Should the Commission approve:

1.  Revisions to the Guidelines for Student Safety in Certified Courses as described in this agenda item?

And if item #1 is so approved, should the Commission additionally approve:

2.  The proposed revision to Commission Regulation 1052, Requirements for Course Certification, updating references to the POST Guidelines for Student Safety in Certified Courses, subject to the Notice of Proposed Regulatory Action process?

Regulation 1052 requires that presenters of POST-certified courses involving the manipulative skills training implement a formal written safety policy. Presenters are referred to the POST Guidelines for Student Safety in Certified Courses 2007, incorporated in the regulation by reference, for clarification and requirements.

The POST Guidelines for Student Safety in Certified Courses were originally published in 1992 and last revised in 2007. POST staff recently completed a comprehensive update and revision of these guidelines, producing the POST Guidelines for Student Safety in Certified Courses 2019.

The attached revision of the POST Guidelines for Student Safety in Certified Courses is the collective effort of fourteen POST Consultants who worked to integrate feedback obtained from a POST survey regarding the safety guidelines (with a total of 129 respondents) as well as the on-going input POST receives from presenters and instructors on a regular basis. A draft of this document was then submitted to various course presenters, including the membership of the California Academy Directors Association, for their review and comment.

The guidelines have been revised to include:

• A restructured format that is more “user friendly”
• The elimination of duplicative information from chapter to chapter
• Updated statutory and regulatory references
• An added chapter on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles training
• An “Assessing Instructor-to-Student Ratios” guide
• Sample safety policies for Arrest & Control, Firearms and Driver Training courses

Approval of these revised guidelines will necessitate a change in Regulation 1052, replacing reference to the POST Guidelines for Student Safety in Certified Courses 2007 with POST Guidelines for Student Safety in Certified Courses 2019. This will ensure that presenters of POST-certified courses involving manipulative skills training are referring to the current version of the POST Guidelines for Student Safety in Certified Courses when preparing their formal written safety policy.  

POST has started the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) process by publishing the notice for public comment, and if approved by the Commission, the proposed changes will be submitted to OAL for the final review and approval at the conclusion of the public comment period. Should POST receive any comments on the proposed changes that will require additional modification of the language, POST will make the changes and publish a 15-day notice to allow for additional comments. If additional changes are required, outside of those presented in this report, those changes will be presented to the Commission for approval in October 2019.

Staff recommends the Commission approve both the revisions to the Guidelines for Student Safety in Certified Courses and, subject to the Notice of Proposed Regulatory Action Process, the amendments to Regulation 1052 described in this report.