Amended  IN  Assembly  June 16, 2022
Amended  IN  Senate  April 07, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 906

Introduced by Senator Portantino
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Gipson)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Cristina Garcia, Levine, Low, and Santiago)

February 02, 2022

An act to add Article 8 (commencing with Section 49390) to Chapter 8 of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to school safety.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 906, as amended, Portantino. School safety: mass casualty homicide threats.
Existing law requires school districts and county offices of education to be responsible for the overall development of a comprehensive school safety plan for each of their schools operating a kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Existing law requires a 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. Existing law prohibits school employees from conducting a body cavity search or visual inspection under the clothing of a pupil, as provided. Under existing law, pupil and pupil property searches at a schoolsite by school official officials are generally justified at their inception if reasonable grounds suggest a search will lead to relevant evidence.
This bill would require, on or before January 1, 2023, the State Department of Education, in consultation with relevant local educational agencies agencies, civil rights groups, and the Department of Justice, to develop model content for use by local educational agencies school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools maintaining any of grades 6 to 12, inclusive, as part of a middle school or high school, related to a threat or perceived threat threat of an incident of mass casualties a homicidal act at a school of a school district or county office of education or a charter school maintaining any of grades 6 to 12, inclusive, as part of a middle school or high school. Using the model content, the bill would would, commencing with the 2023–24 school year, require those local educational agencies, as defined, agencies to include information related to the safe storage of firearms in the annual notification provided to the parents or guardians of a pupil in any of grades 6 to 12, inclusive, as part of a middle school or high school. If pupils. The bill would require a school official who is alerted to or observes any threat or perceived threat of an incident of mass casualties at a school, as defined, the bill would require a to immediately report of the threat or perceived threat to be immediately made to law enforcement, as provided. The bill would require, with the support from the school or of the local educational agency, the local law enforcement agency or schoolsite police, as applicable, to immediately conduct an investigation and threat assessment, as specified. The bill would require the investigation and threat assessment to include a review of the firearm registry of the Department of Justice and appropriate searches conducted by the local law enforcement agency or the schoolsite police, as provided. and, if justified by a reasonable suspicion that it would produce evidence related to the threat or perceived threat, a schoolsite search. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
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.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Article 8 (commencing with Section 49390) is added to Chapter 8 of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:
Article  8. Threats of Mass Casualties Homicide at School Incident

49390.
 For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:
(a) “Law enforcement” means any of the following:
(1) A peace officer employed or contracted by a school, school district, or local educational agency for school safety purposes.
(2) A police or security department of a school, school district, or local educational agency.
(3) A local law enforcement agency or agencies with geographic jurisdiction over a school. local educational agency.
(b) “Local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school serving pupils in any of grades 6 to 12, inclusive, as part of a middle school or high school.
(c) “Reasonable suspicion” means articulable facts, together with rational inferences from those facts, warranting an objective suspicion.

(d)“School” means a school of a school district or county office of education or a charter school serving pupils in any of grades 6 to 12, inclusive, as part of a middle school or high school.

(e)

(d) “School official” means any individual who has any oversight responsibility of a local educational agency or a school, or certificated or classified employee of a local educational agency or member of the school district governing board, county board of education, or governing body of a charter school whose official duties bring the individual in contact with pupils in any of grades 6 to 12, inclusive, as part of a middle school or high school, on a regular basis. “School official” includes, but is not limited to, any of the following:

(1)An administrator, principal, superintendent, corporate officer, or board member.

(2)A teacher.

(3)An instructional aide.

(4)A teacher’s aide or teacher’s assistant employed by a school.

(5)A classified employee of a school.

(6)A certificated pupil personnel employee of a school.

(7)An employee of a local educational agency whose duties bring the employee into contact with pupils on a regular basis.

(8)An employee of a school district police or security department.

(9)A school resource officer.

(10)An athletic coach, athletic administrator, or athletic director employed or contracted by a school.

