School safety: Safe-To-Tell Program.

Existing law requires school districts and county offices of education to be responsible for the overall development of comprehensive school safety plans for its schools operating kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Existing law requires the schoolsite council, or the school safety committee if so designated, to consult with a representative from a law enforcement agency, a fire department, and other first responder entities in the writing and development of the comprehensive school safety plan, and requires the comprehensive school safety plan and any updates to the plan to be shared with the law enforcement agency, the fire department, and the other first responder entities. Existing law requires the school safety plan to include, among other things, procedures for conducting tactical responses to criminal incidents. This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature for this purpose, require school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to establish, on or before the 2024–25 school year, an anonymous reporting system, as defined, for any person to anonymously report any dangerous, violent, or unlawful activity that is being conducted or threatened to be conducted on the property of a local educational agency or at an activity sponsored by the local educational agency. The bill would require local educational agencies to prominently post information regarding the anonymous reporting system on each schoolsite's internet website and ensure that a person who submits a report to have the option to remain anonymous. The bill would require local educational agencies to report specified information to the State Department of Education and would require the department to make the reported data available on its internet website, as provided. 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.