AB 5

Under current law, school boards of school districts and governing bodies of

private schools that were in existence on May 27, 2010, are required to have a school

safety plan in effect. Current law requires the school board of any school district or

the governing body of any private school created or opened after May 27, 2010, to

have a school safety plan in effect within three years of the creation or opening of the

school district or private school. This bill eliminates this three-year period and

requires all school boards and governing bodies of private schools to have a school

safety plan in effect. Under the bill, before creating or updating a school safety plan,

a school board or governing body of a private school must work with local law

enforcement to conduct an on-site safety assessment of each school building, site,

and facility that is regularly occupied by pupils. The on-site assessment must

include any playgrounds, athletic facilities or fields, and any other property occupied

by pupils on a regular basis.

Under current law, a school safety plan must include general guidelines

specifying procedures for emergency prevention and mitigation, preparedness,

response, and recovery and must specify a process for reviewing drills required to

comply with the plan. Under the bill, a school safety plan must also include an

individualized safety plan for each school building and facility that is regularly

occupied by pupils and specify guidelines and procedures to address specific types

of school safety incidents, including school violence and attacks, threats of school

violence and attacks, parent-student reunification, and threats to non-classroom

events. Under the bill, a school safety plan may not include restrictions on how

school district or private school employees report emergencies, school violence or

threats of school violence, or suspicious individuals or activities to law enforcement.

This bill requires each school board and the governing body of each private

school to ensure that pupils at each school building regularly occupied by pupils are

drilled annually in the proper response to a school violence event. The bill requires

the individual having charge of the school building at which a drill is held to submit

a written evaluation of the drill to the school board or governing body of the private

school and requires the school board or governing body of the private school to review

the written evaluation.

Under current law, the school board and the governing body of each private

school must review its school safety plan at least once every three years. This bill

also requires the school board or governing body to approve its school safety plan at

least once every three years.

Finally, the bill requires each school board and governing body of a private

school to annually submit its school safety plan, and various information related to

the implementation of the school safety plan, to the Department of Justice.