Violence Prevention, Pupil Wellness, and School Safety Grant Program.

Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, establishes the Office of Emergency Services (OES) within the office of the Governor, and sets forth its powers and duties, including responsibility for addressing natural, technological, or manmade disasters and emergencies, including activities necessary to prevent, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of emergencies and disasters to people and property.

This bill would require OES, in consultation with the State Department of Education, to establish the Central Valley School Safety Coordination Pilot Program for the purpose of studying and evaluating improved communication pathways between local educational agencies, as defined, and regional fusion centers regarding credible safety threats affecting school communities. The bill would also require the pilot program to be implemented in certain counties, including, but not limited to, the Counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Tulare, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus, as provided. The bill would authorize the pilot program to, among other things, develop voluntary coordination protocols between participating local educational agencies and regional fusion centers regarding credible school safety threats. The bill would require the pilot program to comply with all applicable state and federal privacy laws and would prohibit the bulk monitoring of students or the collection of student information unrelated to a credible safety threat. The bill would also require the Office of Emergency Services, in consultation with the State Department of Education, to submit a report to the Legislature evaluating the pilot program on or before January 1, 2029. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2030.

This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Tulare, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus.

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.

SECTION 1.

 (a) Schools across California are increasingly confronted with emerging safety threats, including threats that originate or spread through online platforms and may cross jurisdictional boundaries.

(b) Local educational agencies are often the first institutions to observe warning signs related to potential threats affecting students and school communities.

(c) The State Threat Assessment Center within the Office of Emergency Services, along with regional fusion centers, plays a critical role in identifying threat patterns and coordinating information sharing across federal, state, and local agencies.

(d) Improved coordination between local educational agencies and regional threat assessment entities may enhance prevention efforts and allow for earlier identification of credible threats while maintaining strong protections for student privacy and civil liberties.

(e) The Central Valley faces unique challenges related to youth safety, chronic absenteeism, and emerging digital threats that warrant targeted study and coordination strategies.

(f) California Senate District 16, encompassing the Counties of Kern, Kings, and Tulare, and portions of the County of Fresno, exemplifies these challenges, with chronic absenteeism rates in local schools remaining elevated at approximately 20 to 25 percent in the 2023–24 school year, higher than statewide averages in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, due to factors including mental health crises, bullying, and community barriers, such as limited access to health care, unreliable transportation, housing instability, and food insecurity.

(g) In Senate District 16, youth mental health issues have intensified post-COVID-19, with reports linking excessive smartphone use and online threats (e.g., cyberbullying and disinformation) to increased anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation, contributing which contribute to chronic absenteeism and school safety concerns, as highlighted in legislative efforts like the Phone-Free Schools Act (Chapter 500 of the Statutes of 2024).

(h) Emerging threats in the district include digital radicalization via social media, amplified by resource scarcity from droughts and floods, which exacerbate family instability and demographic pressures. For instance, immigration fears have deterred school attendance among vulnerable populations, as noted in analyses of the More Help Not Less Act of 2025 (Chapter 154 of the Statutes of 2025), which repealed parental criminal penalties for truancy to focus on supportive services like mental health resources.

(i) Poverty-driven disparities in Senate District 16 schools, where 67 percent of high-poverty institutions face extreme chronic absenteeism, affect foster youth, homeless students, and ethnic minorities (e.g., Native American, Black, and Pacific Islander students), underscoring the need for integrated threat awareness and family engagement strategies.

(j) Positive trends, such as the County of Merced’s reduction in chronic absenteeism to 14.2 percent through expanded counseling services in 2024, demonstrate the potential for pilot programs to address these issues, aligning with statewide goals to halve chronic absenteeism by 2030 via investments in tutoring, mental health, and family support.

(k) Artificial intelligence (AI)-driven platforms and algorithmic systems are increasingly shaping youths’ online experiences in Senate District 16, which can negatively affect their mental health, including causing anxiety and depression, leading to addictive behaviors, suicidal ideation, and heightened vulnerability to hybrid threats like disinformation targeting family structures and community resilience.

(l) Tragic incidents of teenage shooting deaths in the Central Valley, including Senate District 16 areas, demonstrate broader trends of escalating gun violence and youth involvement in firearm-related threats. For example, in Hanford in the County of Kings, 17-year-old Ayden Anthony Wyatt was fatally shot at the Casa del Sol Apartments in January 2026, leading to arrests and underscoring risks from gun violence in school-adjacent communities.

(m) Similar violence has affected nearby regions, including in Clovis in the County of Fresno portion of Senate District 16, where 18-year-old Caleb Quick was killed outside a McDonald’s in April 2025 by two 16-year-old suspects, and a 15-year-old boy died in a December 2025 accidental shooting, exemplifying trends of youth access to firearms contributing to preventable fatalities and school safety concerns.

(n) In the County of Kern, multiple teenage fatalities from shootings illustrate pervasive trends of gun violence impacting youth mental health and community stability in rural areas, including all of the following:

(1) Fifteen-year-old Prince Michael Banner was killed at The Marketplace in November 2024, with a 16-year-old arrested.

(2) Fifteen-year-old Jacob Jesus Hernandez was shot in September 2025.

(3) A 12-year-old boy was murdered in Lamont in October 2024, with a juvenile admitting to the crime.

(o) The proliferation of untraceable ghost guns exacerbates these trends, as seen in incidents like the February 2026 discovery of an 18-year-old in nearby San Jose manufacturing 27 ghost guns using 3D printers, highlighting how easily accessible technology enables youth involvement in firearm-related threats within the broader Central Valley region.

(p) Social media’s role in perpetuating harm demonstrates trends of online hate impacting youth futures and school environments. For example, in February 2026 at Redwood High School in Visalia in the County of Tulare, students arranged shirts to spell a homophobic slur in a viral photo, leading to investigations, community backlash, and long-term online stigma that could hinder the futures of involved students while making LGBTQ+ youth feel unsafe and unwelcome in schools.

(q) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to protect the mental health, safety, and well-being of children and adolescents in California, particularly in underserved areas like Senate District 16, by addressing the growing impact of AI, digital technologies, and emerging threats on youths’ mental health development through improved coordination and privacy-protected information sharing.

SEC. 3.

 The Legislature finds and declares that a special statute is necessary and that a general statute cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of unique challenges related to youth safety, chronic absenteeism, and emerging digital threats that face the Central Valley, including the Counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Tulare, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus.

SEC. 4.

 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 Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.