SB 1443: School safety: the County of Riverside school metal detector pilot program.

Existing law expresses the intent of the Legislature for all public schools teaching kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, operated by a school district, to develop, in cooperation with specified community partners, a comprehensive school safety plan, as defined. Existing law requires each school district and county office of education to be responsible for the overall development of all comprehensive school safety plans for its schools operating kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive.

This bill would establish the County of Riverside school metal detector pilot program, and would authorize, as part of the pilot program, the Riverside County Office of Education to accept donations from private individuals and entities for the purpose of assisting public schools, as defined, located within the County of Riverside to purchase metal detectors through monetary grants. The bill would provide for the application for those grants by public schools located within the County of Riverside and the review of those applications and awarding of those grants to applicant public schools by the Riverside County Office of Education, as specified. If the amount donated under the pilot program reaches $900,000, the bill would appropriate $100,000 from the General Fund to the Riverside County Office of Education for the purpose of awarding those grants. The bill would require the State Department of Education to review the implementation of the pilot program and determine whether the pilot program was successful, and, if the department determines that the pilot program was successful, to submit a recommendation to the Legislature to enact legislation to expand the pilot program to other counties. The bill would repeal its provisions 6 years after the effective date of the bill.

Funds appropriated by this bill would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.

This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Riverside.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.