(11)A school counselor that provides education counseling pursuant to Section 49600.

(f)

“Threat or perceived threat” means any of the following:

(1)Any

(e) “Threat or perceived threat” means any writing or other content of a pupil that, based on a reasonable suspicion, is homicidal in nature. The content action of a pupil that creates a reasonable suspicion that the pupil is preparing to commit a homicidal act related to school or a school activity. This may include possession, use, or depictions of firearms, ammunition, shootings, or targets in association with infliction of physical harm, destruction, or death. The content may be from death in a social media post, journal, class note, or other media associated with the pupil. Content that is reasonably part of or included in a school-sanctioned activity such as Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) shall not be considered homicidal in nature for purposes of this paragraph and paragraph (2). It may also include a warning by a parent, pupil, or other individual.

(2)Any pupil behavior that leads to a reasonable suspicion that the pupil has homicidal thoughts or urges, including the pupil’s unlawful possession or use of a firearm enumerated in Section 48900 or 48915, or in Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 626) of Title 15 of Part 1 of the Penal Code, or acts related to the content described in paragraph (1).

(3)Any warning by a parent, pupil, or other individual that leads to a reasonable suspicion that the pupil is preparing to commit a homicidal act.

49391.
 (a) On or before June 1, 2023, the department, in consultation with relevant local educational agencies agencies, civil rights groups, and the Department of Justice, shall assess best practices currently being used and develop model content for use by local educational agencies related to a threat or perceived threat of an incident of mass casualties a homicidal act at a school, as provided in subdivision (b).
(b) The model content developed pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include, at a minimum, content that informs parents or guardians of California’s child access prevention laws and laws relating to the safe storage of firearms, including, but not limited to, Division 4 (commencing with Section 25000) of Title 4 of Part 6 of the Penal Code.
(c) The department shall update the model content on a yearly basis as necessary to reflect any changes in law.

49392.
 Commencing with the 2023–24 school year, and each school year thereafter, a local educational agency shall, using the model content developed by the department pursuant to Section 49391, include in the annual notification pursuant to Section 48980, information related to the safe storage of firearms.

49393.
 (a) If a A school official who is alerted to or observes any threat or perceived threat of an incident of mass casualties at a school, a report of the threat or perceived threat shall be made threat, as described in subdivision (e) of Section 49390, shall immediately report the threat or perceived threat to law enforcement. The report shall include copies of any documentary or other evidence associated with the threat or perceived threat.
(b) When two or more school officials jointly have an obligation to report pursuant to subdivision (a), and when there is agreement among them, the report required by this section may be made by any of them in a single report. A school official who has knowledge that the designated reporting school official has failed to make the single report shall thereafter make the report.
(c) Law enforcement shall keep a record of any report received pursuant to this section.

49394.
 (a) Upon the notification described in Section 49393, the local law enforcement agency or the schoolsite police, as described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 49390, as appropriate, and with the support of the local educational agency or school, agency, shall immediately conduct an investigation and assessment of any threat or perceived threat described in subdivision (f) (e) of Section 49390 to prevent an incident of mass casualties at the school. The investigation and threat assessment shall include, but not be limited to, both of the following: 49390.

(a)A

(b) The investigation and threat assessment under subdivision (a) shall include a review of the firearm registry of the Department of Justice.

(b)Appropriate searches conducted by the local law enforcement agency or the schoolsite police, as appropriate. The search may include, as appropriate, either or both of the following:

(1)A search of the schoolsite.

(2)A search of the pupil’s property located at the schoolsite.

(c) The investigation and threat assessment under subdivision (a) shall include a search conducted at the schoolsite, only if the search is justified by a reasonable suspicion that it would produce evidence related to the threat or perceived threat.

49395.
 A local educational agency and school is immune from civil liability for any damages allegedly caused by, arising out of, or relating to the requirements of this article.

SEC. 2.

 If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.