BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1909| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1909 Author: Ammiano (D), et al. Amended: 7/6/12 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/20/12 AYES: Lowenthal, Alquist, Blakeslee, Hancock, Huff, Liu, Price, Simitian, Vargas NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Vacancy SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 6-0, 7/2/12 AYES: Liu, Berryhill, Hancock, Strickland, Wright, Yee NO VOTE RECORDED: Emmerson ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/29/12 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Foster children: placement: suspension and expulsion: notification SOURCE : Legal Advocates for Children Public Counsel Law Center DIGEST : This bill requires schools to notify a foster youths attorney and representative of the county child welfare agency of pending expulsion or other disciplinary proceedings. ANALYSIS : CONTINUED AB 1909 Page 2 Existing law: 1. Requires each school district to designate a staff person as the educational liaison for foster children. The educational liaison is required to, among other things, ensure and facilitate proper educational placement, enrollment in school and checkout from school, and assist foster children when transferring schools in ensuring proper transfer of credits, records and grades. 2. Prohibits a pupil from being suspended or recommended for expulsion unless the principal of the school determines that the pupil has committed certain acts, and gives schools the discretion to take action for most offenses. Discretion to suspend . Schools may suspend a pupil for violating any number of acts, some of which include: 1. Attempting to cause or threatening to cause physical injury to another person. (Expulsion must be recommended for causing serious physical injury.) 2. Being under the influence of a controlled substance. (Expulsion must be recommended for possession or the sale of controlled substances.) 3. Caused or attempted to cause damage to school property. 4. Possessed or used tobacco. 5. Committed an obscene act or engaged in habitual profanity or vulgarity. 6. Possessed, offered, arranged or negotiated to sell drug paraphernalia. 7. Engaged in, or attempted to engage in, hazing. 8. Disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully defying the valid authority of supervisor, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties. CONTINUED AB 1909 Page 3 9. Engaged in an act of bullying. Pupils may be suspended for a first offense if the school principal determines that the pupil's presence causes a danger to persons or property or threatens to disrupt the instructional process or the pupil committed certain acts. Subjective decision . School may expel pupils for various offenses upon finding either of the following: 1. Other means of correction are not feasible or have repeatedly failed to bring about proper conduct. 2. Due to the nature of the violation, the presence of the pupil causes a continuing danger to the physical safety of the pupil or others. Mandatory suspension and recommendation for expulsion . School principals are required to immediately suspend, and recommend expulsion of, a pupil who has committed any of the following acts at school or a school activity off school grounds: 1. Possessing, selling, or furnishing a firearm. (This is consistent with the federal Gun-Free Schools Act.) 2. Brandishing a knife at another person. 3. Unlawfully selling a controlled substance. 4. Committing or attempting to commit a sexual assault. 5. Possession of an explosive. Pupils with exceptional needs . Schools are authorized to suspend or expel an individual with exceptional needs in accordance with federal law. If a pupil with an individualized education program (IEP) exhibits behavior problems, the IEP team must make a determination if the behavior is a manifestation of the disability and whether the strategies in the IEP are effective to address the behavior. If it is determined that the IEP is ineffective, CONTINUED AB 1909 Page 4 a functional analysis assessment must be conducted, and typically the IEP is then amended to include a behavior intervention plan. Decision to suspend . The governing board of a school district is required, unless a request has been made to the contrary, to hold closed sessions if the board is considering suspending or taking other disciplinary action (other than expulsion) if a public hearing would lead to the release of confidential information. School districts are required to notify, in writing, the pupil and the pupil's parent of the intent to call and hold a closed session. Expulsion hearing . Pupils are entitled to a hearing to determine whether the pupil should be expelled. The expulsion hearing must be held within 30 schooldays after the date the principal or superintendent determines that the pupil has committed acts that could warrant expulsion. Schools are required to send written notice of an expulsion hearing to the pupil and parent at least 10 calendar days prior to the date of the expulsion hearing. The notice must include, among other things, the following information: 1. Date and place of the hearing. 2. Statement of the specific facts and charges upon which the proposed expulsion is based. 3. A copy of the disciplinary rules of the district that related to the alleged violation. 4. The opportunity for the pupil or the pupil's parent to appear in person or to be represented by legal counsel or by a non-attorney adviser. Foster youth . Existing law requires the court to appoint counsel for a child who is not represented by counsel unless the court finds that the child would not benefit from the appointment of counsel. The counsel may be a district attorney, public defender, or other member of the CONTINUED AB 1909 Page 5 bar provided that he or she does not represent another party or county agency whose interest conflict with the child's interests. The primary responsibility of counsel is to advocate for the protection, safety and physical and emotional well-being of the foster child. The case plan for each child placed in foster care must contain a summary of health and education information or records of the child, including, among other things, the names and addresses of the child's health, dental, and education providers. This bill requires schools to notify a foster youth's attorney and representative of the county child welfare agency (typically the foster youth's social worker) of pending expulsion or other disciplinary proceedings. Specifically, this bill: 1. Requires the educational liaison, or another employee designated by the superintendent of the school district, to notify a foster child's attorney and the appropriate representative of the county child welfare agency, of pending expulsion proceedings, pending proceedings to extend a suspension, and if the child is an individual with exceptional needs, pending manifestation determinations. 2. Authorizes school districts to provide written notice of an expulsion hearing, if the decision to recommend expulsion is mandatory and the pupil is a foster child, to the pupil's attorney and an appropriate representative of the county child welfare agency at least 10 calendar days before the date of the hearing. 