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AB 453

Relating to: required approvals of rezoning requests related to residential development, contents of and consistency of local ordinances with local comprehensive plans, certain tax incremental district project costs related to residential development, and tax incremental district lifespan extension. (FE)

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Dave Armstrong and 9 co-sponsors

AB 453 creates a statewide stakeholder workgroup to review and improve K-12 comprehensive school safety plans, with a final recommended report due by July 1, 2027.

Published 4-3-2026
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WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · AB 453

AB 453 (Muratsuchi) — Summary: Pupil safety — comprehensive school safety plans

Status: In committee — Held under submission (last action: 2025-05-23)
Introduced: February 6, 2025
Adds: Education Code Section 32282.3
Fiscal: Fiscal committee review required; no appropriation requested

Purpose / Intent

AB 453 requires the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with the State Board of Education, to convene a statewide stakeholder workgroup to review existing K–12 comprehensive school safety plans and recommend improvements to the plans’ required elements, development, and approval processes. The bill responds to emerging safety challenges (e.g., active shooter incidents, opioid crisis, wildfires) and a perceived need to reassess cumulative changes made to safety-plan requirements since 2002.

Key provisions

  • Requires the Superintendent, by July 1, 2026, to appoint and convene a statewide stakeholder workgroup on school safety.
  • Specifies the workgroup’s duties: review existing comprehensive school safety plans and recommend:
    • Defined goals and purposes of a plan;
    • Assessment of required elements and their alignment with goals;
    • Review of development, adoption, and update processes; and
    • Recommendations to improve plan structure/layout (accessibility and usability), local development/approval transparency, and procedures for adding or removing plan elements.
  • Workgroup must submit its recommendations in a report to the Department of Finance and appropriate legislative fiscal and policy committees by July 1, 2027.
  • Workgroup meetings must be open to the public under the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act.
  • Authorizes the Department of Education to enter into exclusive or nonexclusive contracts with nongovernmental entities (on bid or negotiated basis) to implement these provisions. Contracts and amendments under this section are expressly exempted from specified Government Code and Public Contract Code procurement provisions and Department of General Services review. Subcontracting by contracted entities is permitted with the Superintendent’s approval.

Workgroup composition (required or specified)

The bill requires representation including, at minimum:
- 2 current schoolsite administrators (one elementary, one secondary)
- 2 certificated teachers (one elementary, one secondary)
- 2 local school employee organization representatives (elementary and secondary)
- 1 parent-organization representative
- 1 current high school student
- 2 local law enforcement representatives (one from a rural community)
- 2 local fire agency representatives (one from a rural community)
- 1 local educational agency central-office member with school-safety expertise
- 2 pupil personnel services or school nurse credentialed representatives

The Superintendent must seek geographic diversity and include at least one educator experienced with pupils with exceptional needs.

Who is affected

  • State Superintendent and California Department of Education (administration and contracting)
  • State Board of Education (consultation)
  • School districts and county offices of education (existing plan holders)
  • Schoolsite administrators, teachers, classified staff, parents, students, local law enforcement and fire agencies, and community stakeholders
  • Nongovernmental contractors who may be hired to support the review

Timeline / Procedural notes

  • Convene workgroup by July 1, 2026.
  • Deliver report to Department of Finance and relevant legislative committees by July 1, 2027.
  • Workgroup meetings subject to open-meeting law (Bagley-Keene).
  • Bill referred through Assembly Education and Appropriations committees and is currently held under submission (most recent procedural actions in Feb–May 2025).

This bill does not itself change local school safety plan requirements for districts; it establishes a structured, statewide review process and reporting requirement to inform potential future statutory or regulatory changes.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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