H-0046.5

HOUSE BILL 1214

ByRepresentatives Senn, J. Johnson, Ramos, Dolan, Lovick, Santos, Ortiz-Self, Slatter, Berg, Hackney, Callan, Valdez, Macri, and Frame

AN ACT Relating to the provision of K-12 public school safety and security services by classified staff or contractors; amending RCW 28A.320.124; adding a new section to chapter 28A.320 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.400 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.310 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.710 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.715 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

(2) The legislature finds that schools should be a place in which all youth feel safe and it is imperative that school resource officers, school security officers, and other school safety and security staff do not contribute to an unsafe environment for Black youth and youth of color.

(3) The legislature recognizes that chapter 333, Laws of 2019 made significant improvements to the quality and transparency of school districts' school resource officer programs by implementing training and intergovernmental agreement requirements. However, the legislature intends to expand these requirements to other school safety and security staff. The legislature also expects to require on-the-job training and offer a certificate of completion of all the training requirements. In addition, the legislature finds that in order to understand the full scope and impact of safety and security staff on school property, additional information must be collected and made publicly available.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 28A.320 RCW to read as follows:

(1) School districts must annually collect the following information on safety and security staff:

(a) Total number of safety and security staff working in the district and in each school building, and number of days per week that each staff works;

(b) The name of any law enforcement agency or private organization with which the district has an agreement for safety and security services;

(c) A description of each incident where safety and security staff were involved that resulted in escalated involvement with a student, use of force against a student, or a student arrest. The description must include the race and ethnicity and other demographics of any student involved in the incident, including whether any students receive special education services;

(d) The number of complaints filed against safety and security staff; and

(e) Other school safety and security information required by the office of the superintendent of public instruction.

(2) School districts must annually submit any agreements adopted as required by RCW 28A.320.124 and the information collected as required by this section at the time and in the manner required by the office of the superintendent of public instruction. The office of the superintendent of public instruction must make the submitted agreements and information publicly available.

(3) For the purposes of this section, "safety and security staff" has the same meaning as in RCW 28A.320.124.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 28A.400 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Prior to assigning safety and security staff to work on school property during the school day, school districts and their contractors must either:

(a) Confirm that the safety and security staff were issued a certificate of completion under section 4 of this act; or

(b) Require the safety and security staff to complete the training series described in subsection (2) of this section.

(2)(a) The training series, two components for school resource officers and three components for other safety and security staff, must meet the requirements in this subsection.

(b) All safety and security staff must complete classroom training on the subjects listed in section 4(2) of this act, before working on school property during the school day.

(c) All safety and security staff must complete two days of on-the-job training with experienced safety and security staff, at the school of the experienced staff, within the first year of working on school property during the school day.

(d) Safety and security staff who are not school resource officers must complete at least six check-in trainings with experienced staff within the first year of working on school property during the school day.

(3) School safety and security staff who complete the training series described in subsection (2) of this section, and staff with significant prior training and experience, may apply for a certificate of completion under section 4 of this act.

(4) Nothing in this section effects the categorization of safety and security staff as classified staff. Safety and security staff are not considered certificated instructional staff as that term and its meaning are used in this title.

(5) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(a) "Safety and security staff" or "staff" has the same meaning as in RCW 28A.320.124.

(b) "School resource officer" has the same meaning as in RCW 28A.320.124.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 28A.310 RCW to read as follows:

(1) A safety and security staff training program is established. The program must be jointly developed by the educational service districts, but may be administered primarily by one educational service district. The program must meet the requirements of this section.

(2) The educational service districts must, in collaboration with the criminal justice training commission, identify or develop classroom training on the following subjects:

(a) Constitutional and civil rights of children in schools, including state law governing search and interrogation of youth in schools;

(b) Child and adolescent development;

(c) Trauma-informed approaches to working with youth;

(d) Recognizing and responding to youth mental health issues;

(e) Educational rights of students with disabilities, the relationship of disability to behavior, and best practices for interacting with students with disabilities;

(f) Bias free policing and cultural competency, including best practices for interacting with students from particular backgrounds, including English learner, LGBTQ, immigrant, female, and nonbinary students;

(g) Local and national disparities in the use of force and arrests of children;

(h) Collateral consequences of arrest, referral for prosecution, and court involvement;

(i) Resources available in the community that serve as alternatives to arrest and prosecution and pathways for youth to access services without court or criminal justice involvement;

(j) De-escalation techniques when working with youth or groups of youth;

(k) State law regarding restraint and isolation in schools, including RCW 28A.600.485;

(l) The federal family educational rights and privacy act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g) requirements including limits on access to and dissemination of student records for noneducational purposes; and

(m) Restorative justice principles and practices.

