Article 5 - School Safety Plans

California Education Code — §§ 32280-32289.6

Sections (14)

Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 460, Sec. 2. (SB 848) Effective January 1, 2026.

(a)It is the intent of the Legislature that all California public schools teaching kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, operated by a school district, in cooperation with local law enforcement agencies, community leaders, parents, pupils, teachers, administrators, classified employees, local emergency medical services personnel, the school’s public entity risk pool joint powers authority or insurance provider, and other persons who may be interested in the health and safety of pupils and the prevention of campus crime and violence, develop a comprehensive school safety plan that addresses the safety concerns identified through a systematic planning process.
(b)It is also the intent of the Legislature that all school staff be trained on the

comprehensive school safety plan.

(c)For the purposes of this section, law enforcement agencies include local police departments, county sheriffs’ offices, school district police or security departments, probation departments, and district attorneys’ offices.
(d)For purposes of this section, a “safety plan” means a plan to develop strategies aimed at the prevention of, response to, and education about, potential incidents involving medical emergencies, including sudden cardiac arrest, and crime and violence on the school campus.

Added by Stats. 2024, Ch. 528, Sec. 1. (AB 960) Effective January 1, 2025.

(a)On or before July 1, 2030, each public school, including charter schools, with an enrollment of 100 pupils or more is encouraged to implement a web-based or app-based school safety program that includes the following program parameters:
(1)A common alphanumeric grid mapping system for the identification of all buildings and locations upon the schoolsite that is replicable across all schoolsites in the state, with each building within the mapped system having conspicuous signage upon all corners of the structure listing the alphanumeric identification and any other pertinent information.
(2)A

multilayered digital map of the schoolsite that contains key information, including, but not limited to, detailed building floor plans, alphanumeric building identification, gate locations, shut-off valve locations, first aid equipment locations, automated external defibrillator locations, links to 360-degree interior and 360-degree aerial photography, and the location of, and field of view of, schoolsite surveillance cameras.

(3)The ability to place time stamped event markers on the digital map that identify important information about a crisis, including, but not limited to, injuries, hazards, suspect sightings, and safety zones.
(4)(A) The ability to alert first

responders from multiple agencies within a reasonable geographic area from the school in the event of an emergency on or around the schoolsite.

(B)A designated schoolsite administrator or staff member may request law enforcement assistance using the web-based or app-based school safety program only when there is a situation involving imminent danger of serious physical injury or death to a person on school property, and shall not request law enforcement assistance in a situation that can be safely and appropriately handled by the school’s internal pupil disciplinary procedures, even if a parent or guardian requests the designated schoolsite administrator or staff member to request law enforcement assistance. A parent or guardian who requests the designated schoolsite administrator or staff member to request law enforcement assistance when there

is no imminent danger of serious physical injury or death to a person on school property shall be informed that school policy requires alternative measures to be taken to respond to the situation. The designated schoolsite administrator or staff member shall provide the parent or guardian with a list of alternative measures that may be taken to respond to the situation, along with any community resources that may be used, as appropriate.

(5)(A) Remote access for first responders to connect to a schoolsite’s surveillance system, with each camera having alphanumeric identification, displaying the direction of the camera’s view, and including a brief description of what is seen within the camera’s field of view.
(B)First responders may connect to a schoolsite’s surveillance system only when a designated schoolsite administrator or staff member requests law enforcement assistance for a situation involving imminent danger of serious physical injury or death to a person on school property.
(6)Detailed schoolsite information, including, but not limited to,

both of the following:

(A)The general schoolsite location, schoolsite size, pupil populations, the schoolsite’s grade levels, and the number of staff on campus.
(B)The

schoolsite’s Wi-Fi connection information, a hierarchy representation of those with responsibility duties, including their name, title, photograph, and contact information, and the emergency procedures for that schoolsite.

(7)(A) The ability for school administrators to know the location and condition of pupils and staff through an information relay built into the application in order to allow for schoolsite staff to designate pupils as “absent,” “present,” “missing,” “injured,” and “reconnect,” based upon their accurate accounting, with the “reconnect” feature including a messaging system that notifies each pupil’s emergency contacts when that pupil has been safely secured by an authorized emergency

contact.

(B)The web-based or app-based school safety program shall not use biometric information or require pupils or staff to use or install an app that provides real-time location tracking.
(8)A one-directional message service that allows the program director and the schoolsite primary contact to keep schoolsite staff up to date with current, urgent details.
(9)The ability to operate the program to conduct emergency practice drills and archive dates, times, and comments related to an emergency practice drill.
(b)If a school implements a web-based or app-based school safety program

pursuant to subdivision (a), the school shall ensure that the program developers ensure that best practices are implemented to protect the security and data of all pupils and staff listed within the program.