3. Requires the counsel for a foster youth, if the list of educational liaisons is available on the website of the California Department of Education, to provide, on at least an annual basis, his/her contact information to the educational liaisons of each school district serving his/her clients in the county of the court's jurisdiction. 4. Authorizes, if the council is part of a firm or organization representing foster youth, the firm or CONTINUED AB 1909 Page 6 organization to provide contact information in lieu of contact information for individual counsel. The firm or organization may designate a person or persons within the firm or organization to receive communications from educational liaisons. 5. Authorizes the notification currently required regarding foster youth placed in a licensed children's institution to include the name and contact information for a representative of the placing agency who can communicate with the child's school district and child's attorney about educational matters. 6. Authorizes the health and education summary for a foster youth to include the name and contact information for the educational liaison of the child's school district. 7. When initially placing a child into foster care or kinship care, and within 48 hours of any subsequent placement of that child, the placing agency shall provide to the child's caretaker both of the following: A. Prescribed medications for the child that is in the possession of the placing agency, with instructions for the use of the medication. B. Information regarding any treatments that are known to the placing agency and that are in effect for the child at the time of the placement, as specified. 8. States the intent of the Legislature, for purposes of implementing this bill, the notification of, and invitation to, a parent or guardian for meetings and hearings related to the discipline of the pupil also is provided to a person who holds the right to make educational decisions for a foster child, as specified. Comments Disciplinary meetings and hearings. There are many types of disciplinary meetings that take place ranging from parent-teacher-student conferences to expulsion hearings. This bill addresses expulsion hearings, extends suspension CONTINUED AB 1909 Page 7 meetings, and IEP meetings regarding a manifestation determination. Expulsion hearings : School districts are required to hold an expulsion hearing for a pupil prior to making a final decision to expel the pupil. Districts are authorized to hold these hearings in various ways; some governing boards conduct the hearings on their own, while others may appoint an impartial administrative panel of three or more certificated persons or contract with the county hearing officer or with the Office of Administrative Hearings. These hearings are closed to the public unless the pupil follows specific procedures to request otherwise. Whether the hearing is closed or open to the public, the governing board may hold a closed deliberation session during the hearing. Existing law allows for the parent or guardian, the pupil and, if the pupil has counsel, the pupil's counsel to attend the closed deliberation. The governing board, administrative panel or hearing officer must determine whether to recommend expulsion of the pupil within three schooldays after the hearing. If expulsion is recommended, the governing board's final decision must be based upon substantiated evidence of the charges made against the pupil at the expulsion hearing. Extended suspension meetings . In cases where expulsion from any school or suspension for the reminder of the semester from continuation school is being considered by a school district, the district superintendent may extend the suspension until the district board has rendered a decision. However, an extension may be granted only the superintendent determines, following a meeting with the pupil and the pupil's parent or guardian, that the presence of the pupil at the school or in an alternative school placement does not cause a danger to persons or property or a threat of disrupting the instructional process. Manifestation determination . IEP team meetings making a manifestation determination are held only for pupils with exceptional needs to determine whether the behavior leading to the pending disciplinary action was a manifestation of the pupil's disability. These meetings are required to be held for pupils with exceptional needs in compliance with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and CONTINUED AB 1909 Page 8 call for the meeting of all individuals regularly involved in the pupil's IEP team meetings, which do not specifically include a pupil's counsel or county child welfare worker. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 8/20/12) Legal Advocates for Children (co-source) Public Counsel Law Center (co-source) State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson Alameda County Foster Youth Alliance Alliance for Children's Rights American Civil Liberties Union of California Aspiranet California Alliance of Child and Family Services California Communities United Institute California Probation, Parole and Correctional Association California State Parent Teacher Association California Youth Connection California Youth Justice Coalition Center on Juvenile & Criminal Justice Chief Probation Officers of California Children's Advocacy Institute Children's Defense Fund Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund Disability Rights Legal Center Elk Grove Unified School District Foster Youth Services Fight Crime Invest in Kids California Lambda Legal Legal Services for Children Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund National Association of Social Workers National Center for Youth Law New America Foundation PolicyLink Restorative Schools Vision Project San Mateo Foster Youth Services State Bar of California, Family Law Section Youth and Education Law Project, Mills Legal Clinic ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "Foster CONTINUED AB 1909 Page 9 youth are more likely to exhibit emotional and behavioral problems than their non-foster peers, which often impact their school behavior. Children and youth in foster care receive disproportionate levels of discipline in relation to their non-foster peers and are more likely to be suspended or expelled from school. Although foster youth are more likely to have behavioral issues and receive school discipline, they do not receive the same level of adult support as their non-foster peers in disciplinary situations. Existing law requires that a parent is notified when their child faces expulsion or is subject to a manifestation determination meeting. Because foster youth often change homes and the adult responsible for the education also shifts, it is difficult for the school to identify the appropriate adult to contact if discipline problems arise. AB 1909 would close this communication gap between the school and those responsible for the foster youth's welfare." ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/29/12 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NO VOTE RECORDED: Cedillo, Fletcher, Hall PQ:d 8/20/12 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED AB 1909 Page 10 CONTINUED