BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 58 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 58 (Rodriguez) As Amended May 28, 2015 Majority vote ------------------------------------------------------------------- |Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes | | | | | | | | | | | |----------------+------+---------------------+---------------------| |Education |7-0 |O'Donnell, Chávez, | | | | |Kim, McCarty, | | | | |Santiago, Thurmond, | | | | |Weber | | | | | | | |----------------+------+---------------------+---------------------| |Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | | | | |Bonta, Calderon, | | | | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | | | | |Gallagher, | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Eduardo Garcia, | | | | |Gordon, Holden, | | | | |Jones, Quirk, | | | | |Rendon, Wagner, | | | | |Weber, Wood | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------- AB 58 Page 2 SUMMARY: Requires school safety plans to include procedures in response to individuals with guns on school campuses, requires charter schools to develop school safety plans, and makes other changes to the school safety plan. Specifically, this bill: 1)Specifies that "principal" includes the principal's designee or administrator in charge of a school for charter schools without a principal. 2)Strikes reference to "the principal's designee" throughout the provisions related to the school safety plan. 3)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. 4)Specifies that "tactical responses to criminal incidents" includes procedures related to individuals with guns on school campuses and at school-related functions. Requires 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 pupils 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 integrally involved in the planning and evaluation process to ensure appropriate implementation, regardless of the nature of the drills a school chooses. 5)Defines "active shooter" as an individual who is actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area. AB 58 Page 3 6)Expresses the intent of the Legislature that schools use the material and services of the School/Law Enforcement Partnership Program, including the handbook "Safe Schools: A Planning Guide for Action," and 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. 7)Strikes the provision authorizing the school safety plan to be evaluated and amended, as needed, and the requirement for the school safety plan to be evaluated at least once a year. 8)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. 9)Deletes the provision requiring each school district or county office of education (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 superintendent of a school district and COE to provide written notification to the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) certifying that each school within the school district and county has complied with the requirement to develop a comprehensive school safety plan or has 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. AB 58 Page 4 11)Requires each principal to keep and maintain a copy of the most recent school safety plan for that school and to ensure that an updated copy of the comprehensive school safety plan, either written or electronic, to be readily available to staff members, law enforcement, first responders, and the public. Requires each superintendent or 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 the petition for a charter school to include in the procedures that the charter school will follow to protect the health and safety of pupils and staff the development of a school safety plan, which must encompass the topics required to be included in the school safety plan. FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, potential annual Proposition 98/General Fund state reimbursable mandated costs in the low hundreds of thousands for school districts and COEs to update school safety plans, make plans available for inspection and, starting in 2016, certify that each school has adopted a plan. 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. AB 58 Page 5 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 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. New procedure to respond to armed assailants. This bill expands the "tactical response to criminal incidents" procedure 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 drills using the most cost-effective method, but must include school resource officers and 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." Written notification to the SPI. This bill strikes the requirement that each school district or COE annually notify the 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 superintendent of a school district and COE to provide written AB 58 Page 6 notification to the SPI certifying that each school within the school district and county has complied with the requirement to develop a comprehensive school safety plan or has included the information about the school safety plan on the SARC. Charter schools. Under current law, charter schools are exempt from most provisions of the Education Code, including the requirement to develop school safety plans. This bill requires a petition for a charter school to include in the procedures that the charter school will follow the development of a school safety plan, which must encompass the topics required to be included in the school safety plan. Analysis Prepared by: Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0000817