(3) The educational service districts must provide, or arrange for the delivery of, classroom training on the subjects listed in subsection (2) of this section. At a minimum, classroom trainings on each subject must be provided annually, remotely, and by one educational service district.

(4) The educational service districts must issue certificates of completion of the safety and security staff training series described in section 3(2) of this act. Before issuing a certificate of completion, completion of each component of the training series must be verified or, in the case of safety and security staff with significant prior training and experience, waived.

(5) The educational service districts must develop and publish guidelines for on-the-job training and check-in training that include recommendations for identifying and recruiting experienced safety and security staff to provide the trainings, suggested activities during on-the-job trainings, and best practices for meaningful check-in trainings. The guidelines for check-in training must also include recommended frequency, possible topics of discussion, and options for connecting virtually.

(6) For purposes of this section, the term "safety and security staff" has the same meaning as in RCW 28A.320.124.

Sec. 5. RCW 28A.320.124 and 2019 c 333 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) ((If a school district chooses to have a school resource officer program, the school district must confirm that every school resource officer has received training on the following topics:

(2))) School districts that have ((a school resource officer program))safety and security staff working on school property must annually review and adopt an agreement with the safety and security staff, or where applicable, the local law enforcement agency ((using a process that involves))or the company that provides the safety and security staff on contract. The agreement review and adoption process must involve parents, students, and community members. At a minimum, the agreement must incorporate the following elements:

(a) A clear statement regarding ((school resource officer))safety and security staff duties and responsibilities related to student behavior and discipline that:

(i) Prohibits a school resource officer from becoming involved in formal school discipline situations that are the responsibility of school administrators; and

(ii) ((Acknowledges the role of a school resource officer as a teacher, informal counselor, and law enforcement officer; and

(iii))) Recognizes that ((a)) trained ((school resource officer))safety and security staff know((s)) when to informally interact with students to reinforce school rules and when to enforce the law;

(b) School district policy and procedure for teachers that clarify the circumstances under which teachers and school administrators may ask ((an officer))safety and security staff to intervene with a student;

(c) ((Annual collection and reporting of data regarding calls for law enforcement service and the outcome of each call, including student arrest and referral for prosecution, disaggregated by school, offense type, race, gender, age, and students who have an individualized education program or plan developed under section 504 of the federal rehabilitation act of 1973;

(d)))A jointly determined hiring and placement process, and performance evaluation process;

(e) A process for families to file complaints with the school and, when applicable, the local law enforcement agency or the company that provides the safety and security staff on contract related to ((school resource officers))safety and security staff and a process for investigating and responding to complaints; and

(((e)))(f)Confirmation that ((the school resource officers have received))safety and security staff were issued a certificate of completion under section 4 of this act or describe a plan for providing to safety and security staff the training series required under ((subsection (1) of this section))section 3 of this act.

(((3) School districts that choose to have a school resource officer program must comply with the requirements in subsection (2) of this section by the beginning of the 2020-21 school year.

(4) For the purposes of this section, "school))(2) At the beginning of each school year, school districts that have safety and security staff working on school property must present to and discuss with students, and distribute to students' families, information about the role and responsibilities of safety and security staff.

(b) "School resource officer" means a commissioned law enforcement officer in the state of Washington with sworn authority to make arrests, deployed in community-oriented policing, and assigned by the employing police department or sheriff's office to work in schools to address crime and disorder problems, gangs, and drug activities affecting or occurring in or around K-12 schools. School resource officers should focus on keeping students out of the criminal justice system when possible and should not be used to attempt to impose criminal sanctions in matters that are more appropriately handled within the educational system.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 28A.710 RCW to read as follows:

Sections 2 and 3 of this act and RCW 28A.320.124 govern school operation and management under RCW 28A.710.040 and apply to charter schools established under this chapter.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7. A new section is added to chapter 28A.715 RCW to read as follows:

Sections 2 and 3 of this act and RCW 28A.320.124 govern school operation and management under RCW 28A.715.020 and apply to state-tribal compact schools established under this chapter.

--- END ---