic request by  
            a law enforcement agency.  Specifies that an electronic  
            version of a book, document, record or other paper is  
            sufficient to meet the requirements of this provision.

          13)Strikes the provision authorizing a complaint of  
            noncompliance with the school safety planning requirement of  
            Title IV of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 to be  
            filed with the CDE under the Uniform Complaint Procedures.  

          14)Requires the CDE to monitor compliance using an existing  
            monitoring framework.

          EXISTING LAW:  


          1)Requires each school district or COE to be responsible for the  
            overall development of all comprehensive school safety plans  
            for its schools operating kindergarten or any of grades 1  








                                                                      AB 58


                                                                    Page  5





            through 12.  (Education Code Section (EC) Section 32281)

          2)Specifies that the schoolsite council or a school safety  
            planning committee is responsible for developing the  
            comprehensive school safety plan.  (EC Section 32281)

          3)Specifies that the comprehensive school safety plan shall  
            include an assessment of the current status of school crime  
            committed on school campuses and at school-related functions  
            and identification of appropriate strategies and programs that  
            will provide or maintain a high level of school safety and  
            address the school's procedures for complying with existing  
            laws related to school safety, including child abuse reporting  
            procedures; disaster procedures; an earthquake emergency  
            procedure system; policies regarding pupils who commit  
            specified acts that would lead to suspension or expulsion;  
            procedures to notify teachers of dangerous pupils; a  
            discrimination and harassment policy; the provisions of any  
            schoolwide dress code; procedures for safe ingress and egress  
            of pupils, parents, and school employees to and from school; a  
            safe and orderly environment conducive to learning; rules and  
            procedures on school discipline; and hate crime reporting  
            procedures.  (EC 32282)

          4)Requires the comprehensive school safety plan to be evaluated  
            at least once a year.  (EC 32282)

          5)Requires each school to include a description of key elements  
            of the school safety plan in the annual SARC.  (EC 32286)

          6)Requires the schoolsite council or school safety planning  
            committee to hold a public meeting to allow public comment.   
            Requires the comprehensive school safety plan to be submitted  
            to the school district or COE for approval and requires a  
            school district or COE to notify the CDE by October 15 of  
            every year of any school that is not in compliance.  (EC  
            32288)

          7)Provides that if the SPI determines that there has been a  








                                                                      AB 58


                                                                    Page  6





            willful failure to make any report, the SPI shall notify and  
            assess no more than $2,000 against that school district or  
            COE.  (EC 32287) 

          8)Authorizes the portions of a school safety plan that include  
            tactical responses to criminal incidents to be developed by  
            school district or COE administrators in consultation with law  
            enforcement officials and with a representative of an  
            exclusive bargaining unit of school district or COE employees,  
            if he or she chooses to participate.  Authorizes the school  
            district or COE to elect not to disclose those portions of the  
            comprehensive school safety plan that include tactical  
            responses to criminal incidents.  (EC 32281)

          FISCAL EFFECT:  The Legislative Counsel has keyed this bill as a  
          state-mandated local program.  According to the Assembly  
          Appropriations Committee of a similar bill introduced in 2013,  
          SB 49 (Lieu), potential annual General Fund/Proposition 98 state  
          reimbursable mandated costs of at least $165,000 to school  
          districts and COEs to include additional information in the  
          school safety plans, notify school employees of the completion  
          of the plan, and copy/make available plans for inspection by law  
          enforcement.  


          COMMENTS:  Background.  Existing law specifies that school  
          districts and COEs are responsible for the overall development  
          of school safety plans.  Each school is required to develop a  
          school safety plan that includes processes, procedures, and  
          policies to ensure student and staff safety at a school site.   
          The components of the plan range from daily processes, such as  
          procedures for safe ingress and egress of pupils, parents and  
          school employees; to disaster and emergency procedures such as  
          those during and after earthquakes; to behavioral policies such  
          as discrimination and harassment policies.  The school safety  
          plan is developed by a school site council or a school safety  
          planning committee.  Current law requires a school to submit the  
          school safety plan to the school district or COE for approval  
          and requires the school district or COE to annually notify the  








                                                                      AB 58


                                                                    Page  7





          CDE of any schools that have not complied with the requirement  
          to develop a school safety plan.  The SPI is authorized to  
          impose a fine of not more than $2,000 against a school district  
          or COE for any willful failure to make any required report.   
          According to the CDE, there has been no report of noncompliance  
          by schools and no district or COE has been fined for willfully  
          failing to report a school that has not developed a school  
          safety plan.  It is unclear whether this is because there have  
          been no violations and every school in the state has developed  
          its school safety plan, or whether districts or COEs have not  
          reported schools that have not developed their school safety  
          plans.    


