SB1099 - 531R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Repeal

Sections 15-153 and 15-153.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, are repealed.

Sec. 2. Section 15-154, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE15-154. School safety program; purpose; proposals; requirements; annual report; program termination; definitions

A. The school safety program is established within the department of education to promote safe learning environments for students by supporting the costs of placing school resource officers or juvenile probation officers on school campuses. A public school district or charter school may apply to participate in the school safety program as provided in this section for up to three fiscal years by submitting by April 15 a program proposal to the school safety program oversight committee department of education. The program proposal shall contain:

1. A detailed description of the school safety needs of the public school or school district that contains a description and the number of the incidents of criminal activity around the school campus according to the jurisdiction where the campus is located.

2. A plan for implementing a law‑related education program or a plan that demonstrates the existence of a law‑related education program as a school safety prevention strategy.

3. A plan to use trained school resource officers or juvenile probation officers in the schools school, or both.

B. The state board department of education shall administer the program in cooperation with the courts, law enforcement agencies and law‑related education providers awarded a contract pursuant to section 41‑2534, subject to review and approval by the state board of education. Representatives from The state board department of education shall use relevant crime statistics to assess the needs of each program proposal and to prioritize program proposals and shall visit schools located in school districts and charter schools that submit program proposals in order to verify the information contained in the program proposals. The department of education shall contract to provide guidelines, curricula and support resources for school resource officers and juvenile probation officers to use in implementing a law‑related education program.

C. The department of education, at the direction subject to the review and approval of the state board of education, shall distribute monies to the school districts and charter schools that are in compliance with program requirements and whose plans have been approved by the school safety program oversight committee state board of education. The state board of education shall also review and approve renewal applications for up to an additional three fiscal years from participating school sites.

D. The department of education shall prioritize grants to school districts and charter schools that have a high number of incidents of criminal activity. The department of education shall review plans submitted by school districts and charter schools for participation in the school safety program and shall select sites that are eligible to receive funding based on school safety needs. The department of education shall prioritize grants to school districts and charter schools that have agreements to share the cost of the school resource officer or juvenile probation officer with a law enforcement agency or the courts.

E. The department of education shall evaluate the effectiveness of the school safety program and report on the activities of and the participants in the school safety program to the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives and the governor on or before November 1 of each year and shall provide a copy of this report to the secretary of state.

F. The school safety program established by this section shall include a school safety program guidance manual adopted by the department of education that requires a dispute resolution process to be included in the service agreement between a school district or charter school that received a grant from the school safety program and the law enforcement agency that provides services to the school district or charter school.

D. G. Any appropriations that are made to the department of education for the school safety program are exempt from the provisions of section 35‑190 relating to the lapsing of appropriations. All monies that are not used for an approved school safety plan during the fiscal year for which the monies were appropriated revert to the department of education for distribution to the program in the following fiscal year.

E. H. Monies received by a school district or charter school under the program shall be spent to implement the approved plans.

I. The program established by this section ends on July 1, 2025 pursuant to section 41-3102.

F. J. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Law‑related education" means interactive education to equip children and youth with knowledge and skills pertaining to the law, school safety and effective citizenship.

2. "Law‑related education program" means a program designed to provide children and youth with knowledge, skills and activities pertaining to the law and legal process and to promote law‑abiding behavior with the purpose of preventing children and youth from engaging in delinquency or violence and enabling them to become productive citizens. END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Section 15-155, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE15-155. School safety program; funding

A. The department of education shall cooperate with the county school superintendent, the county sheriff and the local chief of police to permit a law enforcement agency, with the consent of the school, to assign a peace officer or a full authority Arizona peace officer standards and training board certified reserve peace officer to participate in the safe schools school safety program in each school in the county. The cost of the peace officer is a state charge that is funded by the department of education, except for agreements to share the cost of the school resource officer pursuant to section 15‑154, subsection D.

B. In cooperation with the department of education and the county school superintendent and with the consent of the school, the presiding judge of the juvenile court may assign juvenile probation officers to participate in the safe schools school safety program in each school in the county. The cost of juvenile probation officers is a state charge that is funded by the department of education, except for agreements to share the cost of the juvenile probation officer pursuant to section 15‑154, subsection D. END_STATUTE

Sec. 4. Repeal

Section 41-3017.09, Arizona Revised Statutes, is repealed.

Sec. 5. Emergency

This act is an emergency measure that is necessary to preserve the public peace, health or safety and is operative immediately as provided by law.