Comprehensive school safety plans: individualized safety plans.

Existing law requires local educational agencies to identify, locate, and assess individuals with exceptional needs and to provide those pupils with a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment, with special education and related services as reflected in an individualized education program. 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 its schools operating a kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Existing law requires the schoolsite council or school safety planning committee, before adopting the plan, to hold a public meeting at the schoolsite in order to allow members of the public the opportunity to express an opinion about the plan. Existing law requires the plan to include specified components, including, among other components, disaster procedures, routine and emergency, including adaptations for pupils with disabilities in accordance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Existing law requires a petition to establish a charter school to include, among other things, a reasonably comprehensive description of the procedures that the charter school will follow to ensure the health and safety of pupils and staff, including requiring the development and annual update of a school safety plan that includes specified comprehensive school safety plan topics and procedures, including the disaster procedures. This bill would require those disaster procedures to also include adaptations for pupils with disabilities in accordance with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and would require the annual evaluation of the comprehensive school safety plan and the annual review of a charter school's school safety plan to also include ensuring that the plan includes appropriate adaptations for pupils with disabilities, as specified. The bill would expressly authorize a school employee, a pupil's parent, guardian, or educational rights holder, or a pupil, after the first evaluation or review for those purposes is conducted, to bring concerns about an individual pupil's ability to access disaster safety procedures described in the comprehensive school safety plan or the school safety plan to the school principal, and would require the school principal, if they determine there is merit to a concern, to direct the schoolsite council, school safety planning committee, or charter school, as applicable, to appropriately modify the comprehensive school safety plan or school safety plan, as applicable, as specified. The bill would also expressly provide that its provisions do not prohibit a school employee, a pupil's parent, guardian, or educational rights holder, or a pupil themselves from bringing their concerns to the school principal before an evaluation or review for those purposes. By imposing additional requirements on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 32282 of the Education Code proposed by SB 10 and SB 671 to be operative only if this bill and either or both of those bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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.