The program developers shall, at a minimum, do all of the following:

(1)Consult with the department to ensure that the best practices and requirements described in this section are met.
(2)Comply with the Student Online Personal Information Protection Act (Chapter 22.2 (commencing with Section 22584) of Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code).
(3)Comply with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g).
(4)Make the contract between the school and the program developers publicly available.
(5)Make the best practices

followed by the program developers publicly available.

(c)This section does not preclude the governing board or body of a local educational agency from implementing more stringent or additional requirements regarding school safety programs.
(d)Paragraphs (1) and (2) of, and subparagraph (B) of paragraph (6) of, subdivision (a), contain sensitive and tactical response information that is critical to the safety and well-being of public schools and their pupils. Therefore, the information

in paragraphs (1) and (2) of, and subparagraph (B) of paragraph (6) of, subdivision (a), shall be kept confidential, except as otherwise required for purposes of implementing the section, and shall be exempt from any school safety plan disclosure requirements under this article and from disclosure under the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code).

(e)For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1)“Biometric information” has the same meaning as defined in Section 1798.140 of the Civil Code.
(2)“Imminent danger of serious physical injury or death” means that

based on the totality of the circumstances, a reasonable person in the same situation would believe that an individual has the present ability, opportunity, and apparent intent to immediately cause serious physical injury or death to a person. “Imminent danger of serious physical injury or death” is not merely a fear of future harm, no matter how great the fear or likelihood of the harm, but is a fear of future harm that, from appearances, must be instantly confronted and addressed.

(3)“Serious physical injury” means bodily injury that involves a substantial risk of death, extreme physical pain, protracted and obvious disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty.

Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 460, Sec. 3. (SB 848) Effective January 1, 2026.

(a)Each school district and county office of education is responsible for the overall development of all comprehensive school safety plans for its schools operating kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive.
(b)(1) Except as provided in subdivision (d) with regard to a small school district, the schoolsite council established pursuant to former Section 52012, as it existed before July 1, 2005, or Section 52852 shall write and develop a comprehensive school safety plan relevant to the needs and resources of that particular school.
(2)The schoolsite council may delegate this responsibility to a school safety planning committee made up of the following members:
(A)The principal or the principal’s designee.
(B)One teacher who is a representative of the recognized certificated employee organization.
(C)One parent whose child attends the school.
(D)One classified employee who is a representative of the recognized classified employee organization.
(E)Other members, if desired.
(3)The schoolsite council shall consult with a representative from a law enforcement agency, a fire department, and other first responder entities in the writing and development of the comprehensive school safety plan. The comprehensive school safety plan and any updates to the plan shall be shared with the law

enforcement agency, the fire department, and the other first responder entities.

(4)In the absence of a schoolsite council, the members specified in paragraph (2) shall serve as the school safety planning committee.
(c)This article does not limit or take away the authority of school boards as guaranteed under this code.
(d)Subdivision (b) shall not apply to a small school district if the small school district develops a districtwide comprehensive school safety plan that is applicable to each schoolsite.
(e)(1) When a principal or their designee verifies through local law enforcement officials that a report has been filed of the occurrence of a violent crime or sex offense on the schoolsite of an elementary or secondary school

at which they are the principal, the principal or the principal’s designee may send to each pupil’s parent or legal guardian and each school employee a written notice of the occurrence and general nature of the crime. If the principal or their designee chooses to send the written notice, the Legislature encourages the notice be sent no later than the end of business on the second regular workday after the verification. If, at the time of verification, local law enforcement officials determine that notification of the violent crime or sex offense would hinder an ongoing investigation, the notification authorized by this subdivision shall be made within a reasonable period of time, to be determined by the local law enforcement agency and the school district.

(2)This subdivision does not create any liability in a school district or their employees for complying with paragraph (1).
(f)(1) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), a school district or county office of education may, in consultation with law enforcement officials, elect to not have its schoolsite council develop and write those portions of its comprehensive school safety plan that include tactical responses to criminal incidents that may result in death or serious bodily injury at the schoolsite. The portions of a comprehensive school safety plan that include tactical responses to criminal incidents may be developed by administrators of the school district or county office of education in consultation with law enforcement officials and with a representative of an exclusive bargaining unit of employees of that school district or county office of education, if the representative chooses to participate. The school district or county office of education may elect not to disclose those portions of the comprehensive school safety plan that include tactical responses to criminal incidents.
(2)As used in this article, “tactical responses to criminal incidents” means steps taken to safeguard pupils and staff, to secure the affected school premises, and to apprehend the criminal perpetrator or perpetrators.
(3)This subdivision does not preclude the governing board of a school district or county office of education from conferring in a closed session with law enforcement officials pursuant to Section 54957 of the Government Code to approve a tactical response plan developed in consultation with those officials pursuant to this subdivision. Any vote to approve the tactical response plan shall be announced in open session following the closed session.
(4)This subdivision does not reduce or eliminate the requirements of Section 32282.
(g)For

purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:

