BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2171
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2171 (Fong)
As Amended July 2, 2012
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |74-0 |(April 26, |SENATE: |36-0 |(July 6, 2012) |
| | |2012) | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: HIGHER ED.
SUMMARY : Authorizes the governing board of a California
Community College district (CCCD) to require a student seeking
admission to disclose his or her prior expulsion from another
CCCD and authorizes the governing board of a CCCD to deny
enrollment, permit enrollment, or permit conditional enrollment
to a student who has been expelled, or is being considered for
expulsion, from another CCCD for specified offenses within the
preceding five years. Specifically, this bill :
1)Allows a CCCD governing board to deny enrollment to an
applicant upon finding through a hearing, under rules and
regulations adopted pursuant to existing law requirements,
that the applicant has been expelled within the preceding five
years or is undergoing expulsion procedures in another CCCD,
for specified offenses, and that the applicant continues to
present a danger to the physical safety of the students and
employees of the CCCD.
2)Requires the CCCD governing board, prior to taking action to
deny or permit conditional enrollment, to hold a hearing, as
specified, to determine whether the individual poses a
continuing danger to the physical safety of the students and
employees in the district.
3)Authorizes a CCCD to request information from another CCCD to
determine whether an applicant continues to pose a danger to
the physical safety of others.
4)Requires the CCCD governing board to take into consideration
evidence of subsequent offenses and rehabilitative efforts
since the offense.
5)Authorizes a CCCD governing board to delegate authority
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granted by this act to a district superintendent, president or
other designee, or a threat assessment crisis response team,
as specified.
6)Requires the CCCD governing board to establish a formal
appeals process for students denied enrollment to appeal the
decision and grants a student who is denied enrollment the
right to appeal the decision to the district governing board.
7)Defines "offense" to mean:
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; and,
g) Possessed, sold, or otherwise furnished a firearm,
knife, explosive, or other dangerous objects.
8)Authorizes a California Community College (CCC) to require a
student seeking admission and who was expelled from a CCC in
the state for any of the specified actions to inform the
receiving CCCD of his or her prior expulsion and authorizes
the receiving CCCD to maintain written record of a student's
failure to make such disclosure and consider such failure in
determining whether to grant admission.
9)Specifies that the measure does not impose a duty to review
applicants for admission or review previously enrolled
students, whether returning or continuing, or to conduct a
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hearing in response to the receipt of any information
regarding a potential, former, or existing student.
10)Specifies that a CCCD, its governing board members, district
officers or employees, including the superintendent, a college
president, or designees of those individuals, shall not be
liable for an injury as a result of exercising discretion
pursuant to this act, including the discretion not to conduct
a hearing.
11)Prohibits the application of these provisions to students
that the CCCD has the discretion to admit, such as nonresident
and other transfer applicants, as specified.
The Senate amendments :
1)Remove the requirement that CCCDs respond to another CCCD's
request for student discipline information within a specified
time period.
2)Clarify that this bill does not apply to "discretionary admit"
students, thereby eliminating the state mandate.
3)Make technical and clarifying changes.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to the version approved by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : According to a survey of 55 CCCs provided by the
sponsor, 29 individuals in the 2007-08 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.
With very few exceptions, CCCs are required by law to admit any
California resident and do not have the authority to restrict a
student's admission based on past conduct, even if that conduct
was for serious or violent offenses while attending another
CCCD. The General Counsel for the CCC Chancellor's Office has
opined that "even if the receiving college becomes aware of the
expulsion, there is no current authority to restrict a student
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admission based on past conduct, even if that conduct occurred
at another community college district." The sponsors of this
bill contend that the inability to deny admission to students
who have previously been expelled from other CCC for committing
violent or dangerous acts poses a threat to students, faculty,
and staff. This bill provides local CCCDs with another tool to
improve safety on their campuses.
This bill does not pertain to students expelled for academic
related offenses such as plagiarism or transcript forgery. The
bill only addresses students expelled from another CCC for
specified violent or serious offenses. Under the provisions of
this bill, a student expelled from the California State
University (CSU) or the University of California (UC) for
committing these same offenses would still be eligible (as they
are today) to enroll in a CCC.
According to CSU, if a student is expelled from a CSU campus,
they are also expelled from the entire CSU system. At 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.
Analysis prepared by : Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
FN: 0004425