BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1400
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 21, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Anthony Portantino, Chair
AB 1400 (Fong) - As Amended: April 15, 2009
SUBJECT : Community Colleges: expulsion: hearing.
SUMMARY : Authorizes the governing board of a California
Community College (CCC) district to, under specified
circumstances, deny admission to an individual who has been
expelled from a CCC. Specifically, this bill :
1)Allows the governing board of a CCC to deny enrollment upon
finding through a hearing that an individual who has been
expelled within the preceding 10 years for defined violent
offenses continues to present a danger to the physical safety
of the students and employees of the district. Defines
violent offenses to include:
a) Committed or attempted to commit murder;
b) Caused, attempted to cause, or threatened to cause
physical injury to another person, including assault or
battery, as defined, except in self-defense;
c) Committed or attempted to commit a sexual assault, as
defined, or committed sexual battery, as defined;
d) Committed or attempted to commit kidnapping, or seized,
confined, inveigled, enticed, decoyed, abducted, concealed,
kidnapped, or carried away another person by any means with
the intent to hold or detain that person for ransom or
reward;
e) Committed or attempted to commit robbery;
f) Committed stalking, as defined;
g) Possessed, sold, or otherwise furnished a firearm,
knife, explosive, or other dangerous object.
2)Provides that a CCC district may request information from
another CCC district in determining whether the applicant
continues to pose a danger to the physical safety of others
AB 1400
Page 2
and requires the CCC district receiving such a request to
respond within five working days.
3)Requires any student who has been previously expelled from a
CCC in the state for any of the actions defined as violent
offenses to inform the CCC district of his or her prior
expulsion upon seeking admission and provides that failure to
do so shall be considered by the CCC district in determining
whether to grant admission.
4)Allows the governing board of a CCC, when making a
determination on whether to enroll an individual who has been
expelled from another CCC district for one of the defined
acts, to consider denying enrollment, permitting enrollment,
or permitting conditional enrollment.
5)Provides for reimbursement to the CCC districts if the
Commission on State Mandates determines that this bill
contains state mandated costs.
EXISTING LAW
1)Provides that a CCC district governing board is authorized to
expel a student for good cause when other means of correction
fail to bring about proper conduct, or when the presence of
the student causes a continuing danger to the physical safety
of the student or others. Provides that the expulsion shall
be accompanied by a hearing.
2)Provides that a CCC district governing body may exclude
students from attendance for "filthy or vicious habits, or
students suffering from contagious or infectious diseases" as
well as "any student whose physical or mental disability is
such as to cause his or her attendance to be inimical to the
welfare of other students.
3)Provides that if a K-12 pupil is expelled and seeks to enroll
in another school district during or after the period of
expulsion, the second school district is required to hold a
hearing to determine whether the "individual poses a
continuing danger either to the pupils or employees of the
school district."
4)Provides, under federal law, that disciplinary records are
education records protected by the Family Educational Rights
AB 1400
Page 3
and Privacy Act and are subject to the general requirement
that records regarding identifiable students cannot be shared
without the student's consent or under court order. This
protection of records is also contained in state law. There
are exceptions to this law, including for records pertaining
to discipline for serious offenses and for records being
shared with an institution where the student seeks to enroll.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Purpose of this bill : According to the author, CCCs
are the only public educational segment in California without
the ability to ensure campus safety at one CCC district through
a screening process of students who have been expelled from
another CCC district. Currently, a student who is expelled from
one CCC district for a violent offense can freely enroll in
another CCC district without that CCC district's knowledge of
his or her expulsion from the first CCC district. Further, a CCC
district that expels a student for a violent act is not
compelled to provide the information surrounding the expulsion
of the student even upon the request of the receiving CCC
district. Finally, a CCC district may not conditionally enroll
or deny enrollment to a student based on a hearing that finds
that the student poses a continuing threat to the students,
faculty, and staff on the campus. This bill addresses these
problems by requiring a student enrolling in a CCC to disclose
that he or she had been expelled for a violent offense from a
CCC district, requiring a CCC district that had expelled a
student for one of the specified reasons to provide the
information to the receiving CCC district upon request,
authorizing a receiving CCC district to conduct a hearing in
order to determine if a student posed a threat to the faculty,
staff, or other students, and allowing the CCC district to deny
enrollment to this student if deemed necessary to ensure the
safety of those on campus.
