BILL NUMBER: AB 2242	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Dickinson
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Alejo)
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Perea and Swanson)

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2012

   An act to amend Sections 48900, 48900.7, 48900.8, 48915, 48927,
and 49079 of, to add Section 48911.3 to, and to repeal Section
48900.4 of, the Education Code, relating to pupils.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2242, as introduced, Dickinson. Pupils: grounds for suspension
and expulsion.
   Existing law prohibits the suspension, or recommendation for
expulsion, of a pupil from school unless the superintendent or the
principal of the school determines that the pupil has committed any
of various specified acts. Existing law also authorizes the
assignment of a pupil suspended from a school to a supervised
suspension classroom under certain conditions.
   Under existing law, the acts for which a pupil may be suspended or
recommended for expulsion include, but are not limited to,
disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully defying the valid
authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school
officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of
their duties. These acts also include, for a pupil enrolled in any of
grades 4 to 12, inclusive, intentionally engaging in harassment,
threats, or intimidation, directed against school district personnel
or pupils, that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the
actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting
classwork, creating substantial disorder, and invading the rights of
either school personnel or pupils by creating an intimidating or
hostile educational environment.
   This bill would provide that the act of disrupting school
activities or otherwise willfully defying the valid authority of
supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other
school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties would
subject a pupil to in-school suspension in a supervised suspension
classroom, but not to off-campus suspension, extended suspension,
recommendation for expulsion, or expulsion.
   The bill would move the language relating to a pupil intentionally
engaging in harassment, threats, or intimidation, directed against
school district personnel or pupils, to another code section in place
of the language relating to a pupil disrupting school activities or
otherwise willfully defying valid authority. The bill would also make
conforming and nonsubstantive changes, and delete obsolete
cross-references.
   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
(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  Intentionally engaged in
harassment, threats, or intimidation, directed against school
district personnel or pupils, that is sufficiently severe or
pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected result of
creating substantial disorder, and invading the rights of either
school personnel or pupils by creating an intimidating or hostile
educational environment  .
   (  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  subdivision (k) or in
 Section 48900.2  ,   or  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.
   (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) 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.
   (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).
   (u) As used in this section, "school property" includes, but is
not limited to, electronic files and databases.
   (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.
   (w) It is the intent of the Legislature that alternatives to
suspension or expulsion be imposed against a pupil who is truant,
tardy, or otherwise absent from school activities.
  SEC. 2.  Section 48900.4 of the Education Code is repealed.

