Since school safety continues to be an area of concern for the education community, it is useful for central offices and school leaders to ensure that safety-related policies and regulations are up to date, are consistently implemented and are understood by students, staff, families and the wider community, including first responders.
CSBA sample Board Policy and Administrative Regulation 0450 – Comprehensive Safety Plan is a great starting point for boards aiming to ensure that students and staff are provided a safe and secure school learning environment. This policy and accompanying administrative regulation set the foundation for districts and COEs to meet their responsibility for ensuring that Comprehensive School Safety Plans (CSSPs) consistent with the requirements of the California Department of Education (CDE) are in place.
As reflected in the administrative regulation, school site council (SSC) consultation with first responders is required in the development of CSSPs, and consultation with other SSCs and safety planning committees may also be included. Additionally, CSSPs include an assessment of the current status of any crime committed on campus and at school-related functions. The plans must also identify appropriate strategies and programs that will provide or maintain a high level of school safety and address the school’s procedures for complying with existing laws related to school safety.
For many schools, these plans may also address strategies related to school climate, discipline, prevention strategies, parent/guardian and community involvement, and provision of safety materials and emergency communications, among other approaches for providing a safe environment.
In 2024, another avenue of consultation was authorized by Assembly Bill 2887, in which the Legislature expressed its intent for local educational agencies to develop CSSPs in cooperation with local emergency medical services personnel and other persons who may be interested in the health and safety of students and the prevention of campus crime and violence.
In June of 2025, BP/AR 0450 were updated to reflect recent legislation related to CSSPs, which include the change from AB 2887 as well as:
- Another component of AB 2887, which requires CSSPs to include procedures to respond to incidents involving an individual experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest or similar life-threatening medical emergency while on school grounds.
- AB 2968 (2024), which adds requirements beginning in the 2026–27 school year for CSSPs to include procedures to identify appropriate refuge shelter for all students and staff to be used in the event of an evacuation order and to notify the fire department or other appropriate local agency to prioritize the defense of that structure in the event of a fire.
- AB 2968 also requires schools serving more than 50 students in a high- or very high-risk fire hazard severity zone to coordinate such procedures with state emergency services organizations, and as a part of CSSPs, to develop a communication and evacuation plan to be used in the event of an early notice evacuation warning.
- AB 1858 (2024), which adds requirements that LEAs must comply with if the district’s CSSP includes procedures to prepare for active shooters or other armed assailants by conducting a drill.
- Senate Bill 153 (2024), which requires CSSPs to include an instructional continuity plan to establish communication with students and their families and provide instruction to students when in-person instruction is disrupted due to an emergency.
Language was also added to the board policy to reflect legislative intent that all school staff are trained on CSSPs.
The upcoming September 2025 Policy Update Packet will include other safety-related policies:
- BP/AR 3515 – Campus Security, which will incorporate AB 2565 (2024) requiring LEAs that undertake an addition, alteration, reconstruction, rehabilitation or retrofit of a school building to install interior locks on each door of any room with an occupancy of five or more persons in that school building. Language will also be added authorizing the formation of a multidisciplinary team in order to identify, inquire, assess and manage potentially threatening student behavior.
- AR 3516.1 – Fire Drills and Fires, which will incorporate a change to a building code provision requiring the first emergency evacuation drill of each school year to be conducted within 10 days of the beginning of classes. Information related to AB 2968, as described above, will be added.
- BP/AR 5141.4 – Child Abuse Prevention and Reporting, which will incorporate a change to the definition of “general neglect” and will reflect AB 1913 (2024), which requires LEAs to provide annual training on the prevention of abuse, including sexual abuse, of children on school grounds, by school personnel or in school-sponsored programs.
- BP/AR 5142 – Safety, which will incorporate Senate Bill 1063 (2024), which requires, in addition to other safety-related telephone numbers, schools that serve students in grades 7-12 and that issue ID cards to have printed on the cards the number for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
To keep LEAs up-to-date, the following resources may prove helpful:
- CSBA’s Safe Schools Toolkit
- CDE’s School Safety Resources page
- CDE’s Instructional Continuity Plan Guidance
- Schoolsafety.gov