(1)“Child abuse or neglect” has the same meaning as defined in Section 11165.6 of the Penal Code.
(2)“Sex offense” has the same meaning as defined in Section 44010.
(3)“Small school district” means a school district that has fewer than 2,501 units of average daily attendance at the beginning of each fiscal year.
(4)“Violent crime” means any of the following:
(A)An act defined or described in paragraphs (2) to (4), inclusive, of subdivision (i) of Section 67381 and that is an act for which a pupil could or would be expelled pursuant to Section 48915.
(B)A violent

felony pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 667.5 of the Penal Code.

(C)A serious felony pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 1192.7 of the Penal Code.

Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 794, Sec. 2. (AB 1271) Effective January 1, 2015.

(a)As comprehensive school safety plans are reviewed and updated, the Legislature encourages all plans, to the extent that resources are available, to include clear guidelines for the roles and responsibilities of mental health professionals, community intervention professionals, school counselors, school resource officers, and police officers on school campuses, if the school district uses these people.
(b)The guidelines developed pursuant to subdivision (a) are encouraged to include both of the

following:

(1)Primary strategies to create and maintain a positive school climate, promote school safety, and increase pupil achievement, and prioritize mental health and intervention services, restorative and transformative justice programs, and positive behavior interventions and support.
(2)Consistent with paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 32282, protocols to address the mental health care of pupils who have witnessed a violent act at any time, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
(A)While on school grounds.
(B)While going to

or coming from school.

(C)During a lunch period whether on or off campus.
(D)During, or while going to or coming from, a school-sponsored activity.

Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 352, Sec. 70. (AB 1317) Effective September 26, 2013. Operative July 1, 2013, by Sec. 543 of Ch. 352.

(a)The department shall electronically distribute disaster preparedness educational materials and lesson plans that are currently available to school districts and county offices of education.
(b)The department shall ensure that the disaster preparedness materials are available in at least the three most dominant primary languages spoken by English learners in California, according to the language census.
(c)The department shall coordinate with the Office of Emergency Services to make sure that all materials are reviewed and updated annually.

Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 732, Sec. 4. (AB 1156) Effective January 1, 2012. Operative July 1, 2012, by Sec. 8 of Ch. 732.

The Department of Justice and the State Department of Education, in accordance with Section 32262, shall contract with one or more professional trainers to coordinate statewide workshops for school districts, county offices of education, and schoolsite personnel, and in particular school principals, to assist them in the development of their respective school safety and crisis response plans, and provide training in the prevention of bullying as defined in subdivision (r) of Section 48900. The Department of Justice and the State Department of Education shall work in cooperation with regard to the workshops coordinated and presented pursuant to the contracts. Implementation of this section shall be contingent upon the availability of funds in the annual Budget

Act.

Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 907, Sec. 3. (SB 939) Effective January 1, 2025.

(a)(1) The department shall develop and post on its internet website an online training module to assist all school staff, school administrators, parents, pupils, and community members in increasing their knowledge of the dynamics of bullying and cyberbullying. The online training module shall include, but is not limited to, identifying an act of bullying or cyberbullying and implementing strategies to address bullying and cyberbullying.
(2)The online training module developed pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include information about how to support pupils who are bullied for being or being perceived as neurodivergent and include links to the resources related to neurodiversity developed by the University of California and California State

University Collaborative for Neurodiversity and Learning.

(b)The department shall post on its internet website and annually update a list of available online training modules relating to bullying or bullying prevention.
(c)A school operated by a school district or a county office of education and a charter school shall annually make available the online training module developed by the department pursuant to subdivision (a) to certificated schoolsite employees and all other schoolsite employees who have regular interaction with pupils.

Added by renumbering Section 35294.4 by Stats. 2003, Ch. 828, Sec. 16. Effective January 1, 2004.

The comprehensive school safety plan may also include, at local discretion of the governing board of the school district and using local funds, procedures for responding to the release of a pesticide or other toxic substance from properties located within one-quarter mile of a school. No funds received from the state may be used for this purpose.