   48900.4.  In addition to the grounds specified in Sections 48900
and 48900.2, a pupil enrolled in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive,
may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the
superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is
enrolled determines that the pupil has intentionally engaged in
harassment, threats, or intimidation, directed against school
district personnel or pupils, that is sufficiently severe or
pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of
materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, and
invading the rights of either school personnel or pupils by creating
an intimidating or hostile educational environment. 
  SEC. 3.  Section 48900.7 of the Education Code is amended to read:
   48900.7.  (a) In addition to the reasons specified in Sections
48900, 48900.2,  and  48900.3,  and 48900.4,
 a pupil may be suspended from school or recommended for
expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in
which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has made
terroristic threats against school officials or school property, or
both.
   (b) For the purposes of this section, "terroristic threat" shall
include any statement, whether written or oral, by a person who
willfully threatens to commit a crime  which  
that  will result in death, great bodily injury to another
person, or property damage in excess of one thousand dollars
($1,000), with the specific intent that the statement is to be taken
as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out,
which, on its face and under the circumstances in which it is made,
is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to
convey to the person threatened, a gravity of purpose and an
immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby causes
that person reasonably to be in sustained fear for his or her own
safety or for his or her immediate family's safety, or for the
protection of school district property, or the personal property of
the person threatened or his or her immediate family.
  SEC. 4.  Section 48900.8 of the Education Code is amended to read:
   48900.8.  For purposes of notification to parents, and for the
reporting of expulsion or suspension offenses to the department, each
school district shall specifically identify, by offense committed,
in all appropriate official records of a pupil each suspension or
expulsion of that pupil for the commission of any of the offenses set
forth in Section 48900, 48900.2, 48900.3,  48900.4,
 48900.7, or 48915.
  SEC. 5.  Section 48911.3 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   48911.3.  In addition to the reasons specified in Section 48900, a
pupil may be subject to in-school suspension in a supervised
suspension classroom pursuant to Section 48911.1, and subject to
documentation or other means of correction, as described in Section
48900.5, but may not be subject to an off-campus suspension or
extended suspension, or recommended for expulsion, or expelled,
pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 48911 and Sections 48915 to
48927, inclusive, for disrupting school activities or otherwise
willfully defying the valid authority of supervisors, teachers,
administrators, school officials, or other school personnel engaged
in the performance of their duties.
  SEC. 6.  Section 48915 of the Education Code is amended to read:
   48915.  (a) Except as provided in subdivisions (c) and (e), the
principal or the superintendent of schools shall recommend the
expulsion of a pupil for any of the following acts committed at
school or at a school activity off school grounds, unless the
principal or superintendent finds that expulsion is inappropriate,
due to the particular circumstance:
   (1) Causing serious physical injury to another person, except in
self-defense.
   (2) Possession of any knife or other dangerous object of no
reasonable use to the pupil.
   (3) Unlawful possession of any controlled substance listed in
Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11053) of Division 10 of the
Health and Safety Code, except for the first offense for the
possession of not more than one avoirdupois ounce of marijuana, other
than concentrated cannabis.
   (4) Robbery or extortion.
   (5) Assault or battery, as defined in Sections 240 and 242 of the
Penal Code, upon any school employee.
   (b) Upon recommendation by the principal, superintendent of
schools, or by a hearing officer or administrative panel appointed
pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 48918, the governing board may
order a pupil expelled upon finding that the pupil committed an act
listed in subdivision (a) or in subdivision (a), (b), (c), (d), or
(e) of Section 48900. A decision to expel shall be based on a finding
of one or both 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 act, the presence of the pupil causes
a continuing danger to the physical safety of the pupil or others.
   (c) The principal or superintendent of schools shall immediately
suspend, pursuant to Section 48911, and shall recommend expulsion of
a pupil that he or she determines has committed any of the following
acts at school or at a school activity off school grounds:
   (1) Possessing, selling, or otherwise furnishing a firearm. This
subdivision does not apply to an act of possessing a firearm if the
pupil had obtained prior written permission to possess the firearm
from a certificated school employee, which is concurred in by the
principal or the designee of the principal. This subdivision applies
to an act of possessing a firearm only if the possession is verified
by an employee of a school district.
   (2) Brandishing a knife at another person.
   (3) Unlawfully selling a controlled substance listed in Chapter 2
(commencing with Section 11053) of Division 10 of the Health and
Safety Code.
   (4) Committing or attempting to commit a sexual assault as defined
in subdivision (n) of Section 48900 or committing a sexual battery
as defined in subdivision (n) of Section 48900.
   (5) Possession of an explosive.
   (d) The governing board shall order a pupil expelled upon finding
that the pupil committed an act listed in subdivision (c), and shall
refer that pupil to a program of study that meets all of the
following conditions:
   (1) Is appropriately prepared to accommodate pupils who exhibit
discipline problems.
   (2) Is not provided at a comprehensive middle, junior, or senior
high school, or at any elementary school.
   (3) Is not housed at the schoolsite attended by the pupil at the
time of suspension.
   (e) Upon recommendation by the principal, superintendent of
schools, or by a hearing officer or administrative panel appointed
pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 48918, the governing board may
order a pupil expelled upon finding that the pupil, at school or at
a school activity off of school grounds  ,  violated
subdivision (f), (g), (h), (i), (j), (k), (  l  ), or (m) of
Section 48900, or Section 48900.2  ,   or 
48900.3,  or 48900.4,  and either of the following:

