(1)Existing law requires the governing board or body of a local educational agency that serves pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, inclusive, and that serves pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to adopt and maintain a policy on pupil suicide prevention that addresses, among other things, any training on suicide awareness and prevention to be provided to teachers of pupils in all of the grades served by the local educational agency. Existing law, commencing with the 202425 school year, encourages local educational agencies to provide that training to those teachers. Existing law requires the State Department of Education to identify one or more evidence-based online training programs that a local educational agency can use to train school staff and pupils as part of the local educational agencys policy on pupil suicide prevention.

This bill would separately require the State Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Justice and the Mental Health Services Division of the State Department of Health Care Services, California Health and Human Services Agency, to maintain a list of approved training programs for instruction in suicide awareness and prevention and safety training and violence prevention. The bill would require the approved training programs to be evidence based and to include specified information, including, among other information, how to instruct school personnel to identify the signs and symptoms of depression, suicide, and self-harm in pupils, and how to instruct pupils to identify the signs and symptoms of depression, suicide, and self-harm in their peers. The bill would require these approved training programs to be in addition to the above-described evidence-based online training programs that a local educational agency can use to train school staff and pupils as part of the local educational agencys policy on pupil suicide prevention unless the State Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Justice and the Mental Health Services Division of the State Department of Health Care Services, California Health and Human Services Agency, determines that the training program satisfies all of the requirements specified in the bill.

The bill would require the State Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Justice and the Mental Health Services Division of the State Department of Health Care Services, California Health and Human Services Agency, to also maintain a list of approved training programs for instruction in social inclusion, as specified. For each topic, the bill would require the approved training programs to include at least one option that is free or of no cost to school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools, and would require all of the approved training programs to be posted on the State Department of Educations internet website.

The bill would, commencing July 1, 2027, require each school district, county office of education, and charter school serving any of grades 6 to 12, inclusive, to annually provide at least one hour of, or one standard class period per school year of, evidence-based instruction, per topic, based upon the above-described trainings, on each of suicide awareness and prevention, safety training and violence prevention, and social inclusion, except as provided. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(2)Under existing law, each school district and county office of education is responsible for the overall development of a comprehensive school safety plan for each of its schools operating kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, in cooperation with certain local entities. Existing law requires the comprehensive school safety plan to include, among other things, the development of procedures for conducting tactical responses to criminal incidents, including procedures related to individuals with guns on school campuses and at school-related functions and procedures to assess and respond to reports of any dangerous, violent, or unlawful activity that is being conducted or threatened to be conducted at the school, at an activity sponsored by the school, or on a schoolbus serving the school. Existing law prohibits a chartering authority from denying a petition for the establishment of a charter school unless it makes written factual findings supporting at least one of specified bases for denial. One of those bases for denying a petition is if the petition does not contain a reasonably comprehensive description of the development of a school safety plan that includes the same safety topics required in the comprehensive school safety plan of a school district or county office of education.

The bill would require each school district, county office of education, and charter school, commencing July 1, 2027, to enter into an agreement with an anonymous reporting program of the local educational agencys choosing, provided that the reporting program satisfies specified requirements, including, among others, that it operates 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, and that it forwards reported information to, and coordinates with, the appropriate school personnel, law enforcement agencies, and other public safety agencies, as identified in a schools adopted school safety plan, as applicable. provided. Commencing July 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, the bill would require each local educational agency, at the end of each school year, to submit specified data to the State Department of Education, in a manner prescribed by the State Department of Education, and to the Department of Justice, in manner prescribed by the Department of Justice, disaggregated by school. The bill would require a local educational agency to immediately remove a false report from a pupils record, as provided. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(3)The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

(1)Existing law requires the governing board or body of a local educational agency that serves pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, inclusive, and that serves pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to adopt and maintain a policy on pupil suicide prevention that addresses, among other things, any training on suicide awareness and prevention to be provided to teachers of pupils in all of the grades served by the local educational agency. Existing law, commencing with the 202425 school year, encourages local educational agencies to provide that training to those teachers. Existing law requires the State Department of Education to identify one or more evidence-based online training programs that a local educational agency can use to train school staff and pupils as part of the local educational agencys policy on pupil suicide prevention.

