ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

HB 2597: school safety; plans; task force

PRIME SPONSOR: Representative Hernandez D, LD 2

BILL STATUS: Caucus & Cow

                                Education: DP 9-4-0-0

                                Public Safety: DPA 5-2-0-0

Overview

Requires each school district to adopt a safe school plan to provide recognition, initial screening and responses to emotional or behaviorial distress in students and requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to develop a taskforce oriented towards identifying successful strategies for partnerships with qualified health, mental health and social services agencies.

History

Statute currently addresses the emotional well-being of primary and secondary school students in the following ways:

· School district governing boards are required to prescribe and enforce policies and procedures to prohibit pupils from harassing, intimidating, and bullying other pupils on school property, at school-sponsored events, and through the use of electronic technology or electronic communications on school computers and networks (A.R.S. § 15-341(A)(36)).  

· Pursuant to A.R.S. § 15-218, the State Board of Education has adopted rules to allow certificated teachers and administrators to count awareness and prevention training on suicide, child abuse, and sexual abuse of children as continuing education credits (R7-2-619(C)).

· The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) has established the School Safety Program (SSP) to promote safe learning environments for students by providing grants to school districts to place school resource officers or juvenile probation officers on school campuses (A.R.S. § 15-154). In FY 2019, the ADE awarded grants to 115 schools (SSP FY 2019 Awards).

Provisions

1. Requires all school districts to adopt a safe school plan that recognizes and responds to emotional or behavioral distress in students beginning in the 2022–2023 school year. (Sec. 1)

2. Establishes minimum requirements for the safe school plan such as, recognition screening, response preparation, partnerships with mental health services, and protocols and procedures for responding to students who exhibit emotional or behavioral distress. (Sec. 1)

3. Mandates that each school district shall annually distribute the safe school plan to all school employees. (Sec. 1)

4. Requires the SPI to post a model safe school plan on the ADE's website along with resources and information for school districts to follow, beginning on or before February 1, 2020. (Sec. 1)

5. Mandates the SPI to annually post resources and community-based organizations that provide support to youth who have been subjected to discrimination, harassment, intimidation, violence and psychological trauma on the ADE's website. (Sec. 1)

6. Directs the SPI to establish a taskforce to identify best practices, model programs, and successful strategies for school districts to form partnerships with qualified mental health and social services agencies. (Sec. 2)

7. Requires the taskforce to submit a report to the Governor, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and to provide a copy to the Secretary of State, on or before December 1, 2022. (Sec. 2)                                                   

8. Repeals this law from and after December 31, 2022. (Sec. 2)

Amendment:

Committee on Education

1. Requires a school district to notify and obtain consent from a parent before screening a pupil for emotional or behavioral distress.

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Fifty-fourth Legislature                               HB 2597

First Regular Session                    Version 3: Caucus & Cow

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