Added by renumbering Section 35294.6 by Stats. 2003, Ch. 828, Sec. 18. Effective January 1, 2004.

(a)Each school shall adopt its comprehensive school safety plan by March 1, 2000, and shall review and update its plan by March 1, every year thereafter. A new school campus that begins offering classes to pupils after March 1, 2001, shall adopt a comprehensive school safety plan within one year of initiating operation, and shall review and update its plan by March 1, every year thereafter.
(b)Commencing in July 2000, and every July thereafter, each school shall report on the status of its school safety plan, including a description of its key elements in the annual school accountability report card prepared pursuant to Sections 33126 and 35256.

Added by renumbering Section 35294.7 by Stats. 2003, Ch. 828, Sec. 19.5. Effective January 1, 2004.

If the Superintendent of Public Instruction determines that there has been a willful failure to make any report required by this article, the superintendent shall do both of the following:

(a)Notify the school district or the county office of education in which the willful failure has occurred.
(b)Make an assessment of not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000) against that school district or county office of education. This may be accomplished by deducting an amount equal to the amount of the assessment from the school district’s or county office of education’s future apportionment.

Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 806, Sec. 4. (AB 1747) Effective January 1, 2019.

(a)(1) In order to ensure compliance with this article, each school shall forward its comprehensive school safety plan to the school district or county office of education for approval.
(2)The department shall develop and post on its Internet Web site best practices for reviewing and approving school safety plans.
(b)(1) Before adopting its comprehensive school safety plan, the schoolsite council or school safety planning committee shall hold a public meeting at the schoolsite in order to allow members of the public the opportunity to express an opinion about the school safety plan.
(2)The schoolsite council or school safety planning committee shall notify, in writing, the following persons and entities, if available, of the public meeting:
(A)The local mayor.
(B)A representative of the local school employee organization.
(C)A representative of each parent organization at the schoolsite, including the parent teacher association and parent teacher clubs.
(D)A representative of each teacher organization at the schoolsite.
(E)A representative of the student body government.
(F)All persons who have indicated they want to be notified.
(3)The schoolsite council or school safety planning committee is encouraged to notify, in writing, the following persons and entities, if available, of the public meeting:
(A)A representative of the local churches.
(B)Local civic leaders.
(C)Local business organizations.
(c)In order to ensure compliance with this article, each school district or county office of education shall annually notify the department by October 15 of any schools that have not complied with Section 32281.

Amended (as added by Stats. 2004, Ch. 896, Sec. 29) by Stats. 2015, Ch. 303, Sec. 70. (AB 731) Effective January 1, 2016.

A complaint of noncompliance with the school safety planning requirements of Title IV of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 7114 (d)(7)) may be filed with the department under the Uniform Complaint Procedures as set forth in Chapter 5.1 (commencing with Section 4600) of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations.

Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 786, Sec. 1. (SB 541) Effective January 1, 2020.

(a)The department shall collect, and local educational agencies shall provide, data pertaining to lockdown or multioption response drills conducted at schoolsites within school districts, county offices of education and charter schools providing instructional services to pupils in kindergarten or in any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive. The data may be collected from a representative sample of schoolsites, with a methodology to be determined by the Superintendent. Specifically, the department shall collect data including, but not limited to, all of the following information:
(1)The portion of schoolsites conducting drills and the population they serve.
(2)The types of drills

performed and their frequency.

(3)Information about staff training in preparation for drills.
(4)Information pertaining to schoolsite evaluations, if any, of the drill impacts.
(5)Information pertaining to staff and parental notifications of drills.
(b)The department shall either conduct, or contract with a nonprofit research entity to conduct, a study that identifies best practices for age-appropriate drills, the effectiveness of lockdown or multioption response drills in schools, and the effects drills have on pupil emotional wellbeing and emergency preparedness.
(c)(1) The department shall submit to the Governor and relevant policy committees of the

Legislature on or before November 1, 2021, a report containing data collected pursuant to subdivision (a) and findings and recommendations from the study conducted pursuant to subdivision (b).

(2)Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this subdivision shall become inoperative on November 1, 2025.

Added by Stats. 2024, Ch. 530, Sec. 3. (AB 1858) Effective January 1, 2025.

(a)On or before June 15, 2025, the department shall curate and post on its internet website best practices pertaining to school shooter or other armed assailant drills, including, but not limited to, guidance for age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate drills, including age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate language, and staff training tools pertaining to school shooter or other armed assailant drills, for use by school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools providing instructional services to pupils in kindergarten or in any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive.
(b)A school district,

county office of education, and charter school is encouraged to comply with all the best practices established by the department pursuant subdivision (a).