This bill would separately require the State Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Justice and the Mental Health Services Division of the State Department of Health Care Services, to maintain a list of approved training programs for instruction in suicide awareness and prevention and safety training and violence prevention. The bill would require the approved training programs to be evidence based and to include specified information, including, among other information, how to instruct school personnel to identify the signs and symptoms of depression, suicide, and self-harm in pupils, and how to instruct pupils to identify the signs and symptoms of depression, suicide, and self-harm in their peers. The bill would require these approved training programs to be in addition to the above-described evidence-based online training programs that a local educational agency can use to train school staff and pupils as part of the local educational agencys policy on pupil suicide prevention unless the State Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Justice and the Mental Health Services Division of the State Department of Health Care Services, determines that the training program satisfies all of the requirements specified in the bill.

The bill would require the State Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Justice and the Mental Health Services Division of the State Department of Health Care Services, to also maintain a list of approved training programs for instruction in social inclusion, as specified. For each topic, the bill would require the approved training programs to include at least one option that is free or of no cost to school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools, and would require all of the approved training programs to be posted on the State Department of Educations internet website.

The bill would, commencing July 1, 2027, require each school district, county office of education, and charter school serving any of grades 6 to 12, inclusive, to annually provide at least one hour of, or one standard class period per school year of, evidence-based instruction, per topic, based upon the above-described trainings, on each of suicide awareness and prevention, safety training and violence prevention, and social inclusion, except as provided. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(2)Under existing law, each school district and county office of education is responsible for the overall development of a comprehensive school safety plan for each of its schools operating kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, in cooperation with certain local entities. Existing law requires the comprehensive school safety plan to include, among other things, the development of procedures for conducting tactical responses to criminal incidents, including procedures related to individuals with guns on school campuses and at school-related functions and procedures to assess and respond to reports of any dangerous, violent, or unlawful activity that is being conducted or threatened to be conducted at the school, at an activity sponsored by the school, or on a schoolbus serving the school. Existing law prohibits a chartering authority from denying a petition for the establishment of a charter school unless it makes written factual findings supporting at least one of specified bases for denial. One of those bases for denying a petition is if the petition does not contain a reasonably comprehensive description of the development of a school safety plan that includes the same safety topics required in the comprehensive school safety plan of a school district or county office of education.

This bill would require each school district, county office of education, and charter school, commencing July 1, 2027, to establish a threat assessment team, as specified, for each of its schools serving any of grades 6 to 12, inclusive, and would require, upon the initial establishment of a threat assessment team, and at least once every 3 years thereafter, each member of the threat assessment team to complete a threat assessment training program, as specified, from a list maintained by the Department of Justice. If the Department of Justice does not have an existing list of approved threat assessment training programs, the bill would require the Department of Justice to establish such a list. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The bill would require each school district, county office of education, and charter school, commencing July 1, 2027, to enter into an agreement with an anonymous reporting program of the local educational agencys choosing, provided that the reporting program satisfies specified requirements, including, among others, that it operates 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, and that it forwards reported information to, and coordinates with, the appropriate school personnel, law enforcement agencies, and other public safety agencies, as identified in a schools adopted school safety plan, as applicable. Commencing July 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, the bill would require each local educational agency, at the end of each school year, to submit specified data to the State Department of Education, in a manner prescribed by the State Department of Education, and to the Department of Justice, in manner prescribed by the Department of Justice, disaggregated by school. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(3)The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Senator Anna Caballero, Chair

2023 - 2024 Regular Session

SB 1241 (Padilla) - Safety and Violence Education for (SAVE) Students Act

Bill Summary:

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to develop and post resources related to suicide awareness and prevention, safety training and violence prevention, and social inclusion on its website. This bill also requires local educational agencies (LEAs) to contract with an anonymous reporting system, as specified.

Fiscal Impact:

• This bill imposes a likely significant reimbursable state mandate on LEAs to contract with an anonymous reporting program and comply with the bill’s data collection and reporting requirements. Costs will vary by LEA but statewide Proposition 98 General Fund costs could be in the millions of dollars each year.
• The CDE estimates General Fund costs of $83,000 and 0.5 positions to comply with the bill’s requirements and post the resources on its website. The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Health and Human Services Agency may also incur similar General Fund costs to consult with the CDE on the list of training programs, as specified.

