Existing law requires school districts and county offices of education to be responsible for the overall development of a comprehensive school safety plan for each of their schools operating a kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Existing law requires a comprehensive school safety plan to include, among other things, the development of procedures for conducting tactical responses to criminal incidents, including procedures related to individuals with guns on school campuses. Existing law prohibits school employees from conducting a body cavity search or visual inspection under the clothing of a pupil, as provided. Under existing law, pupil and pupil property searches at a schoolsite by school officials are generally justified at their inception if reasonable grounds suggest a search will lead to relevant evidence.

This bill would require, on or before January July 1, 2023, the State Department of Education, in consultation with relevant local educational agencies, civil rights groups, and the Department of Justice, to develop model content for use by school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools maintaining any of grades 6 to 12, inclusive, as part of a middle school or high school, related to a threat or perceived threat of a homicidal act at a school. Using the model content, the bill would, that includes, at a minimum, content that informs parents or guardians of California’s child access prevention laws and laws relating to the safe storage of firearms. The bill would require, commencing with the 2023–24 school year, require those local educational agencies to maintaining kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to, informed by the model content, include information related to the safe storage of firearms in the an annual notification provided to the parents or guardians of pupils. The bill would require a school official whose duties involve regular contact with pupils in any of grades 6 to 12, inclusive, as part of a middle school or high school, and who is alerted to or observes any threat or perceived threat to immediately report the threat or perceived threat to law enforcement, as provided. The bill would require, with the support of the local educational agency, the local law enforcement agency or schoolsite police, as applicable, to immediately conduct an investigation and threat assessment, as specified. The bill would require the investigation and threat assessment to include a review of the firearm registry of the Department of Justice and, if justified by a reasonable suspicion that it would produce evidence related to the threat or perceived threat, a schoolsite search. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Under the bill, a local educational agency serving pupils in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and a school of a local educational agency, is immune from civil liability for any damages allegedly caused by, arising out of, or relating to these provisions.

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.