Background : In September of 2007, the CCC Chancellor's Office
(CCCCO) responded to a request from Mt. San Antonio College for
a legal opinion regarding the CCC's interactions with students
who have criminal records, sharing student disciplinary
information, and disciplining students. The CCCCO opined, among
other findings, that current admission laws do not allow a CCC
district to deny admission based on discipline imposed by a
different CCC district. According to the sponsor, this bill was
introduced to establish a process whereby CCC districts can deny
AB 1400
Page 4
admission to individuals who pose a safety threat to others on
campuses.
Circumstances under which a student may be expelled from a CCC :
Existing law requires CCCs to adopt rules for student conduct
standards and related penalties for violating those standards.
A student's history (prior criminal activity) or speculations
about what a student might do in the future are not a basis for
imposing discipline. Existing law authorizes a CCC district to
expel a student for good cause, which is defined to include:
1)Continued disruptive behavior, continued willful disobedience,
habitual profanity or vulgarity, or the open and persistent
defiance of the authority of, or persistent abuse of, college
personnel;
2)Assault, battery, or any threat of force or violence upon a
student or college personnel;
3)Willful misconduct that results in injury or death to a
student or college personnel or that results in cutting,
defacing, or other injury to any real or personal property
owned by the district;
4)The use, sale, or possession on campus of, or presence on
campus under the influence of, any controlled substance or
specified poisons;
5)Willful or persistent smoking in any area where smoking has
been prohibited by law or by regulation of the governing
board; and,
6)Persistent, serious misconduct where other means of correction
have failed to bring about proper conduct.
Existing law also provides that "No student shall be removed,
suspended, or expelled unless the conduct for which the student
is disciplined is related to college activity or college
attendance." However, in a 1966 opinion, the Attorney General
determined that if a CCC district could identify a link between
the conduct and school activities or attendance, then conduct
that occurred away from school could be considered for
disciplinary purposes. However, as the CCCCO opined, if a
college student commits a crime that has nothing to do with a
college activity or with college attendance, the college will be
AB 1400
Page 5
hard-pressed to suspend or expel the student for that conduct,
based on existing law.
Recent expulsion data from CCCs : According to a survey of 55
CCC campuses provided by the sponsor, 29 individuals in the
2007-2008 academic year and 17 in the 2009-10 academic year were
expelled from CCCs. Reasons identified for expulsion include
harassment of students and faculty, vandalism of school
property, and falsifying college transcripts and instructor
signatures, among other activities.
Expulsion records retention : Under existing law, there is no
specific statutory requirement on the length of time that a
student's expulsion record is kept by the CCC district.
According to the sponsor, if a district expels a student they
generally place an electronic tag on the registration so that
the student is flagged if he or she attempts to reregister at
that CCC district. Additionally, the decision to expel a
student is a CCC district governing board decision, therefore,
the name and student expulsion information would be kept as a
permanent record with all records of governing board public
meetings.
Practices of the K-12 system : As noted above, existing law
requires a school district to hold a hearing to determine
whether an individual continues to pose a danger to other pupils
or employees if a pupil was expelled from another school
district. According to the sponsor, this bill was modeled on
the K-12 process.
Other public higher education policies regarding expulsion :
Executive Order No. 970 governs student conduct procedures at
California State University (CSU) and affords students due
process and provide guidance to campuses to address student
misconduct. According to CSU, if a student is expelled from
CSU, they are expelled from their home campus and the entire CSU
system. At University of California (UC) readmission to UC
following an expulsion requires the specific approval of the
Chancellor of the campus to which an expelled student has
applied and readmission after expulsion may be granted only
under exceptional circumstances.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
AB 1400
Page 6
Peralta Community College District (Sponsor)
Faculty Association of California Community Colleges
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960