          Who should be responsible for ensuring that school safety plans  
          are developed?  This bill makes a number of changes to the  
          school safety plan, including striking the requirement that  
          school districts are responsible for the overall development of  
          school safety plans, thereby requiring COEs to ensure that each  
          school has developed its school safety plan.  The bill also  
          strikes references to school districts throughout the school  
          safety plan provisions.  According to the author's office,  
          designating one entity to be responsible will make it easier for  
          schools to comply with reporting requirements.  While it may  
          seem simpler to put the responsibility on one entity, requiring  
          58 COEs to be responsible for almost 10,000 schools in  
          California may not be practical.  In addition, throughout the  
          provisions governing school safety plans, schools districts have  
          requirements that are appropriately placed with school  
          districts.  For example, current law authorizes a school  
          district governing board to allow district administrators,  
          instead of the schoolsite council, to develop a tactical  
          response to criminal incidents and to approve the response in  
          closed session.  This is to prevent would be criminals from  
          using the information gleaned from the school safety plan to  
          carry out an attack.  The school district is more familiar with  
          the schools in its district; this authority should remain with  
          the school district.  Similarly, current law specifies that a  
          school district or COE shall cooperate with a public agency in  








                                                                      AB 58


                                                                    Page  8





          furnishing and maintaining the services the school district or  
          COE may deem necessary to meet the needs of the community during  
          disasters or other emergencies (e.g., allowing school buildings  
          to be used as shelters).  COEs do not have authority over school  
          district facilities and grounds.  This requirement should keep  
          the reference to school district.  School districts should also  
          retain the authority to work with state agencies in developing  
          and establishing earthquake emergency procedures.  


          Staff recommends restoring the references to school districts in  
          the provisions regarding the development of the school safety  
          plan and restoring the responsibility for schools to submit  
          their school safety plans to their school districts. 


          Should the requirement for reporting to the SPI be strengthened?  
           There is a belief that not all schools have developed school  
          safety plans, but there is no data to confirm that.  Current law  
          requires each school district or COE to annually notify the CDE  
          by October 15 of any schools that have not complied with the  
          requirements to develop a school safety plan and incorporate a  
          description in the school's SARC.  This bill requires COEs to  
          provide written notification to the SPI identifying the schools  
          within the county that have not complied.  Staff recommends  
          restoring the responsibility with school districts for their  
          schools and COE for county schools.  Staff also recommends  
          strengthening the reporting requirement to the SPI by requiring  
          school districts or COEs to certify that the schools in their  
          jurisdiction have complied with the requirements for developing  
          the school safety plan.          


          New procedure to respond to armed assailants.  This bill expands  
          the components in the school safety plan to include procedures  
          in situations where there are active shooters or armed  
          assailants on school campuses.  The procedures shall include  
          training programs and drills using the most cost-effective  
          method, but must include school resource officers and  








                                                                      AB 58


                                                                    Page  9





          school-employed mental health professionals in the planning and  
          evaluation of the training programs and drills.  The author  
          states, "Lessons learned from school emergencies highlight the  
          importance of preparing school officials and first responders to  
          implement emergency operations plans.  Law enforcement officers  
          may not be present when a shooting begins.  The first law  
          enforcement officers on the scene may arrive after the shooting  
          has ended.  Making sure staff knows how to respond and instruct  
          their students can prevent and reduce the loss of life."


          The school safety plan already must include procedures related  
          to tactical responses to criminal incidents that school  
          districts are authorized to have school administrators develop  
          and approved by the governing board in closed session.  Active  
          shooters and armed assailants can be incorporated in this  
          provision.  Staff recommends relocating this provision as a  
          component of tactical responses to criminal incidents.   


