BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                        AB 58


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          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          |                     |
          |                |      |                     |                     |
          |                |      |                     |                     |
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                                                                        AB 58


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          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.








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          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. 









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          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.   








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          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  








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          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