Background:

Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to send a notice to each middle school, junior high school, and high school that encourages each school to provide suicide prevention training to each school counselor at least one time while employed as a counselor, provides information on the availability of the suicide prevention training curriculum developed by the CDE, informs schools about the suicide prevention training provided by the CDE and describes how a school might retain those services. (Education Code Section 49604)

The CDE has posted on its website a listing of resources to assist school districts with the concerns about youth suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention, including a youth suicide prevention school-based guide.

Proposed Law:

This bill requires the CDE, in consultation with the DOJ and the Health and Human Services Agency, to maintain a list of approved training programs, with at least one option that is free or of no cost to LEAs, to be posted on the CDE”s website, for instruction in suicide awareness and prevention and safety training and violence prevention that include at least all of the following unless the CDE, in consultation with DOJ and the Health and Human Services Agency, determines that all of the following have been met by their existing list of training materials posted on their website:

1. How to instruct school personnel to identify the signs and symptoms of depression, suicide, and self-harm in pupils.
2. How to instruct pupils to identify the signs and symptoms of depression, suicide, and self-harm in their peers.
3. How to identify appropriate mental health services within schools and within larger communities, and when and how to refer pupils and their families to those services.
4. How to teach pupils about mental health and depression, warning signs of suicide, and the importance of and processes for seeking help on behalf of themselves and peers.
5. How to identify observable warning signs and signals of individuals who may be a threat to themselves or others.
6. The importance of taking threats seriously and seeking help.
7. How pupils can report dangerous, violent, threatening, harmful, or potentially harmful activity, including the use of the LEA’s chosen anonymous reporting program.

This bill requires the CDE to maintain a list of approved training programs, with at least one option that is free or of no cost to LEA, to be posted on the CDE website for instruction in social inclusion and include at least all of the following:

1. What social isolation is and how to identify it in others.
2. What social inclusion is and the importance of establishing connections with peers.
3. When and how to seek help for peers who may be socially isolated.
4. How to use strategies for more social inclusion in classrooms and the school community.

This bill requires, commencing the July 1, 2027, that each LEA serving any of grades 6 to 12 to annually provide at least one hour of, or one standard class period per school year of, evidence-based instruction based upon the trainings developed by the CDE related to suicide awareness and prevention, safety training and violence prevention, and social inclusion, and allows a student to be excused from any instruction upon the written request of the pupil’s parent or legal guardian.

This bill requires, commencing July 1, 2027, each LEA to enter into an agreement with an anonymous reporting program, and promote the reporting program at each of its schools in order to inform pupils about the reporting program and its reporting methods, that (1) operates 24 hours, seven days a week; (2) forwards reported information to, and coordinates with, the appropriate the school personnel, law enforcement agencies, and other public safety agencies, as identified in a school’s adopted school safety plan; (3) the provider annually submits a report to the CDE and the DOJ of the number of anonymous reports made through the reporting program, and the method by which they were received, disaggregated by individual school.

This bill requires, commencing July 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, at the end of each school year, for each LEA to submit all of the following data to the CDE and DOJ, in a manner prescribed by the CDE and the DOJ, disaggregated by school and that the data submitted to the CDE and DOJ is non-personally identifiable information:

1. The type of threat and the manner in which he treat was received.
2. The number and type of disciplinary actions taken in the previous school year as a result of anonymous reports.
3. The number and type of mental wellness referrals as a result of anonymous reports.
4. The race and gender of the pupils subject to disciplinary actions and mental wellness referrals as a result of anonymous reports.
5. Any other information the State Department of Education or the Department of Justice determines necessary.

This bill requires an LEA, upon receiving a false report about a student who is the subject of the report, to remove that record from the student’s record.

This bill also allows an LEA that has previously established an anonymous reporting system or procedures to receive tips meet the requirements of this bill as long as the current system adopted by an LEA meets the requirements of this bill.

Related Legislation:

AB 99 (Irwin, 2022) would have required the governing board of a school district, on or before August 1, 2023, to adopt policies for the establishment of a crisis intervention and targeted violence prevention program that assists in the identification and assessment of individuals who may be experiencing a crisis or whose behavior may indicate a threat to the health and safety of themselves, pupils, school staff, or other community members, and that provides referrals to appropriate services. This bill was held on the Senate Inactive File.

Staff Comments:

This bill defines LEA as county offices of education, school districts, state special schools, and charter schools. Under this definition, there are approximately 1,100 LEAs affected by this bill. Though charter schools would be required to comply with this bill, the Commission on State Mandates has determined charter schools to be ineligible to claim reimbursements for state mandates.

