School safety plans.

(1) Existing law provides that school districts and county offices of education are responsible for the overall development of a comprehensive school safety plan for each of their constituent schools. Existing law requires the schoolsite council of a school to write and develop the school safety plan relevant to the needs and resources of the particular school. Existing law requires a schoolsite council or school safety planning committee, before adopting a school safety plan, to hold a public meeting at the schoolsite, as specified. Existing law requires schools to forward copies of their school safety plans to the school district or county office of education for approval. Existing law requires school districts and county offices of education annually to notify the State Department of Education regarding schools that fail to adopt a school safety plan. This bill would revise and recast those procedures. The bill would require the comprehensive school safety plan to include procedures related to individuals with guns on school campuses and at school-related functions, as provided. The bill would require, no later than October 15, 2016, and every year thereafter, each superintendent of a school district and county office of education to provide written notification to the Superintendent of Public Instruction certifying that each school within the school district and the county has complied with the requirement to adopt a comprehensive school safety plan. The bill would require certain school administrators to keep and maintain a copy of the most recent comprehensive school safety plan, as provided, and would require each principal to ensure that an updated copy of the comprehensive school safety plan is readily available to staff members, law enforcement, first responders, and the public. By requiring school and local educational agency officers to perform additional duties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The Charter Schools Act of 1992 allows one or more persons seeking to establish a charter school within a school district to circulate a petition to that effect. The act provides that a petition for the establishment of a charter school may be denied by the governing board of a school district upon a finding that the petition does not contain a reasonably comprehensive description of the procedures that the school will follow to ensure the health and safety of pupils and staff, including a requirement that each employee of the school furnish the school with a criminal record summary. The renewal of a charter is also governed by these criteria. This bill, in addition, would add the development of a school safety plan, which includes specified topics, and that is annually reviewed and updated by the school, to the procedures that the school will follow to ensure the health and safety of pupils and staff that are to be described in a petition for the establishment of, or application for the renewal of a charter of, a charter school. (2) 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 these statutory provisions.