AB 69

This bill requires each public school, including a charter school, to report any

incident that occurs in a school building or on school grounds to local law

enforcement. The bill provides that, if 100 or more incidents occur in and on public

school buildings and grounds during a school semester, and at least 25 of those

incidents result in an arrest, the school must, no later than the first day of the next

school year, employ or contract for the employment of a law enforcement officer as

an armed school resource officer (SRO) to work at the school. Under the bill,

“incident” is a defined term that includes violations of state and municipal disorderly

conduct laws and certain crimes, including homicide, sexual assault, burglary,

battery, and arson. However, the bill provides that, for purposes of counting the

number of incidents that resulted in arrest, “incident” does not include incidents

related to use or possession of alcohol, cigarettes, nicotine, tobacco products, or

vaping devices.

The bill also requires the Department of Public Instruction to reimburse a

school board or the operator of an independent charter school that begins employing

or enters into a new contract for the employment of a law enforcement officer as an

armed SRO all of the following amounts: 1) 75 percent of the costs associated with

the SRO for the 2023-24 school year; 2) 50 percent of the costs associated with the

SRO for the 2024-25 school year; and 3) 25 percent of the costs associated with the

SRO for the 2025-26 school year. Under the bill, the governor must allocate money

received by the state under the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to

reimburse DPI for these payments to school boards and independent charter school

operators.