38000.
(a) The governing board of a school district may establish a security department under the supervision of a chief of security as designated by, and under the direction of, the superintendent of the school district. In accordance with Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 45100) of Part 25, the governing board of a school district may employ personnel to ensure the safety of school district personnel and pupils and the security of the real and personal property of the school district. It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section that a school district security department is supplementary to city and county law enforcement agencies and is not vested with general police powers.(b) The governing board of a school district may establish a school police department under the supervision of a school chief of police and, in accordance with Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 45100) of Part 25, may employ peace officers, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 830.32 of the Penal Code, to ensure the safety of school district personnel and pupils, and the security of the real and personal property of the school district.
(c) The governing board of a school district that establishes a security department or a police department shall set minimum qualifications of employment for the chief of security or school chief of police, respectively, including, but not limited to, prior employment as a peace officer or completion of a peace officer training course approved by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. A chief of security or school chief of police shall comply with the prior employment or training requirement set forth in this subdivision as of January 1, 1993, or a date one year subsequent to the initial employment of the chief of security or school chief of police by the school district, whichever occurs later. This subdivision shall not be construed to require the employment by a school district of additional personnel.
(d) A school district may assign a school police reserve officer who is deputized pursuant to Section 35021.5 to a schoolsite to supplement the duties of school police officers pursuant to this section.
(e) (1) A school district or a charter school shall hire or contract with at least one armed school resource officer authorized to carry a loaded firearm pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 26000) of Chapter 3 of Division 5 of Title 4 of Part 6 of the Penal Code, to be present at each school of the school district or charter school during regular school hours and any other time when pupils are present on campus.
(e) (2) It is the intent of the Legislature to evaluate the presence of peace officers and other law enforcement on school campuses and to identity and consider alternative options to ensure pupil safety based on the needs of the local school communities. It is the intent of the Legislature to consider encouraging local educational agencies to use school resources currently allocated to such personnel, including school police departments and contracts with local police or sheriff departments, for pupil support services, such as mental health services and professional development for school employees on cultural competency and restorative justice, as needed, if found to be a more appropriate use of resources based upon the needs of the pupils and campuses that serve them. A school district’s or a charter school’s costs of implementing paragraph (1) shall be reimbursed as a state mandate under Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution and shall not be funded with the funding provided to school districts and charter schools pursuant to Sections 42238.02 and 42238.03.
(3) For purposes of this subdivision, “school resource officer” means an individual who is a peace officer as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code and is employed by, or contracts to be assigned to, a school of a school district, a school district, or a charter school.