BILL NUMBER: AB 1511 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member De Leon
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to add Article 6 (commencing with Section 32254.5) to
Chapter 2 of Part 19 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code,
relating to pupil safety.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1511, as amended, De Leon. Pupil safety: interagency
strategies. strategies: school campus prosecutors.
Existing law, the Interagency School Safety Demonstration Act of
1985, states that the intent of the Legislature in enacting its
provisions is to encourage school districts, county offices of
education, law enforcement agencies, and agencies serving youth to
develop and implement interagency strategies, in-service training
programs, and activities that will, among other things, reduce school
crime and violence. Existing law establishes the School/Law
Enforcement Partnership and charges it with undertaking several
efforts intended to reduce school crime, as specified.
This bill would state that it is the intent of the
Legislature to enact legislation to authorize a go
verning board of a school district o
r county superintendent of schools to enter into a
memorandum of understanding with a p rosecuting
city attorney's office or district attorney's office to
ensure the safety of its pupils having filing
jurisdiction over the school district in order to facilitate the pl
acement of one or more prosecutors on one or more school
district campuses in order to promote public safety
.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The health, safety, and welfare of
the people of California depend upon the ability to provide a proper
education for our children. Unfortunately, children simply cannot
learn in an environment that is unsafe. Strong partnerships between
law enforcement, schools, and communities are essential in ensuring
that school campuses remain safe havens that are conducive to
learning and achievement instead of serving as recruitment centers
for gangs and criminal activity. Therefore, the purpose of this act
is to enable local municipalities, local school districts, and local
law enforcement to form these strong partnerships to better provide
for the safety and security of our children.
(b) It is the criminal prosecutor's responsibility to ensure that
children feel safe in and around schools so that they can focus on
learning, and it is the educator's responsibility to provide that
learning. Although the roles of schools and law enforcement agencies
differ, the Legislature finds that there are some significant areas
of commonality. First, both schools and law enforcement agencies are
responsible for the safety and well-being of pupils. Second, schools
represent the natural centers of our communities. Working within the
schools is a logical extension of law enforcement's responsibility
for public safety in the broader community. Third, both schools and
law enforcement agencies can play an important role in helping youth
become productive, law-abiding residents. With these complimentary
roles in mind, it is declared that the local prosecutor's office is
in an ideal position to work with the corresponding local school
district to implement strategies aimed at reversing conditions that
produce and perpetuate an unsafe school environment.
(c) A successful partnership between prosecutor and school
district has already proven successful under the toughest
circumstances. Markham Middle School, located in the Watts area of
South Los Angeles, had long been plagued by crime and gang violence.
The area surrounding the Markham campus was home to seven criminal
street gangs, and the school was widely considered to be among the
most dangerous within the Los Angeles Unified School District. In
February 2007, the Los Angeles City Attorney partnered with the Los
Angeles Unified School District to place a prosecutor on campus. From
the beginning, the city attorney's team understood that school
safety requires a broad-based effort by the entire community,
including educators, pupils, parents, law enforcement agencies,
businesses, and community-based organizations. At the end of the
first full academic year, without any change to the teaching or the
curriculum, the city attorney, the Los Angeles Unified School
District, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Los Angeles
School Police Department observed that:
(1) Markham was significantly safer than at any point in recent
memory.
(2) Markham's pupil standardized test scores rose for the first
time in years, going from 519 to 542, beating the academic
performance index target set by the State Department of Education by
more than 55 percent.
(3) Markham's 8th grade graduation rate increased 14 percent from
the year before, going from 66 percent to 80 percent.
(d) The Markham Middle School Safety Prosecutor Program
demonstrated that a renewed dedication to pupils in the most
underserved schools can create an environment where crime decreases,
test scores rise, and pupils once again focus on learning. It is
therefore declared that this educator-prosecutor partnership is a
hopeful model for school safety reform, and its replication should be
encouraged in other jurisdictions.
SEC. 2. Article 6 (commencing with Section
32254.5) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 19 of Division 1 of Title 1 of
the Education Code , to read:
Article 6. Prosecutors on School Campuses
32254.5. (a) The governing board of a school district or a county
superintendent of schools may enter into a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) with a district attorney or prosecuting city
attorney having filing jurisdiction over the school district in order
to facilitate the placement of one or more prosecutors on one or
more school district campuses in order to promote public safety.
(b) Participation shall be at the option of each agency. A school
district, district attorney, or prosecuting city attorney shall not
be required by the other party to enter into the MOU.
(c) The two agencies shall work together to develop the terms and
conditions of the MOU. The MOU shall incorporate the conditions
described in this section, and provisions deemed by the agencies as
reasonably necessary to fulfill the purpose of school safety and to
ensure compliance with the MOU and this section. The MOU shall
include, but is not limited to, the following provisions:
(1) The time period for the agencies' participation in the school
safety program and the procedures for the placement of one or more
prosecutors directly onto one or more campuses under the jurisdiction
of the school district.
(2) The scope of work to be given to the prosecutor and how the
prosecutor is to work with the administration of the specific school.
(3) A procedure for funding the school safety program that
includes, but is not limited to, declarations that the agencies have
adequate funds available to provide for the costs that arise from
placing a prosecutor on a school campus.
(4) Performance measures to evaluate the effectiveness of the
school safety program, including, but not limited to, annual progress
reports.
(5) A statement that the primary purpose of the partnership is to
promote pupil safety and that the prosecutor shall attempt, whenever
possible, to prevent problems before they escalate.
(d) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Agency" means a governing board of a school district, a
county superintendent of schools, a district attorney, or a
prosecuting city attorney.
(2) "School safety program" means the placement of one or more
prosecutors on one or more local school district campuses in order to
promote public safety.
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature
intends to enact legislation to authorize a school district to enter
into a memorandum of understanding with a city attorney's office or a
district attorney's office to ensure the safety of its pupils.