FINAL BILL REPORT

ESB 6620

C 240 L 16

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description: Concerning cost-effective methods for maintaining and increasing school safety.

Sponsors: Senators McAuliffe, Dammeier, Rolfes, Litzow, Billig, Keiser and Conway.

Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education

House Committee on Education

Background: Current law requires school districts to adopt and implement safe school plans. The plans must contain specified information. To the extent funds are available, school districts must annually review and update safe school plans.

In the 2001-02 budget, the Washington Legislature established a School Safety Center in the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). The School Safety Center's requirements included disseminating successful models of school safety plans, providing assistance to schools to establish a comprehensive safe school plan, coordinating activities relating to school safety, and maintaining a school safety information website.

In addition, the Superintendent of Public Instruction was directed to participate in a School Safety Center Advisory Committee that included representatives from a wide variety of stakeholders in education and law enforcement. According to the School Safety Center's website, the purpose of the Committee is to advise OSPI and support and assist in the implementation of the School Safety Center's work, as well as support the efforts for increased academic achievement by students.

Educational service districts (ESDs) are regional agencies intended to provide cooperative and informational services to local school districts, assist the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education in the performance of their respective statutory or constitutional duties, and provide services to school districts to assure equal educational opportunities. Washington has nine ESDs. ESDs receive funding from the state, federal and private grants, service fees, agency contracts, and cooperatives.

ESD 105 serves 25 public schools and 22 state-approved private and tribal schools in South-Central Washington. This ESD has developed a school safety and security center that offers support to school districts and individual buildings to develop safety plans. The center offers technical assistance and resource networking.

In the 2015-17 operating budget, OSPI was directed to convene a workgroup to recommend comprehensive benchmarks for developmentally appropriate interpersonal and decision-making knowledge and skills of social and emotional learning for grades kindergarten through high school that build upon what is being done in early learning. The workgroup will submit recommendations to the education committees of the Legislature and the Office of the Governor by October 1, 2016.

Summary: Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) Evaluation. WSIPP must complete an evaluation of how Washington and other states have addressed the funding of school safety and security programs. It must submit a report to the appropriate committees of the Legislature, the Governor, and OSPI by December 1, 2017. This section expires August 1, 2018.

School Safety Summit. Subject to funds appropriated, OSPI and the School Safety Advisory Committee must hold annual school safety summits. Each annual summit must focus on establishing and monitoring the progress of a statewide plan for funding cost-effective methods for school safety that meet local needs. Other areas of focus may include planning and implementation of school safety planning efforts, training of school safety professionals, and integrating mental health and security measures.

Summit participants must be appointed no later than August 1, 2016:

• the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate must appoint two members from each of the relevant caucuses of the Senate;

• the Speaker of the House of Representatives must appoint two members from each of the two largest caucuses of the House of Representatives; and

• the Governor must appoint one representative.

Other summit participants may include representatives from OSPI, the Department of Health, ESDs, educational associations, emergency management, law enforcement, fire departments, parent organizations, and student organizations.

Staff support for the annual summit must be provided by OSPI and the School Safety Advisory Committee.

Nonlegislative members are not entitled to be reimbursed for travel expenses if they are elected officials or are participating on behalf of an employer, governmental entity, or other organization. Other nonlegislative and legislative summit participants must be reimbursed for travel expenses as provided in current law.

Regional School Safety and Security Programs. Subject to funds appropriated, ESDs may implement a regional school safety and security program modeled after the ESD that developed a regional school safety and security center. The programs should include the following components:

• establishment of a network of school safety coordinators for the ESDs, which must focus on prevention planning, intervention, mitigation, crisis response, and community recovery regarding emergency incidents in schools;

• collaboration with the ESD that developed the model for a regional school safety and security center to adopt its model for a regional school safety and security center;

• creation of technology-based systems that enable more efficient and effective communication between schools and emergency response entities, including local law enforcement, local fire departments, and state and federal responders;

• provision of technology support to improve communication and data management between schools and emergency response entities;

• ongoing training of school personnel and emergency responders to establish a system for preventative identification, intervention strategies, and management of risk behaviors;

• development of a professional development program to train school personnel as first responders until the arrival of emergency responders; and

• collaborative relationship building between ESDs participating in the program, OSPI, and the School Safety Advisory Committee.

Social and Emotional Training Module. By September 1, 2017, OSPI must create and maintain an online social and emotional training module for educators, administrators, and other school district staff. The training module must be based on the recommendations of OSPI's 2016 report on comprehensive benchmarks for developmentally appropriate interpersonal and decision-making knowledge and skills of social and emotional learning. The module must promote students' self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness, relationships, and responsible decision-making.

Votes on Final Passage: