BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1729
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1729 (Ammiano)
As Amended August 20, 2012
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |53-25|(May 30, 2012) |SENATE: |21-14|(August 23, |
| | | | | |2012) |
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Original Committee Reference: ED.
SUMMARY : Requires that all forms of suspension be imposed only
when other means of correction fail to bring about proper
conduct; authorizes the use and documentation of alternatives to
suspension or expulsion that are age appropriate and designed to
address a pupil's specific misbehavior; and, defines other means
of correction. Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes the superintendent of a school district or
principal to use his or her discretion to provide alternatives
to suspension or expulsion that are age appropriate and
designed to address and correct the pupil's specific
misbehavior.
2)Deletes the provision that alternatives to suspension and
expulsion may include counseling and an anger management
program.
3)Requires that suspension, including supervised suspension, be
imposed on individuals only after other means of correction
have failed to bring about proper conduct.
4)Authorizes school districts to document the use of other means
of correction and place that documentation in a pupil's
record.
5)Specifies that a pupil, including an individual with
exceptional needs, may be suspended for violation of any
offense listed in Education Code Section 48900 upon a first
offense if the principal or Superintendent of schools
determine that either of the following two conditions are met:
a) The pupil commits an act where the pupil:
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i) Causes, attempts to cause, or threatens to cause
physical injury to another person; or willfully uses
force or violence upon another person, except in
self-defense;
ii) Possesses, sells, or otherwise furnishes a firearm,
knife, explosive, or other dangerous object;
iii) Unlawfully possesses, uses, sells or otherwise
furnishes a controlled substance;
iv) Unlawfully offers, arranges or negotiates to sell a
controlled substance, alcoholic beverage, or an
intoxicant of any kind; or,
v) Commits or attempts to commit robbery or extortion.
b) The pupil's presence causes a danger to persons.
6)Deletes a provision that allows suspension prior to attempting
other means of correction when a pupil's presence causes a
danger to property or threatens to disrupt the instructional
process.
7)Defines "other means of correction" to include, but not be
limited to, the following:
a) A conference between school personnel, the pupil's
parent or guardian and the pupil;
b) Referrals to the school counselor, psychologist, social
worker or other school support service personnel for case
management and counseling;
c) Study teams, guidance teams, resource panel teams, or
other intervention-related teams that assess behavior, and
develop and implement individualized plans to address the
behavior in partnership with the pupil and his or her
parents;
d) Referral for a comprehensive psychosocial or
psychoeducational assessment;
e) Enrollment in a program for teaching prosocial behavior
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or anger management;
f) Participation in a restorative justice program;
g) A positive behavior support approach with tiered
interventions that occur during the schoolday on campus;
h) After school programs that address specific behavioral
issues or expose pupils to positive activities and
behaviors, including, but not limited to, those operated in
collaboration with local parent and community groups; and,
i) Community service programs such as outdoor
beautification; community or campus betterment; and
teacher, peer or youth assistance programs.
8)Makes findings and declarations that the public policy of this
state is to ensure that school discipline policies support
safe, positive, supportive and equitable school environments;
that California school suspensions and expulsions are
disproportionately imposed on pupils of color, pupils with
disabilities, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pupils,
and other vulnerable pupil populations; and, that nonpunitive
classroom discipline and in-school discipline strategies are
more effective and efficient for addressing the majority of
pupil misconduct.
9)Adds double jointing provisions to avoid chaptering out
conflicts with AB 2242 (Dickinson) and AB 1732 (Campos).
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal. Amendments made
in the Assembly Appropriations Committee removed all General
Fund/Proposition 98 state reimbursable mandated costs.
COMMENTS : This bill clarifies existing law by requiring that
administrators resort to supervised suspension, out of school
suspension, or expulsion of a student only after other means of
correction fail to bring about proper conduct. It broadens
acceptable alternatives to suspension and expulsion by allowing
administrators to determine age appropriate activities that
address and correct the pupil's specific misbehavior. The bill
further defines some examples of what falls under the guidelines
of other means of correction and authorizes school districts to
document the use of such methods in a student's record.
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Background: Research indicates that the suspension and
expulsion of individuals are rarely applied evenly. According
to the Civil Rights Project at the University of California, Los
Angeles, a study released in October of 2011 makes it clear that
in California, "unnecessarily harsh discipline policies are
applied unfairly and disproportionately to minority students."
Additionally, in March 2012, the U.S. Department of Education's
Office for Civil Rights released a report indicating that
minority students have a much higher rate of suspension and
expulsion across the nation. These reports confirm the
declarations and findings presented in this bill about the
uneven application of these punitive disciplinary measures.
Age appropriate alternatives designed to address and correct
specific misbehavior: This bill broadens a section of existing
law that currently lists alternatives to suspension and
expulsion as counseling and anger management programs. It
replaces the specific identification of counseling and anger
management programs with language that authorizes principals to
use alternatives that are age appropriate and designed to
address and correct the pupil's specific misbehavior. This
broader approach improves the flexibility and responsiveness of
current code to varying situations. Across California,
suspensions and expulsions are given to students of different
ages and for different reasons. Making this section more
flexible allows principals the authority to assign alternative
disciplinary measures that more aptly target a student's
specific needs and respond to the incident at hand.
Documentation of other means of correction: This bill also
authorizes school districts to document the use of other means
of correction and place such documentation in a pupil's record.
By allowing this in statute, principals and other disciplinary
officers of a school are encouraged to record and attempt
alternative methods to improve student behavior prior to using
punitive disciplinary measures. It provides districts with
flexibility to choose the best alternative disciplinary methods
based on the given circumstance.
Defining other means of correction: This bill also expands what
can be considered as alternatives to suspension or expulsion by
providing a non-comprehensive list of examples. It clearly
stipulates that "other means of correction" include, but are not
limited to: a conference between school personnel, parents and
a pupil; referrals to school support service personnel for case
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management and counseling; intervention-related teams that
implement individualized plans to address the behavior in
partnership with the pupil and his or her parents; referral for
a comprehensive psychosocial or psychoeducational assessment for
purposes of creating an individualized education program (IEP)
or plan pursuant to Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation
Act of 1973; enrollment in a program for teaching prosocial
behavior or anger management; participation in a restorative
justice program; a positive behavior support approach with
tiered interventions that occur during the schoolday; any
after-school programs designed to address specific behavioral
issues and expose a pupil to positive activities and behaviors;
and, community service, including, but not limited to, outdoor
beautification, community or campus betterment and teacher, peer
or youth assistance programs.
Exceptions: This bill also clearly provides for exceptions that
allow a school to suspend a pupil, including students with
exceptional needs, upon a first offense without first seeking to
correct the behavior through other means of correction. Those
exceptions include any offense listed in code where the pupil's
presence causes a danger to persons or when a pupil has caused,
attempted to cause, or threatened to cause physical injury to
another person; willfully used force or violence upon another
person, except in self-defense; possessed, sold, or otherwise
furnished a firearm, knife, explosive, or other dangerous
object; unlawfully possessed, used, sold or otherwise furnished
a controlled substance; unlawfully offered, arranged or
negotiated to sell a controlled substance, alcoholic beverage,
or an intoxicant of any kind; or, committed or attempted to
commit robbery or extortion. This bill also clearly provides
that suspensions of students with exceptional needs, in
accordance with this provision, must be subject to applicable
federal law.
Arguments in support: The author writes, "AB 1729 reaffirms
that superintendents and school principals have the discretion
to implement alternatives to suspension and expulsion and
expands the list of 'other means of correction.'"
Analysis Prepared by : Mark Murphy and Sophia Kwong Kim / ED.
/ (916) 319-2087
AB 1729
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