BILL NUMBER: AB 1732 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 20, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Campos
FEBRUARY 16, 2012
An act to amend Section 48900 of the Education Code, relating to
pupils.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1732, as amended, Campos. Pupils: suspension or expulsion:
bullying: impersonation.
Existing law prohibits the suspension, or recommendation for
expulsion, of a pupil from school unless the school district
superintendent or the school principal determines that the pupil has
committed any of various specified acts, including, but not limited
to, bullying , as defined . Existing law
defines bullying as any severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or
conduct, including communications made in writing or by means of an
electronic act, which includes, among other things, a post on a
social network Internet Web site, and including one or more acts, as
specified, committed by a pupil or group of pupils, directed toward
one or more pupils that has or can be reasonably predicted to have
one or more specified effects.
This bill would include knowingly and without consent credibly
impersonating, another person, as specified, as an act for which a
pupil may be suspended or expelled from school. The bill would
require a pupil who engages in this impersonation conduct to attend a
diversion class with his or her parents or legal guardian. The bill
also would prohibit a pupil who successfully completes the diversion
class from being suspended or recommended for expulsion.
This bill would identify specific conduct that would constitute a
post on a social network Internet Web site, including posting to or
creating a burn page, as defined, creating a credible impersonation
of a person, as defined, and creating a false profile, as defined.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 48900 of the Education Code, as amended by
Section 6 of Chapter 732 of the Statutes of 2011, is amended to read:
48900. A pupil shall not be suspended from school or recommended
for expulsion, unless the superintendent or the principal of the
school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has
committed an act as defined pursuant to any of subdivisions (a) to
(s) (r) , inclusive:
(a) (1) Caused, attempted to cause, or threatened to cause
physical injury to another person.
(2) Willfully used force or violence upon the person of another,
except in self-defense.
(b) Possessed, sold, or otherwise furnished a firearm, knife,
explosive, or other dangerous object, unless, in the case of
possession of an object of this type, the pupil had obtained written
permission to possess the item from a certificated school employee,
which is concurred in by the principal or the designee of the
principal.
(c) Unlawfully possessed, used, sold, or otherwise furnished, or
been under the influence of, a controlled substance listed in Chapter
2 (commencing with Section 11053) of Division 10 of the Health and
Safety Code, an alcoholic beverage, or an intoxicant of any kind.
(d) Unlawfully offered, arranged, or negotiated to sell a
controlled substance listed in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section
11053) of Division 10 of the Health and Safety Code, an alcoholic
beverage, or an intoxicant of any kind, and either sold, delivered,
or otherwise furnished to a person another liquid, substance, or
material and represented the liquid, substance, or material as a
controlled substance, alcoholic beverage, or intoxicant.
(e) Committed or attempted to commit robbery or extortion.
(f) Caused or attempted to cause damage to school property or
private property.
(g) Stolen or attempted to steal school property or private
property.
(h) Possessed or used tobacco, or products containing tobacco or
nicotine products, including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars,
miniature cigars, clove cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, snuff, chew
packets, and betel. However, this section does not prohibit use or
possession by a pupil of his or her own prescription products.
(i) Committed an obscene act or engaged in habitual profanity or
vulgarity.
(j) Unlawfully possessed or unlawfully offered, arranged, or
negotiated to sell drug paraphernalia, as defined in Section 11014.5
of the Health and Safety Code.
(k) Disrupted school activities or otherwise willfully defied the
valid authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school
officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of
their duties.
(l) Knowingly received stolen school property or private property.
(m) Possessed an imitation firearm. As used in this section,
"imitation firearm" means a replica of a firearm that is so
substantially similar in physical properties to an existing firearm
as to lead a reasonable person to conclude that the replica is a
firearm.
(n) Committed or attempted to commit a sexual assault as defined
in Section 261, 266c, 286, 288, 288a, or 289 of the Penal Code or
committed a sexual battery as defined in Section 243.4 of the Penal
Code.
(o) Harassed, threatened, or intimidated a pupil who is a
complaining witness or a witness in a school disciplinary proceeding
for the purpose of either preventing that pupil from being a witness
or retaliating against that pupil for being a witness, or both.
(p) Unlawfully offered, arranged to sell, negotiated to sell, or
sold the prescription drug Soma.
(q) Engaged in, or attempted to engage in, hazing. For purposes of
this subdivision, "hazing" means a method of initiation or
preinitiation into a pupil organization or body, whether or not the
organization or body is officially recognized by an educational
institution, which is likely to cause serious bodily injury or
personal degradation or disgrace resulting in physical or mental harm
to a former, current, or prospective pupil. For purposes of this
subdivision, "hazing" does not include athletic events or
school-sanctioned events.
