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Partial List of Supporters for AB768

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Sacramento, CA – Meow Meow Foundation and Assemblymember Chris Holden introduced legislation, AB 768 that provides critical updates to California’s pool and open water safety programs.

“To save precious young lives, we must ensure that caregivers are equipped with the best resources,” said Assemblymember Chris Holden. “Schools are an ideal means for providing drowning prevention awareness and education to millions of students and caregivers.”

Specifically, AB 768 requires the California Division of Boating and Waterways, Department of Education and Department of Public Health to create an updated pool and open drowning prevention policy and a resource hub specifically dedicated to 6+ million California school children and their parent-guardians. Students in K-12 schools will review age-appropriate prevention materials with their caregivers after which they will make a robust drowning prevention pledge. The Department of Education will log and report progress statewide in an effort for government agencies and NGOs to monitor the effects on drowning data over subsequent years.

This bill represents a first-in-class effort to reach children, families and educators en masse about this leading cause of death and injury among young people.

California ranks 3rd in the U.S. for the most drownings. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), drowning is the leading cause of injury-related death for children 1-4 and second for children under 14. Only 1% of parents who participated in a nationwide survey consider drowning to be a home safety concern, yet nearly 90% of drownings occur with an adult nearby.

In June of 2019, 6-year-old Roxie Forbes drowned at an Altadena, California, summer camp. In the wake of Roxie’s preventable drowning, her parents Doug Forbes and Elena Matyas, established the Meow Meow Foundation in honor of their daughter. The couple has worked tirelessly to develop an end-to-end childhood drowning prevention model, including legislation.

“The very tragic fact is that fatal and non-fatal child drownings are on the rise yet again, largely because drowning does not receive the attention it desperately deserves,” said Forbes and Matyas, the bill’s sponsors. “We must also remember that Black children drown at rates up to five times more than white children and that a vast number of children do not swim or understand how to be water-safe at all.”

Meow Meow Foundation and Holden have also introduced a concurrent resolution ACR 39 to further honor Roxie Forbes and the Forbes’ commitment to this issue. If approved, “Roxie’s Wish: Drowning Prevention Week for Children” will produce an annual statewide experiential prevention campaign during the third week of May.

The World Health Organization has concluded that drowning is a highly overlooked epidemic with nearly 400,000 reported annual drownings, although that number is widely reported to be conservative. Additional organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Consumer Products Safety Commission and Safe Kids Worldwide continue to implore governments to prioritize prevention, including integration with other public health initiatives.

Here is the bill text…

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 768, as amended, Holden. School safety: aquatic and pool safety program: model policy.Existing law requires the Division of Boating and Waterways, in cooperation with the State Department of Education and other appropriate entities involved with water safety, to develop an aquatic safety program to be made available for use at an appropriate grade level in public elementary schools at no expense to the schools. Existing law requires the division to notify schools and school districts of the availability of the aquatic safety program once it is developed.This bill would repeal those provisions and related legislative findings. The bill would require, on or before June 1, 2022, the division and the State Department of Public Health, in cooperation with the State Department of Education and other specified entities, to develop an aquatic and pool safety program to be made available for use at local educational agencies, defined as school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools that serve pupils in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, as a model policy at no expense to the local educational agencies. The bill would require the model policy, among other things, to be age appropriate, to address the needs of groups at a higher risk of drowning, and to include specified training materials.The bill would require the State Department of Education to notify local educational agencies of the availability of the aquatic and pool safety program model policy once it is developed and to establish a deadline for local educational agencies to adopt an aquatic and pool safety program that is based on the model policy. The bill would require the governing board or body of a local educational agency to review, at minimum every 4th year, its aquatic and pool safety program and, if necessary, update the program. By imposing additional requirements on school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.The bill would require the State Department of Education, by January 1, 2023, to submit a report to the Legislature identifying the number of local educational agencies that have adopted an aquatic and pool safety program.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.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) According to 2018 data from the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood drowning is on the rise again and is the leading cause of injury death for children in the United States 1 to 4 years of age, inclusive, second for children 5 to 9 years of age, inclusive, and fourth for children 10 to 14 years of age, inclusive.

(b) Black and Latino children die of drowning at rates of at least five times that of their White peers, while 64 percent of Black children and 45 percent of Latino children cannot swim well or at all.

(c) Boys represent 80 percent of drowning victims.

(d) Most childhood drownings occur in June and July, immediately following the end of the school year.

(e) California perennially records the third most fatal and nonfatal childhood drowning victims in the United States.

(f) As children and teens spend a significant amount of their young lives in school, local educational agencies and school staff can help parents and caregivers and their children access nationally recognized water safety resources with potentially lifesaving consequences.

(g) According to research by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a model aquatic and pool safety program can significantly reduce youth drowning.

SEC. 2. Article 16 (commencing with Section 51879.7) of Chapter 5 of Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code is repealed.

SEC. 3. Article 16 (commencing with Section 51879.7) is added to Chapter 5 of Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:

Article 16. Aquatic and Pool Safety

51879.7.

For purposes of this article, “local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school that serves pupils in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive.

51879.8.

(a) On or before June 1, 2022, the Division of Boating and Waterways and the State Department of Public Health, in cooperation with the department and other appropriate agencies, industries, and nonprofit organizations involved with water and child safety, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, and Safe Kids Worldwide, shall develop an aquatic and pool safety program that shall be made available for use at local educational agencies as a model policy at no expense to the local educational agencies. The model policy shall include, but not be limited to, an audiovisual instructional aid and parental involvement materials. The department shall act as liaison between the local educational agencies and the industries and nonprofit organizations involved with water and child safety.

(b) The model policy shall be age appropriate and shall address the needs of groups at a higher risk of drowning, including, but not limited to, both of the following:

(1) Youth 14 years of age and under.

(2) Economically disadvantaged youth.

(c) (1) The model policy shall include training materials that include age-appropriate water safety fundamentals, at the schoolsite and within the larger community, and provisions for when and how to refer youth and their families to those services.

(2) Training materials may include programs that can be completed through self-review.

(d) The model policy shall address training on water safety for teachers of pupils in all grade levels.

(e) The model policy shall be written to ensure that a school employee acts only within the authorization and scope of the employee’s credential or license. This article does not authorize or encourage a school employee to serve as an aquatics professional or water safety expert.

51879.9.

(a) The department shall notify local educational agencies of the availability of the aquatic and pool safety program model policy once it is developed pursuant to Section 51879.8.

(b) The department shall establish a deadline for local educational agencies to adopt an aquatic and pool safety program that is based on the model policy.

(c) A local educational agency shall deliver and discuss the aquatic and pool safety program materials in a manner that is sensitive to the needs of young pupils.

(d) (1) The governing board or body of a local educational agency shall review, at minimum every fourth year, its aquatic and pool safety program and, if necessary, update the program.

(2) Paragraph (1) does not prevent the governing board or body of a local educational agency from updating its aquatic and pool safety program more frequently than every fourth year.

(e) (1) The department shall submit, by January 1, 2023, a report to the Legislature in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code identifying the number of local educational agencies that have adopted an aquatic and pool safety program.

(2) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under paragraph (1) is inoperative on January 1, 2027, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.

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.