School safety: armed school resource officers.
AB 68
California Bills
20250AB__006896AMD INTRODUCED 2024-12-05 AMENDED_ASSEMBLY 2025-03-19 AMENDED_ASSEMBLY 2025-05-05 AMENDED_ASSEMBLY 2026-01-05 2025 AB AMD Introduced by Assembly Member Gallagher (Coauthor: Assembly Member Castillo) LEAD_AUTHOR ASSEMBLY Gallagher COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Castillo
An act to amend
Section of the Education Code, relating to school safety. school safety School safety: armed school resource officers. Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to establish a security department under the supervision of a chief of security as designated by, and under the direction of, the superintendent of the school district. Existing law also authorizes the governing board of a school district to establish a school police department under the supervision of a school chief of police and to employ peace officers.
This bill would require, commencing with the 2028–29 school year, and each school year thereafter, a rural school district or charter school, as defined, to determine the appropriate number of armed school resource officers, as defined, authorized to carry a loaded firearm for each school of the rural school district or charter school.
The bill would require the governing board of the school district or the governing body of the charter school to ensure that at least one armed school resource officer is present during regular school hours at each school of the rural school district or charter school that meets specified criteria, as provided. By imposing an additional requirement on school districts and charter schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The bill would authorize the governing board or body, if it is unable to comply with these requirements due to the unavailability of funding or personnel who qualify to serve as an armed school resource officer, to claim a good cause exception to these requirements by adopting a resolution, as provided. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. MAJORITY NO YES YES NO NO NO NO NO NO NO The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section of the Education Code is amended to read: 38000. (
a) The governing board of a school district may establish a security department under the supervision of a chief of security as designated by, and under the direction of, the superintendent of the school district. In accordance with
Chapter 5 (commencing with
Section 45100) of
Part 25, the governing board of a school district may employ personnel to ensure the safety of school district personnel and pupils and the security of the real and personal property of the school district. It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
section that a school district security department is supplementary to city and county law enforcement agencies and is not vested with general police powers. (
b) The governing board of a school district may establish a school police department under the supervision of a school chief of police and, in accordance with
Chapter 5 (commencing with
Section 45100) of
Part 25, may employ peace officers, as defined in subdivision (
b) of
Section 830.32 of the Penal Code, to ensure the safety of school district personnel and pupils, and the security of the real and personal property of the school district. (
c) The governing board of a school district that establishes a security department or a police department shall set minimum qualifications of employment for the chief of security or school chief of police, respectively, including, but not limited to, prior employment as a peace officer or completion of a peace officer training course approved by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training.
A chief of security or school chief of police shall comply with the prior employment or training requirement set forth in this subdivision as of January 1, 1993, or a date one year subsequent to the initial employment of the chief of security or school chief of police by the school district, whichever occurs later. This subdivision shall not be construed to require the employment by a school district of additional personnel. (
d) A school district may assign a school police reserve officer who is deputized pursuant to
Section 35021.5 to a schoolsite to supplement the duties of school police officers pursuant to this section. (e)
(1) Commencing with the 2028–29 school year, and each school year thereafter, a rural school district or charter school shall determine the appropriate number of armed school resource officers authorized to carry a loaded firearm pursuant to
Article 3 (commencing with
Section 25900) of
Chapter of Division of Title of Part of the Penal Code for each school of the rural school district or charter school.
The governing board of the school district or the governing body of the charter school shall ensure that at least one armed school resource officer is present at each school of the during regular school hours rural school district or charter school that meets both of the following criteria: (A)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>On and after January 1, 2026, each school of the school district or charter school that maintains any of grades to 12, inclusive.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(B)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>On and after January 1, 2027, each school of the school district or charter school that maintains any of grades to 8, inclusive, but no grade lower than grade 6.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(C)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>On and after January 1, 2028, each school of the school district or charter school that maintains a kindergarten or any of grades to 5, inclusive.</xhtml:p><xhtml:p>(2)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>This subdivision shall only apply to a school of the school district or charter school with an enrollment of or more pupils.</xhtml:p>"?> (
A) The school has an enrollment of or more pupils. (
B) The school is located or more miles from the nearest census-designated urban area.
(2) If the governing board of the school district or the governing body of the charter school is unable to comply with the requirements of paragraph (1) due to the unavailability of funding or personnel who qualify to serve as an armed school resource officer, the governing board or body may claim a good cause exception by adopting a resolution.
(3) If the governing board of the school district or the governing body of the charter school claims a good cause exception pursuant to paragraph (2), the governing board or body shall develop a plan and timeline to comply with the requirements of paragraph (1) to the greatest extent possible for each school that meets the criteria described in subparagraphs (
A) and (
B) of paragraph (1). The plan may include, but is not limited to, either or both of the following: (
A) Rotating armed school resource officers among schools in the school district based on priority. (
B) Jointly contracting with another school district or charter school for armed school resource officers. (3)</xhtml:p>"?>
(4) A school district’s or charter school’s costs of implementing paragraph (1) shall be reimbursed as a state mandate under
Section of
Article XIII B of the California Constitution and shall not be funded with the funding provided to school districts and charter schools pursuant to
Section 42238.02. (4)<xhtml:span class="EnSpace"/>For purposes of this subdivision, “school</xhtml:p>"?>
(5) For purposes of this subdivision, the following
definitions apply: (A) “Rural school district or charter school” means a school district or charter school that is located in one or more counties where the total enrollment of pupils in kindergarten and grades to 12, inclusive, in the prior fiscal year is fewer than 40,000 pupils, as reported to the department. (B) “School resource officer” means an individual who is a peace officer as defined in
Chapter 4.5 (commencing with
Section 830) of Title of Part of the Penal Code and is employed by, or contracts to be assigned to, a school district or charter school.
SEC. 2. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to