          Other major provisions.  The bill's other major changes include  
          clarifying that a principal is responsible for reporting the  
          status of the school safety plan and requiring the posting of  
          the school safety plan on the SARC to include the date the  
          school safety plan was adopted; clarifying that information  
          relating to tactical responses to criminal incidents shall not  
          be included at a public meeting; requiring principals to provide  
          written or electronic notice to each school staff that the  
          school safety plan is available for inspection; requiring  
          principals and COEs to keep and maintain a copy of the most  
          recent plan and any notification to the SPI; requiring all  
          documents be available for inspection and copying at the request  
          of a law enforcement agency; and requiring the CDE to monitor  
          compliance using existing monitoring framework.   


          Should charters be required to develop school safety plans?   
          Charter schools are not required to comply with most of the  
          provisions in the Education Code.  Existing law requires the  








                                                                      AB 58


                                                                    Page  10





          petition to establish a charter school to indicate the  
          procedures that the school will follow to ensure the
          health and safety of pupils and staff.  There are no specific  
          requirements regarding what the procedures must cover and how  
          extensively they are developed.  Staff recommends extending the  
          requirement to develop school safety plans to charter schools.    
             


          Related legislation.  SB 592 (Leyva), pending in the Senate  
          Education Committee, requires the school safety plan to include  
          procedures and policies to prevent and respond to adolescent  
          relationship abuse in middle and high schools serving pupils in  
          grades 6 through 12.  


          Prior related legislation.  SB 49 (Lieu), held in the Assembly  
          Appropriations Committee in 2013, was substantially similar to  
          this bill.  


          AB 549 (Jones-Sawyer), Chapter 422, Statutes of 2013, encourages  
          all school safety plans, to the extent that resources are  
          available, to include 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.  


          AB 680 (Block), Chapter 438, Statutes of 2011, authorizes a  
          school district or COE, in consultation with law enforcement  
          officials, to choose not to have its schoolsite council develop  
          and write those portions of its comprehensive school safety plan  
          that include tactical responses to criminal incidents that may  
          result in death or serious bodily injury at the schoolsite and  
          authorizes, instead, school district and COE administrators to  
          write those portions of the school safety plan.  









                                                                      AB 58


                                                                    Page  11






          AB 519 (Hernández) authorizes the comprehensive school safety  
          plan to include rules and procedures regarding the use of  
          restraint and seclusion, prohibits an educational provider from  
          using chemical and mechanical restraint, and limits the use of  
          physical restraint and seclusion.  The bill was held in this  
          Committee by the author in 2011.


          SB 755 (Lieu) makes a number of changes to the comprehensive  
          school safety plan, including extending the requirement to  
          develop a school safety plan to charter schools and imposing a  
          fine of between $250 and $1,000 on any principal, administrator  
          at a school without a principal, and any superintendent of a  
          school district or COE for failing to develop a school safety  
          plan or failing to make specified reporting requirements.  The  
          bill was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee suspense  
          file in 2011.


          AB 2501 (Lieu) makes a number of changes to comprehensive school  
          safety plan, including extending the requirement to develop a  
          school safety plan to charter schools and imposing a fine of  
          between $250 and $1,000 on any principal, administrator at a  
          school without a principal, and any superintendent of a school  
          district or county office of education for failing to develop a  
          school safety plan or failing to make specified reporting  
          requirements.  The bill was held in this Committee by the author  
          in 2010.  


          AB 2639 (Lieu), held in the Senate Appropriations Committee  
          suspense file in 2008, requires each school district or COE to  
          annually submit to the CDE by October 15 a report that includes  
          a list of schools within its jurisdiction that have and have not  
          developed a school safety plan.


          AB 810 (Lieu), held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee's  








                                                                      AB 58


                                                                    Page  12





          suspense file in 2007, requires the SPI to notify the Commission  
          on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) of a principal or schoolsite  
          administrator's failure to comply with requirements related to  
          the development and adoption of the school safety plan by  
          October 15 of each year and requires the CTC to suspend the  
          principal or administrator's credential for one year if he or  
          she does not correct the noncompliance within 30 days of  
          receiving the notice from the SPI.  


          AB 115 (J. Horton), Chapter 423, Statutes of 2003, increased the  
          fine to school districts for a willful failure to report a  
          noncompliant school to the SPI from $500 to $2000.


          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:


          Support


          None on file


          Opposition


          None on file


          Analysis Prepared by:Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087
















                                                                      AB 58
                                                   

                                                                    Page  13