Assuming a cost of $5,000 to $10,000 for each district to comply with the bill’s requirements, statewide costs could be in the millions of dollars each year. However, these costs could be higher depending on how an LEA elects to comply with the bill’s requirements. Although some LEAs may already have a contract with an anonymous reporting program, they may be required to amend the contract to bring it into conformity with the requirements of this bill. Consistent with previous determinations by the Commission on State Mandates regarding school safety plans, the Commission is likely to determine the policies required by this bill to be a higher level of service and therefore a reimbursable state mandate. The associated costs could be significant, potentially in the millions of dollars each year. Alternatively, if school districts elect not to submit mandate claims to the Commission, there could be pressure for the state to increase the K-12 Mandate Block grant. The amount of funding provided through the block grant is tied to the mandates that the Commission has approved as well as the costs for those mandates. School districts that choose to participate in the block grant receive a per-student amount to cover the cost of the various state mandated activities in lieu of submitting mandate claims for reimbursement. Charter schools may participate in the block grant, but are not eligible to submit mandate claims nor receive reimbursement from the state.

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SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Senator Josh Newman, Chair

2023 - 2024 Regular

Bill No: Hearing Date: April 10, 2024

Subject: .

SUMMARY

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE), as specified, to develop and post on its website training related to suicide prevention and social inclusion and requires each local educational agency (LEA), commencing July 1, 2027, to establish a threat assessment team and an anonymous reporting system, as specified.

BACKGROUND

Existing Federal Law:

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)

1. Authorizes an educational agency or institution to disclose personally identifiable information from an education record to appropriate parties, including parents of an eligible student, in connection with an emergency if knowledge of the information is necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other individuals. (34 CFR § 99.36(a))

Existing State Law:

Education Code (EC)

1. Requires a school official who is alerted to or observes any threat or perceived threat to immediately report the threat or perceived threat to law enforcement. If two or more officials jointly have an obligation to report to law enforcement regarding a threat or perceived threat, the report can be consolidated into one report. (EC § 49393
2. Requires, upon notification from a school official, the local law enforcement agency or the school site police, to immediately conduct an investigation and assessment of any threat or perceived threat, as specified. (EC § 49394)
3. Existing law prohibits school employees from conducting a body cavity search of a student, or removing or arranging any or all of the clothing of a student to permit a visual inspection of the underclothing, breast, buttocks, or genitalia of the student. (EC § 49050)
4. Requires an LEA, county office of education (COE), and charter school safety plans to include procedures to assess and respond to reports of any dangerous, violent, or unlawful activity that is being conducted or threatened to be conducted at the school, at an activity sponsored by the school, or on a school bus serving the school. (EC § 32282 & 47605)
5. Requires the governing board of an LEA that serve pupils in Kindergarten and grades 1 to 6 to adopt, before the 2020-21 school year, a policy on pupil suicide prevention in kindergarten in consultation with school and community stakeholders, school-employed mental health professionals, and suicide prevention experts. (EC § 215 (a)(2)(A))
6. Requires the governing board of an LEA that serve pupils in grades 7 to 12 to adopt, before the 2017-18 school year, procedures relating to suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention in consultation with school and community stakeholders, school-employed mental health professionals, and suicide prevention experts. (EC § 215(a))

ANALYSIS

This bill:

