BILL REQ. #:  H-3720.1 

Prefiled 12/29/2005. Read first time 01/09/2006.   Referred to Committee on Education.

     AN ACT Relating to school safety and security personnel; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds that:
     (a) School district boards of directors may find it necessary to employ school security personnel or to rely upon school resource officers to preserve a safe and beneficial learning environment;
     (b) A school's culture and climate are, in part, determined by the quality of interaction between the school's employees, students, and parents, and affect the level of disciplinary activity required within the school;
     (c) There is currently no state licensure available specifically for school security personnel; and
     (d) There are currently no state rules regarding what training and qualifications school security personnel should possess, and opinions differ within the field of education regarding the role of school security professionals in elementary and secondary schools.
     (2) The legislature seeks to obtain information and recommendations from persons within the field of education and school security regarding, among other things, a model policy for school security, whether a license for school security personnel should be created, and what skills and abilities school security personnel should possess to successfully perform the essential functions of their positions.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) The superintendent of public instruction shall, within existing resources, convene a work group comprised of representatives from:
     (a) The office of the superintendent of public instruction;
     (b) Elementary and secondary school districts, including administrators, certificated employees, and safety professionals;
     (c) Educational service districts;
     (d) Law enforcement professionals;
     (e) The department of licensing;
     (f) The Washington state parent-teacher association;
     (g) The Washington schools risk management pool and other interested risk managers that provide services to school districts in Washington;
     (h) Parents and guardians of school-age children; and
     (i) Other individuals with related expertise as deemed appropriate by the work group.
     (2) The work group shall evaluate and make recommendations to the legislature regarding, at least the following:
     (a) A model policy regarding the duties and roles of school security professionals within the educational environment, including the use of force by such professionals, that provides necessary flexibility for schools with different needs and differing demographic, geographic, cultural, and other characteristics;
     (b) What minimum skills and abilities a school security professional should possess to effectively perform the essential job functions of such a position, and what minimum training should be required of school security professionals;
     (c) Whether benefit would be gained by developing a school security license or licenses and, if so, what the minimum requirements for such licensure should be;
     (d) Whether a limited law enforcement commission for school security professionals should be developed and, if so, what the essential job functions of and qualifications for such a commission should be; and
     (e) A model policy regarding supervision of school security professionals.
     (3) The work group shall submit to appropriate committees of the legislature a final report and recommendations regarding the topics in subsection (2) of this section by November 15, 2006.
     (4) This section expires July 1, 2007.