(r) Engaged in an act of bullying. For purposes of this
subdivision, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) "Bullying" means any severe or pervasive physical or verbal
act or conduct, including communications made in writing or by means
of an electronic act, and including one or more acts committed by a
pupil or group of pupils as defined in Section 48900.2, 48900.3, or
48900.4, directed toward one or more pupils that has or can be
reasonably predicted to have the effect of one or more of the
following:
(A) Placing a reasonable pupil or pupils in fear of harm to that
pupil's or those pupils' person or property.
(B) Causing a reasonable pupil to experience a substantially
detrimental effect on his or her physical or mental health.
(C) Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial
interference with his or her academic performance.
(D) Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial
interference with his or her ability to participate in or benefit
from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.
(2) "Electronic act" means the transmission of a communication,
including, but not limited to, a message, text, sound, or image, or a
post on a social network Internet Web site, by means of an
electronic device, including, but not limited to, a telephone,
wireless telephone or other wireless communication device, computer,
or pager.
(2) "Electronic act" means the transmission, by means of an
electronic device, including, but not limited to, a telephone,
wireless telephone, or other wireless communication device, computer,
or pager, of a communication, including, but not limited to, any of
the following:
(A) A message, text, sound, or image.
(B) A post on a social network Internet Web site, including, but
not limited to:
(i) Posting to or creating a burn page. "Burn page" means an
Internet Web site created for purposes of harming, intimidating,
threatening, or defrauding another person.
(ii) Creating a credible impersonation of another actual person.
"Credible impersonation" means to knowingly and without consent
impersonate a person in a manner such that another person would
reasonably believe, or has reasonably believed, that the pupil was or
is the person who was impersonated.
(iii) Creating a false profile. "False profile" means a profile of
a fictitious person or a profile using the likeness or attributes of
an actual person other than the person who created the false
profile.
(3) "Reasonable pupil" means a pupil, including, but not limited
to, an exceptional needs pupil, who exercises average care, skill,
and judgment in conduct for a person of his or her age, or for a
person of his or her age with his or her exceptional needs.
(s) Knowingly and without consent credibly impersonates another
actual person through or on an Internet Web site or by other
electronic means for purposes of harming, intimidating, threatening,
or defrauding another person, or creates a false profile on a social
networking Internet Web site for any of those purposes. A pupil who
engages in conduct as described in this subdivision shall be required
by the school district to attend a diversion class with his or her
parents or legal guardian. Upon successful completion of the
diversion class, the pupil shall not be suspended or recommended for
expulsion. For purposes of this subdivision, the following terms have
the following meanings:
(1) "Credibly impersonates" means to impersonate a person in a
manner such that another person would reasonably believe, or
reasonably believed, that the pupil was or is the person who was
impersonated.
(2) "Electronic means" shall include opening an e-mail account or
an account or profile on a social networking Internet Web site in
another person's name.
(3) "False profile" means a profile of a fictitious person or a
profile using the likeness or attributes of an actual person other
than the person who created the false profile.
(t)
(s) A pupil shall not be suspended or expelled for any
of the acts enumerated in this section, unless that act is related to
school activity or school attendance occurring within a school under
the jurisdiction of the superintendent of the school district or
principal or occurring within any other school district. A pupil may
be suspended or expelled for acts that are enumerated in this section
and related to school activity or attendance that occur at any time,
including, but not limited to, any of the following:
(1) While on school grounds.
(2) While going to or coming from school.
(3) During the lunch period whether on or off the campus.
(4) During, or while going to or coming from, a school-sponsored
activity.
(u)
(t) A pupil who aids or abets, as defined in Section 31
of the Penal Code, the infliction or attempted infliction of
physical injury to another person may be subject to suspension, but
not expulsion, pursuant to this section, except that a pupil who has
been adjudged by a juvenile court to have committed, as an aider and
abettor, a crime of physical violence in which the victim suffered
great bodily injury or serious bodily injury shall be subject to
discipline pursuant to subdivision (a).
(v)
(u) As used in this section, "school property"
includes, but is not limited to, electronic files and databases.
(w)
(v) A superintendent of the school district or
principal may use his or her discretion to provide alternatives to
suspension or expulsion, including, but not limited to, counseling
and an anger management program, for a pupil subject to discipline
under this section.
(x)
(w) It is the intent of the Legislature that
alternatives tosuspension or expulsion be imposed against a pupil who
is truant,tardy, or otherwise absent from school activities.