CDE: Youth Suicide Prevention and Social Inclusion Training Programs

1. Requires the CDE, in consultation with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Mental Health Services Division of the State Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), to maintain a list of approved training programs, with at least one option that is free or of no cost to LEAs, to be posted on the CDE”s website, for instruction in suicide awareness and prevention and safety training and violence prevention that include at least all of the following unless the CDE, in consultation with DOJ and DHCS, determines that all of the following have been met by their existing list of training materials posted on their website:
2. How to instruct school personnel to identify the signs and symptoms of depression, suicide, and self-harm in pupils.
3. How to instruct pupils to identify the signs and symptoms of depression, suicide, and self-harm in their peers.
4. How to identify appropriate mental health services within schools and within larger communities, and when and how to refer pupils and their families to those services.
5. How to teach pupils about mental health and depression, warning signs of suicide, and the importance of and processes for seeking help on behalf of themselves and peers.
6. How to identify observable warning signs and signals of individuals who may be a threat to themselves or others.
7. The importance of taking threats seriously and seeking help.
8. How pupils can report dangerous, violent, threatening, harmful, or potentially harmful activity, including the use of the LEA’s chosen anonymous reporting program.
9. Requires the CDE, in consultation, with DOJ and DHCS, to maintain a list of approved training programs, with at least one option that is free or of no cost to LEA, to be posted on the CDE website for instruction in social inclusion and include at least all of the following:
10. What social isolation is and how to identify it in others.
11. What social inclusion is and the importance of establishing connections with peers.
12. When and how to seek help for peers who may be socially isolated.
13. How to use strategies for more social inclusion in classrooms and the school community.
14. Requires, commencing the July 1, 2027, that each LEA serving any of grades 6 to 12 to annually provide at least one hour of, or one standard class period per school year of, evidence-based instruction based upon the trainings developed by the CDE related to suicide awareness and prevention, safety training and violence prevention, and social inclusion, and allows a student to be excused from any instruction upon the written request of the pupil’s parent or legal guardian.

Establishes Threat Assessment Teams

1. Requires each LEA, commencing July 1, 2027, to establish a threat assessment team, which may include, to the extent possible, school administrators, school counselors and psychologists, school resource officers, and other appropriate personnel, for each of its schools serving any of grades 6 to 12.
2. Specifies that each member, at least once every three years must complete a threat assessment training program, and retain proof of completion, from a list maintained by the DOJ, if the DOJ has a list. If DOJ does not maintain a list, the DOJ is required to maintain a list.
3. States if an LEA If the school of a local educational agency has a similarly constituted safety team as of January 1, 2025, that team may also serve as the threat assessment team and has taken training from the list maintained by the DOJ; However, if a member of an already established team has completed training between July 1, 2026, and July 1, 2027, inclusive, the team member does not have to complete another training course again until July 1, 2029.
4. Require any new member who joins a newly created team, or existing team, to complete an approved training program from the list maintained by the DOJ upon their appointment to that team.
5. Specifies that a LEA, the members of the governing board or body of a LEA, and any employee of a LEA, including a school threat assessment team member are not liable for damages in a civil action for injury, death, or loss to person or property allegedly arising from a team member’s execution of duties unless the team member’s act or omission constitutes willful or wanton misconduct without eliminating, limiting, or reducing any other immunity or defense that a local educational agency, the governing board or body of a LEA, or any employee of a LEA, including a school threat assessment team member, may assert under existing law.

Establishes Anonymous Tip lines

1. Requires, commencing July 1, 2027, each LEA to enter into an agreement with an anonymous reporting program, and promote the reporting program at each of its schools in order to inform pupils about the reporting program and its reporting methods, that (1) operates 24 hours, seven days a week; (2) forwards reported information to, and coordinates with, the appropriate the school personnel, law enforcement agencies, and other public safety agencies, as identified in a school’s adopted school safety plan; (3) the provider annually submits a report to the CDE and the DOJ of the number of anonymous reports made through the reporting program, and the method by which they were received, disaggregated by individual school.
2. Requires, commencing July 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, at the end of each school year, for each LEA to submit all of the following data to the CDE and DOJ, in a manner prescribed by the CDE and the DOJ, disaggregated by school and that the data submitted to the CDE and DOJ is non-personally identifiable information:
3. The number and type of disciplinary actions taken in the previous school year as a result of anonymous reports.
4. The number and type of mental wellness referrals as a result of anonymous reports.
5. The race and gender of the pupils subject to disciplinary actions and mental wellness referrals as a result of anonymous reports.
6. Any other information the State Department of Education or the Department of Justice determines necessary.

Definitions

1. “Evidence based” means a program or practice that demonstrates a rationale based on high-quality research findings or positive evaluation that such a program or practice is likely to improve relevant outcomes and includes ongoing efforts to examine the effects of the program or practice.
2. “Local educational agency” means a LEA, COE, or charter school.

