Bill Text: CA AB630 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Pupil safety: bullying.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-02-01 - Died pursuant to Art. IV, Sec. 10(c) of the Constitution. From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB630 Detail]

Download: California-2011-AB630-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 630	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 26, 2011
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 31, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Hueso

                        FEBRUARY 16, 2011

   An act to add Article 1.4 (commencing with Section 32204) 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 630, as amended, Hueso. Pupil safety: bullying.
   Existing law establishes the School Safety and Violence Prevention
Act, a statewide program administered by the Superintendent of
Public Instruction, pursuant to which funds are allocated to school
districts serving pupils in any of grades 8 to 12, inclusive, for the
purpose of promoting school safety and reducing schoolsite violence,
including, but not limited to, providing conflict resolution
personnel, providing on-campus communication devices, establishing
staff training programs, and establishing cooperative arrangements
with law enforcement agencies.
   This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to encourage
school districts  , at their discretion,  to establish
programs, to be integrated  either  into the regular
curriculum  or through separate instruction  during
National Bullying Prevention Month  and throughout the year
 ,  at the discretion of each school district, 
to reduce bullying through training with appropriate activities and
best practice methodologies involving collaboration among pupils
 , parents,  and school staff.
   The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that the
training encouraged by the bill should help pupils identify different
forms of bullying behavior, and should create a school environment
where pupils know that reports of bullying will be properly handled
and that the confidentiality of their statements will be respected.
The bill would also express the intent of the Legislature that
training include school administrators and teachers, 
parents, pupils, and anyone else who is in frequent contact with
children,  and cultivate positive behaviors that can create
a bully-free learning community in each school.
   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.  Article 1.4 (commencing with Section 32204) is added to
Chapter 2 of Part 19 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code,
to read:

      Article 1.4.  Bullying


   32204.  It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage school
districts  , at their discretion,  to establish programs to
be integrated  either  into the regular curriculum
 or through separate instruction  during National
Bullying Prevention Month  and throughout the year  for a
minimum of one class period each day, or a minimum of five 
hours, at the discretion of each school district   hours
per month  , to reduce bullying through training with
appropriate activities and best practice methodologies involving
collaboration among pupils,  parents,  and school
staff, in accordance with all of the following:
   (a) Training should educate pupils to increase their awareness of
bullying  and to create a school environment that empowers
parents, school staff and administration, and pupils  
as well as to prevent and manage bullying at their schools. This
training should have three main goals:
   (1) To help pupils identify different forms of bullying behavior,
which include physical, verbal, psychological, and electronic
bullying.
   (2) To create a school environment where pupils know that reports
of bullying will be properly handled, so that pupils who are either
targets of bullying or bystanders will freely report incidents of
bullying when it is necessary.
   (3) To build trust so that pupils will feel that the
confidentiality of statements they intend to keep private will be
respected.
   (b) Training should include school administrators and teachers
 , parents, and pupils, and anyone else who is in frequent
contact with children  . The training should promote
awareness of bullying, as well as kindness, communication,
cooperation, and friendship while stressing empathy for all pupils.
Each school district may develop a training curriculum that fits its
specific needs.
   (c) Training should essentially foster key educational building
blocks to build a positive school climate, address and prevent
bullying behavior in California schools, create an awareness and
encourage discussion of the bullying problem as a school community,
and cultivate the positive behaviors that can create a bully-free
learning community in each school.