School Assaults Bill Passes 1st Test : Robbins Measure Would Stiffen Penalties, Boost Security

Legislation aimed at curbing assaults against school employees, partly prompted by an attack on a Sylmar junior high school teacher, cleared its first legislative hurdle Tuesday.

The bill, by state Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Tarzana), was approved by the state Senate Judiciary Committee on a 9-0 vote and sent to the Appropriations Committee.

Robbins’ measure would increase prison penalties for attacking a school employee by up to three years, boost funding for school security in high-crime districts and require schools to inform teachers about students with histories of violence.

Robbins said the bill would “force greater attention to the problem” of school violence statewide. He said the measure was introduced at the request of United Teachers-Los Angeles after a 15-year-old Pacoima youth stabbed a teacher in the back during an Olive Vista Junior High School class March 6.

Felony Assault

If the Robbins bill becomes law, a person convicted of a felony assault on a teacher could receive the same penalty as a person convicted of assaulting a police officer or a firefighter. Killing an on-duty teacher could bring three additional years in prison.

Wesley Mitchell, chief of the 305-officer Los Angeles Unified School District Police Department, said he supports that provision because teachers must protect the health and safety of students in the same way that police protect the public.

“As a direct result of that effort, they become victims of violent assault,” Mitchell said.

The Los Angeles Unified School District spends about $24 million a year on campus security, Mitchell said. Under the bill, a district with a crime rate of 10% more than the statewide average would be required to spend at least 1.25% of its budget on security. Los Angeles would meet the criterion and would have to spend about $44 million on security, said Teri Burns, an aide to Robbins. The district’s total budget is $3.5 billion.

Definitions Vary

But Ronald Prescott, a lobbyist for the Los Angeles schools, said there is a difference of opinion over crime statistics because California school districts define assaults differently. Prescott, who said he supports the concept behind the Robbins bill, added that he hopes to iron out any statistical disputes as the measure proceeds through the Legislature.

Besides the Olive Vista attack, Robbins cited the shooting death of Grant High School teacher Hal Arthur on March 24 as another reason for pressing for passage of the measure. Arthur, 60, was shot three times in front of his home as he prepared to get into his car.

The bill was also supported by Judy Blatz, a school nurse at Cleveland High School in Reseda, who said she was forced to retire a year early after her back was injured in 1987 when she was assaulted by an intoxicated student.

The measure was opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union. According to a state Senate analysis of the bill, the ACLU believes that “crimes should not be punished more harshly because they occur in certain settings or places” and involve specific groups of people such as teachers.

The ACLU also believes that increased sentences “will not deter such crimes and will only exacerbate the already overcrowded jails and prisons,” according to the analysis.