STAFF COMMENTS

1. Need for the bill. According to the author, “Students across the state deserve to feel safe in their schools. By implementing proven resources such as anonymous reporting systems and evidence-based trainings, SB 1241 will ensure young people are educated about the signs that one of their peers may be in crisis, and have a safe and anonymous way to speak up. Building off of the 2020 SAVE Students Act passed in Ohio, this legislation would help establish best practices for combating school violence and youth suicide. The safety and well-being of our students should be our first priority and SB 1241 is a needed step to establish a school environment where young people can learn and grow.”
2. Youth Suicide Prevention Training Already Developed By CDE. In 2018, the Legislature passed AB 1808 (Committee On Budget, Chapter 32, Statutes of 2018) which, among other things, allocated $1.7 million in one-time General Fund for the Superintendent of Public Instruction to identify evidence-based training programs for LEAs on suicide prevention and provide a grant to a COE to acquire and disseminate a training program identified by CDE to LEAs at no cost. That bill also called for the training to be offered to middle and high school students. The training was launched in two phases. Phase One includes the rollout of the program for middle and high school staff in late May 2020; Phase Two included the roll out of the training for middle and high school students in mid-September 2020. The CDE selected LivingWorks Start as the online training program and the San Diego County Office of Education as the lead to make this online training available, at no cost, to LEAs to voluntarily use as part of their youth suicide prevention policy. Subsequent legislation, has required the governing board of any LEA that serves pupils in grades 1 to 6 and 7 to 12, inclusive to adopt a policy on pupil suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention.

This bill would require the CDE to revise their existing guide on youth suicide prevention unless the CDE determines the criteria, as specified, are already met. In addition to potentially revising youth suicide materials on its website, the bill also requires CDE, as specified, to develop and make publically available on its website, training on social inclusion with one option being at no cost to an LEA..

1. Threat Assessment Teams in School. According to the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) “A threat assessment team is a group of officials that convene to identify, evaluate, and address threats or potential threats to school security. Threat assessment teams review incidents of threatening behavior by students (current and former), parents, school employees, or other individuals. Some schools may need assistance in determining whether a health or safety emergency exists in order to know whether a disclosure may be made under FERPA’s health or safety emergency provision. Accordingly, members of a threat assessment team might include officials who can assist in making such decisions, such as school principals, counselors, school law enforcement unit officials, as well as outside medical and mental health professionals and local law enforcement officers.”

To aid in these efforts, the U.S. Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC), in 2019 studied 41 incidents of targeted school violence that occurred at K-12 schools in the United States from 2008 to 2017 and published a report to help schools across the country establish threat assessment teams. This report builds on 20 years of NTAC research and guidance in the field of threat assessment by offering an in-depth analysis of the motives, behaviors, and situational factors of the attackers, as well as the tactics, resolutions, and other operationally-relevant details of the attacks. The analysis suggests that many of these tragedies could have been prevented, and supports the importance of schools establishing comprehensive targeted violence prevention programs as recommended by the Secret Service in Enhancing School Safety Using a Threat Assessment Model: An Operational Guide for Preventing Targeted School Violence.

Threat assessment teams can discern serious from non-serious threats and help identify the appropriate response to each situation, which may not include law enforcement. CDE also provides information on its website to help schools develop threat assessment teams within their school safety plans.

Currently the California DOJ does not maintain a list of trainings related to threat assessment teams on its website. Rather than requiring the California DOJ to maintain training on its website, should the bill instead direct LEAs to align their threat assessment teams with best practices by the NTAC?

1. Anonymous Tip Lines. School tip lines are structured systems that allow students, parents, school staff, or community members to report information about threats or potential threats, to school authorities to ensure the safety of students, staff, and the community. Various forms of tip lines are available, including Web sites, computer applications, and telephone hotlines, which aim to prevent incidents posing a threat to school safety or student well-being. Although tip lines are used as a method to ensure school safety, very little is known about how widely they have been implemented and used to report threats.

In California, some schools have already implemented an anonymous reporting system. For example, Rescue Union School District and Murrieta Valley Unified School District both use a service called WeTip, a national nonprofit that takes anonymous tips over the phone or through an encrypted submission form on the organization’s website 24/7. Yuba City Unified School District uses a software program, Catapult EMS, an emergency management system that allows for “real-time student accounting, reunification, staff location check-ins, threat report management, and more - all from a responsive, dependable, cloud-based system.” Meanwhile, Livermore School District uses a different service, Blackboard, to receive tips.

Other schools may not use a service to receive anonymous tips. For example, Merced Union High School District, Glendale Unified School District, Pleasanton Unified School District, Fullerton Joint Union School District, Castro Valley Unified School District, and William S. Hart School District have established either a mobile application or a telephone number for students, parents, and guardians to text. In other cases, some school districts use a website like Centinela Valley Union High School District, for students, parents, and guardians to report.

