New Laws Impose New Requirements for Comprehensive School Safety Plans

10.16.2024

In September 2024, Governor Newsom signed several new bills affecting comprehensive school safety plans. AB 1858, called the “Safe and Prepared Schools Act,” aims to standardize how schools conduct active shooter drills on campus to balance the desire to prepare students and staff for emergencies with the impact of active shooter drills on mental health. Additionally, AB 2887 and AB 2968 impose new requirements related to medical emergencies and evacuation plans, respectively. All new laws are effective January 1, 2025.

Assembly Bill 1858

Local education agencies (“LEAs”) are required by Education Code section 32282 to develop a comprehensive school safety plan. Effective January 1, 2025, AB 1858 amends this section to require LEAs that conduct active shooter or other armed assailant drills to implement specific procedures for these drills.

In its legislative findings, the Legislature reports that, recently, several school districts have employed realistic simulations as a part of their active shooter drills, including the use of fake blood or makeup to simulate injuries, pellet guns or gunfire blanks to simulate gunshots, actors to simulate active shooters or victims, or other tools to deceive students and staff into believing the drill is a real event.

The Legislature cited research from the Georgia Institute of Technology that shows active shooter drills have been associated with a 39 percent increase in depression, a 42 percent increase in stress and anxiety, and a 23 percent increase in physiological health problems in students, parents, and teachers. The American Academy of Pediatricians recommends eliminating children’s involvement in high-intensity drills and exercises, prohibiting deception, and making appropriate accommodations that address student vulnerabilities.

AB 1858 aims to effectuate these recommendations and balance the desire to ensure students and staff are prepared for emergencies with the impact of these preparations on students’ and teachers’ mental health. Specifically, AB 1858 requires LEAs conducting active shooter drills to comply with the following requirements, beginning on January 1, 2025:

Schools must not conduct “high-intensity” drills, defined as those that mimic an actual shooter or armed assailant, including but not limited to theatrical makeup or other materials to imitate injuries, acting by individuals posing as an assailant or victims, or simulations that instruct students to actively resist an assailant.
Schools must not use real weapons, gunfire blanks, or explosions.
Schools must ensure active shooter drills are trauma-informed and developed with the input of school personnel, including school-based mental health professionals, and that the drills use age and developmentally-appropriate content and terminology.
Schools must notify all parents and guardians of students in advance that a drill will be taking place and of the expected length of the drill. Schools must provide parents or guardians an opportunity to opt their child or children out of the drills. Schools must also provide notice to all parents after the drill has concluded.
Schools must notify all teachers, administrators, and school personnel subjects to the drills in advance that the drill will be taking place and of the expected length of the drill.
Schools must make an announcement to students and educators immediately before the start of the drill, and immediately after the drill has concluded.
Schools must provide contact information for school and community-based resources, including local organizations focused on reducing gun violence and mental health counseling, to parents and guardians, students, and staff.

These procedures apply in the event that the LEA performs active shooter/assailant drills. LEAs that do not conduct active shooter drills pursuant to their school safety plan are not required to adopt these policies and procedures. However, LEAs that do not conduct such drills should revisit their school safety plans in conjunction with their Workplace Violence Prevention Plan required by SB 553 to ensure that their plans adequately address known site-specific violence hazards.[1]

AB 1858 also adds section 32289.6 to the Education Code, which requires the California Department of Education (“CDE”) to develop best practices for active shooter drills, including, but not limited to, guidance for age and developmentally-appropriate language and staff training tools. CDE must publish this guidance on its website on or before June 15, 2025.

Assembly Bill 2887

The current version of Education Code section 32280 requires that comprehensive safety plans be developed in cooperation with local law enforcement, community leaders, parents, students, teachers, administrators, classified employees, and other persons who may be interested in the prevention of campus crime and violence. AB 2887 amends this provision to include emergency medical services personnel and other persons who may be interested in the health and safety of students.

AB 2887 also amends section 32282, requiring LEAs to develop and implement procedures in the comprehensive safety plan for responding to a sudden cardiac arrest or a similar life-threatening medical emergency while on school grounds. The bill encourages LEAs to integrate “evidence-based core elements” into the procedures, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (“CPR”) training and the placement of automatic external defibrillators on school sites in accordance with national emergency cardiac care guidelines.

AB 2887 will require all LEAs to implement these procedures the next time the comprehensive safety plan is reviewed following July 1, 2025.

Assembly Bill 2968

AB 2968 amends section 32282 to require LEAs to implement specific procedures in the event of an evacuation order. The bill requires schools to develop a procedure for identifying a refuge shelter for all students and staff to use in the event of an evacuation order, and to notify the fire department responsible for the schoolsite.

Schools serving more than 50 students located in high or very high fire hazard severity zones, as identified by the State Fire Marshal, must also develop a communication and evacuation plan to be used in the event of an early notice evacuation warning that allows enough time to evacuate all students and staff. The plan must detail a decision process for determining whether an evacuation is appropriate. AB 2968 requires these evacuation procedures to be coordinated with the fire department.

LEAs must include these evacuation procedures in the comprehensive school safety plan beginning in the 2026-2027 fiscal year.

Impacts on Charter School Petitions

AB 1858, AB 2887, and AB 2968 also amend section 47605 of the Education Code, pertaining to charter schools. Current law provides that one basis on which a chartering authority may deny a petition for establishment of a charter school is that the petition does not contain a reasonably comprehensive description of the procedures for developing a school safety plan in line with the requirements of section 32282. These bills revise this basis for denial of a petition to reflect the additional requirements they impose. Accordingly, under these bills, a chartering authority may deny a charter school petition that does not include the same procedures relating to active school shooter drills, medical emergencies, or evacuations as are required in a school district or county office of education.

If your agency requires guidance on implementing the changes required by these bill, please contact your AALRR attorney or the authors of this Alert.

[1] Read more about the SB 553 here.

Special thank you to Brooklyn Robertson, SCELPG law clerk, for her contribution to the alert.