Bill Text: AZ HB2374 | 2013 | Fifty-first Legislature 1st Regular | Introduced
Bill Title: School safety program; funding; expansion
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-02-06 - Referred to House PSMRA Committee [HB2374 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2013-HB2374-Introduced.html
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REFERENCE TITLE: school safety program; funding; expansion |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-first Legislature First Regular Session 2013
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HB 2374 |
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Introduced by Representative Campbell
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AN ACT
amending section 15‑154, Arizona Revised Statutes; amending Title 15, chapter 1, article 5, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 15‑155.01; making appropriations; relating to the school safety program.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 15-154, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
15-154. Public school safety program proposal; requirements; purpose; Arizona school safety fund; definitions
A. 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. The program proposal shall contain:
1. A detailed description of the school safety needs of the public school or school district.
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, or both.
B. The state board of education shall administer the program in cooperation with the courts, law enforcement agencies and law related education providers. Representatives from the state board of education shall use relevant crime statistics and shall visit schools located in school districts that submit program proposals in order to verify the information contained in the program proposals.
C. The department of education, at the direction 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.
D. 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. Monies received by a school district or charter school under the program shall be spent to implement the approved plans.
F. 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.
Sec. 2. Title 15, chapter 1, article 5, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 15-155.01, to read:
15-155.01. Arizona school safety fund; comprehensive threat assessments
A. The Arizona school safety fund is established consisting of monies appropriated by the legislature. The department of education shall administer the fund. The department may accept and spend federal monies, private grants, gifts, contributions and devises to assist in carrying out the purposes of this section. The department shall distribute monies from the fund in the form of grants to school districts and charter schools to enhance security measures and equipment based on the needs identified in the comprehensive threat assessment developed pursuant to this section or, if applicable, the emergency response plan developed pursuant to section 15‑341, subsection A, paragraph 32. The department shall develop application procedures and distribution criteria for school districts and charter schools to apply for grants from the fund. Monies in the fund are continuously appropriated.
B. In conjunction with local law enforcement agencies or school resource officers, or both, each school district and charter school shall develop and annually update a comprehensive threat assessment for each school site. The threat assessment shall review physical security deficiencies at each school site and identify measures to provide adequate security at that school site.
C. If a school district or charter school has developed or updated within the previous twelve months an emergency response plan pursuant to section 15-341, subsection A, paragraph 32 that includes a threat assessment of school sites, the school district or charter school:
1. Is not required to develop and update a separate threat assessment pursuant to subsection B of this section.
2. Shall annually review the emergency response plan and any identified deficiencies at a public meeting called for this purpose.
D. The school safety and prevention division within the department of education shall coordinate and provide statewide training and technical assistance to school districts, charter schools and private schools for emergency response planning and threat assessments.
Sec. 3. Appropriation; school safety program
The sum of $17,200,000 is appropriated from the state general fund in fiscal year 2013-2014 to the department of education for the purpose of the school safety program pursuant to section 15‑154, Arizona Revised Statutes, as amended by this act.
Sec. 4. Appropriation; Arizona school safety fund
The sum of $20,000,000 is appropriated from the state general fund in fiscal year 2013-2014 to the department of education for deposit in the Arizona school safety fund established by section 15‑155.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act, for distribution of grants to school districts and charter schools as prescribed in section 15‑155.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act.
Sec. 5. Appropriation; statewide training and technical assistance
The sum of $1,000,000 is appropriated from the state general fund in fiscal year 2013-2014 to the department of education for the purpose of providing statewide training and technical assistance pursuant to section 15‑155.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act.
Sec. 6. Appropriations; school counselors, school psychologists and mental health specialists
A. The sum of $20,000,000 is appropriated from the state general fund in fiscal year 2013-2014 to the department of education for distribution to school districts for the purpose of hiring additional school counselors, school psychologists or mental health specialists, or any combination of these personnel, as needed by individual school districts and verified by the department of education.
B. The sum of $40,000,000 is appropriated from the state general fund in fiscal year 2014-2015 to the department of education for distribution to school districts for the purpose of hiring additional school counselors, school psychologists or mental health specialists, or any combination of these personnel, as needed by individual school districts and verified by the department of education.
C. The sum of $62,000,000 is appropriated from the state general fund in fiscal year 2015-2016 to the department of education for distribution to school districts for the purpose of hiring additional school counselors, school psychologists or mental health specialists, or any combination of these personnel, as needed by individual school districts and verified by the department of education.