This bill requires LEAs to enter into an agreement with anonymous reporting programs with certain specifications, as specified above. Should there be more flexibility for schools to establish anonymous reporting systems, particularly for those that have already entered agreements or have already established an anonymous reporting system?

1. Student Privacy – The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). FERPA protects the privacy of students’ personal records held by educational agencies or institutions that receive federal funds under programs administered by the U.S. Secretary of Education. Almost all public schools and public school districts receive some form of federal education funding and must comply with FERPA. Organizations and individuals that contract with or consult for an LEA also may be subject to FERPA if certain conditions are met. FERPA controls the disclosure of recorded information maintained in a pupil’s education record. FERPA generally limits access to all student records, and for example, only school staff with a legitimate educational interest in the information should be able to access it. FERPA also requires schools to include in their annual notices to parents a statement indicating whether the school has a policy of disclosing information from the education file to school officials, and, if so, which parties are considered school officials and what the school considers to be a legitimate educational interest.

According to USDE’s website, “a school or school district may disclose personally identifiable information (PII) from education records without consent to threat assessment team members who are not employees of the school or school district if they qualify as “school officials” with “legitimate educational interests. In establishing a threat assessment team, the school must follow the FERPA provisions in § 99.31(a)(1)(i)(B) concerning outsourcing this function if team members will be privy to PII from students’ education records. While not a requirement of FERPA, one way to ensure that members of the team do not redisclose PII obtained from education records would be to have a written agreement with each of the team members specifying their requirements and responsibilities. Schools are reminded that members of the threat assessment team may only use PII from education records for the purposes for which the disclosure was made, i.e., to conduct threat assessments, and must be subject to FERPA’s redisclosure requirements in § 99.33(a) […]. For example, a representative from the city police who serves on a school’s threat assessment team generally could not give the police department any PII from a student’s education records to which he or she was privy as a member of the team. However, if the threat assessment team determines that a health or safety emergency exists, then the police officer may disclose, on behalf of the school, PII from a student’s education records to appropriate officials under the health or safety emergency exception under §§ 99.31(a)(10) and 99.36”

This bill ensures student’s personal information is not shared when reporting to the CDE and DOJ and further requires that the reports are disaggregated.

1. Committee Amendments. The committee staff recommends the following amendments:
2. Defines “anonymous reporting system” as a system that enables any person to submit an anonymous report, including, but not limited to, via a telephone number, call center, internet website, mobile telephone application, or email address.
3. Replaces the Mental Health Services Division of the State Department of Health Care Services with the California Department of Health and Human Services.
4. Removes the provisions related to threat assessment teams.
5. Allows an LEA that has previously established an anonymous reporting system or procedures to receive tips meet the requirements of this bill as long as the current system adopted by an LEA meets the requirements of this bill.
6. Add to the list of required information that an LEA must report to CDE and DOJ, the type of threat and the manner in which the threat was received.
7. Requires an LEA, upon receiving a false report about a student who is the subject of the report, to remove that record from the student’s record.

1. Related Legislation.

SB 906 (Portantino, Chapter 144, Statutes of 2022) requires (1) LEAs to annually provide information to parents or guardians about California’s child access prevention laws and laws relating to the safe storage of firearms; (2) requires school officials to report to law enforcement any threat or perceived threat; and (3) requires law enforcement or the school police to conduct an investigation and threat assessment, including a review of SB 906 DOJ’s firearm registry and a search of the school and/or students’ property by law enforcement or school police.

AB 99 (Irwin, 2022) would have required the governing board of a school district, on or before August 1, 2023, to adopt policies for the establishment of a crisis intervention and targeted violence prevention program that assists in the identification and assessment of individuals who may be experiencing a crisis or whose behavior may indicate a threat to the health and safety of themselves, pupils, school staff, or other community members, and that provides referrals to appropriate services. This bill died on Senate Inactive File.

AB 2246 (O’Donnell, Chapter 642, Statutes of 2016) requires LEAs to adopt policies for the prevention of student suicides, and requires the CDE to develop and maintain a model suicide prevention policy.

SUPPORT

CleanEarth4Kids.org

OPPOSITION

None received

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