BILL ANALYSIS Ķ AB 677 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 677 (Dodd) - As Amended April 30, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Education |Vote:|7 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | |Higher Education | |11 - 2 | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable: Yes SUMMARY: This bill requires K-12 and higher education institutions to equip the doors of every classroom with locks that allow the doors to be locked from the inside. Specifically, this bill: AB 677 Page 2 1)Requires, on and after January 1, 2016, modernization projects submitted to the Division of the State Architect (DSA) and funded through future bond funds, as specified, to include locks that allow doors to classrooms and any room with an occupancy of five or more persons to be locked from the inside. 2)Requires, no later than January 1, 2022, the governing board of each school district and each county superintendent of schools, for each school within its jurisdiction, to equip the doors of every classroom and every room with an occupancy of five or more persons with locks that allow the doors to be locked from the inside. These requirements are also contingent upon future bond funds. 3)Requires the California Community Colleges (CCC) and California State University (CSU) Trustees, and the urges the University of California (UC) Regents, when constructing or modernizing a campus or facility within its jurisdiction, to equip classrooms, offices, or other rooms where students and school staff gather with locking mechanisms that allow the doors to be locked from the inside, or equip doors with the best alternative technology that accomplishes the same result. FISCAL EFFECT: 1)Annual state school construction bond cost pressure, potentially in the range of $700,000 to $2.2 million, to require locks that allow doors to classrooms or any other specified room to be locked from the inside, as specified. The most recent estimate of classrooms that need to be modernized annually for the next five years to meet the state's need is 7,083. Costs related to modernizing classroom door locks can range from $500 to $1,500 for each door depending on the extent of repair needed. AB 677 Page 3 AB 127 (Nuņez), Chapter 35, Statutes of 2006, authorized Proposition 1D: the Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2006 for $10.416 billion. New construction and modernization funds authorized by this bond have been exhausted since 2012. Any cost pressure related to this bill would be applied to future bond measures. 2)Annual State and local facility projects costs to CCC, CSU and UC, likely in the millions, to require locks that allow doors to classrooms, or any other specified room, to be locked from the inside, as specified. COMMENTS: 1)Purpose. According to the author, following the recent school shooting tragedies in Newtown, Connecticut and Taft, California, the state needs to rethink safety procedures in schools. "Lockdowns," a temporary confinement of students and staff to classrooms, offices and other rooms during or following a disturbance, have proven to be an effective tool used on school campuses to facilitate the safety of both students and staff during a violent or potentially violent situation. In many cases, lockdown procedures are required in school safety plans. The door locks in many school classrooms, offices and other rooms where students and school staff gather can only be locked from the outside. The safety of students and school staff may be jeopardized as staff must enter hallways in an attempt to lock their doors during a "lockdown." Existing law, authorized by AB 211 (Mendoza), Chapter 430, Statutes of 2010, requires, as a condition for state education bond funds, all new construction projects submitted to the DSA on and after July 1, 2011, to include locks that allow a door AB 677 Page 4 to be locked from the inside of a classroom or any room that accommodates five or more people. The California Federation of Teachers is sponsoring this bill to extend the requirement to K-12 modernization projects submitted to the DSA. The bill also requires all schools to be equipped with locks that can be locked from the inside by January 1, 2022, regardless of whether the school is undergoing any rehabilitation. This requirement would be contingent upon a school facilities bond approved by the voters. 2)Opposition. The California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) is opposed to this bill due to significant fiscal pressure on school general fund budgets. The note that retrofitting door locks on older buildings could trigger other required upgrades, such as compliance with revised ADA requirements. With 10,134 schools in California, the cost could reach several millions, if not billions. Further, CASBO notes the provision requiring all rooms to be retrofitted with security locks by January 1, 2022, if a new state school bond is approved, is problematic because school bond funds are not specifically allocated for the replacement of security locks at the state level. Because of the way school bond funding works, school districts must apply under the current state school facilities program to receive matching funds from a state bond, which would only cover funding for the specific project under consideration and not the replacement of security locks at all schools. CASBO recognizes the need to modernize existing school infrastructure and to enhance critical components of school buildings. However, they encourage these issues to be considered in a comprehensive fashion and in the context of California's ongoing discussions to finance school facilities construction and modernization. AB 677 Page 5 Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916) 319-2081