   (1) That other means of correction are not feasible or have
repeatedly failed to bring about proper conduct.
   (2) That 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.
   (f) The governing board shall refer a pupil who has been expelled
pursuant to subdivision (b) or (e) to a program of study 
which   that  meets all of the conditions specified
in subdivision (d). Notwithstanding this subdivision, with respect
to a pupil expelled pursuant to subdivision (e), if the county
superintendent of schools certifies that an alternative program of
study is not available at a site away from a comprehensive middle,
junior, or senior high school, or an elementary school, and that the
only option for placement is at another comprehensive middle, junior,
or senior high school, or another elementary school, the pupil may
be referred to a program of study that is provided at a comprehensive
middle, junior, or senior high school, or at an elementary school.
   (g) As used in this section, "knife" means any dirk, dagger, or
other weapon with a fixed, sharpened blade fitted primarily for
stabbing, a weapon with a blade fitted primarily for stabbing, a
weapon with a blade longer than 31/2 inches, a folding knife with a
blade that locks into place, or a razor with an unguarded blade.
   (h) As used in this section, the term "explosive" means
"destructive device" as described in Section 921 of Title 18 of the
United States Code.
  SEC. 7.  Section 48927 of the Education Code is amended to read:
   48927.  (a) This chapter shall also apply to pupils attending the
California School for the Blind and the two California Schools for
the Deaf, which shall be referred to as the "state special schools."
   (b) Because the state special schools have a governance structure
different from that of school districts, for  the 
purposes of this section the following definitions shall apply:
   (1) "Superintendent" means the appropriate principal of the state
special school in which the pupil is enrolled, or the principal's
designee, for purposes of Sections 48900, 48900.2, 48900.3, 
48900.4,  48900.5, 48900.7, and 48911, and subdivisions (a)
and (j) of Section 48918.
   (2) "Governing board of each school district," "governing board of
any school district," or "each governing board of a school district"
means the Superintendent of Public Instruction or his or her
designee for purposes of subdivision (a) of Section 48900.1,
subdivision (b) of Section 48901, subdivision  (b) 
 (a)  of Section 48901.5, Section 48907, Section 48910, the
first paragraph of Section 48918, and the first paragraph of Section
48918.5.
   (3) "Governing board" means the Superintendent of the State
Special School in which the pupil is enrolled for purposes of Section
48912, subdivision (d) of Section 48915,  Section 48915.5,
 Section 48916, Section 48917, subdivisions (a), (c), (d),
(f), (h), (i), (j), and (k) of Section 48918, and Sections 48921,
48922, 48923, and 48924.
   (4) "Governing board" means the governing board of the district of
residence of the expelled pupil for purposes of subdivision (f) of
Section 48915 and Section 48916.1. In the case of an adult pupil
expelled from a state special school, "governing board" means the
governing board of the school district that referred the pupil to the
state special school for purposes of the code section cited in this
paragraph.
   (5) "Superintendent of schools or the governing board" means the
appropriate principal of the state special school in which the pupil
is enrolled, or the principal's designee, for the purposes of Section
48900.6.
   (6) "School district" or "district" means the state special school
in which the pupil is enrolled for purposes of Section 48900.8,
subdivision (b) of Section 48903, Section 48905, Section 48909,
Section 48914, paragraph (1) of subdivision (e) of Section 48916.1,
subdivision (c) of Section 48918.5, Section 48919, Section 48920, and
Section 48921.
   (7) "County board of education" or "county board" means the
Superintendent of Public Instruction or his or her designee for
purposes of Sections 48920, 48921, 48922, 48923, and 48924. 
   (8) "Local educational agency" includes a state special school for
purposes of Section 48902 and Section 48915.5.  
   (9) "A change in placement" for purposes of paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a) of Section 48915.5 means a referral by the state
special school to the pupil's school district of residence for
placement in an appropriate interim alternative educational setting.
 
   (10) "Individualized education program team" means the
individualized education program team of the pupil's school district
of residence with appropriate representation from the state special
school in which the pupil is enrolled for purposes of subdivision (a)
of Section 48915.5.2.  
   (11) "Individualized education program team" means the
individualized education program team of the state special school in
which the pupil is enrolled with appropriate representation from the
pupil's school district of residence for purposes of subdivisions
(b), (c), and (d) of Section 48915.5.3. 
   (c) Subdivision (b) of this section shall be deemed to provide the
same due process procedural protections to pupils in the state
special schools as afforded to pupils in the public school districts
of the state.
  SEC. 8.  Section 49079 of the Education Code is amended to read:
   49079.  (a) A school district shall inform the teacher of each
pupil who has engaged in, or is reasonably suspected to have engaged
in, any of the acts described in any of the subdivisions, except
subdivision (h), of Section 48900 or in Section 48900.2, 48900.3,
 48900.4,  or 48900.7 that the pupil engaged in, or
is reasonably suspected to have engaged in, those acts. The district
shall provide the information to the teacher based upon any records
that the district maintains in its ordinary course of business, or
receives from a law enforcement agency, regarding a pupil described
in this section.
   (b) A school district, or school district officer or employee, is
not civilly or criminally liable for providing information under this
section unless it is proven that the information was false and that
the district or district officer or employee knew or should have
known that the information was false, or the information was provided
with a reckless disregard for its truth or falsity.
   (c) An officer or employee of a school district who knowingly
fails to provide information about a pupil who has engaged in, or who
is reasonably suspected to have engaged in, the acts referred to in
subdivision (a) is guilty of a misdemeanor, which is punishable by
confinement in the county jail for a period not to exceed six months,
or by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both.
   (d) For the 1994-95 school year, the information provided shall be
from the previous two school years. For the 1996-97 school year and
each school year thereafter, the information provided shall be from
the previous three school years.
   (e) Any information received by a teacher pursuant to this section
shall be received in confidence for the limited purpose for which it
was provided and shall not be further disseminated by the teacher.