BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2537|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2537
Author: V. Manuel Pérez (D)
Amended: 8/7/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 7-1, 7/3/12
AYES: Lowenthal, Alquist, Hancock, Liu, Price, Simitian,
Vargas
NOES: Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Blakeslee, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 50-24, 5/31/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Pupil suspensions and expulsions
SOURCE : ACLU
PolicyLink
Public Counsel
DIGEST : This bill grants discretion to school principals
to make a determination of the appropriateness of the
expulsion of a pupil who possesses an imitation firearm, as
defined, and makes other changes relative to mandatory
expulsion provisions.
ANALYSIS : Existing law 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. (Education Code (ED) Section
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48900)
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.) (ED
Section 48915))
2. Being under the influence of a controlled substance.
(Expulsion must be recommended for possession or the
sale of controlled substances.) (ED Section 48915)
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.
9. Engaged in an act of bullying. (ED Sections 48900,
48900.2, 48900.3, 48900.4, 48900.7)
Pupils may be suspended for a first offense if the school
principal determines that the pupil committed certain acts
or that pupil's presence causes a danger to persons or
property or threatens to disrupt the instructional process
or the pupil committed certain acts. (ED Section 48900.5)
Subjective decision expel . School may expel pupils for
various offenses, including disruption and defiance, upon
finding either of the following:
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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. (ED Section 48915(e))
Mandatory suspension and recommended 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. (ED Section 48915(c))
Prior to suspension . Existing law states that suspension
shall be imposed only when other means of correction fail
to bring about proper conduct. (ED Section 48900.5)
Suspension by the principal must be preceded by an informal
conference between the principal, pupil and whenever
practicable, the teacher, supervisor or school employee who
referred the pupil to the principal. School principals may
suspend a pupil without first holding an informal
conference with the pupil if an emergency situation exists.
A school employee is required to make a reasonable effort
to contact the pupil's parents at the time of suspension;
however, whenever a pupil is suspended from school (as
opposed to suspension from a class) the parent must be
notified in writing. (ED Section 48911)
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
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(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. (ED Section 48912)
Alternatives to out-of-school suspension . School district
superintendents and school principals are authorized to use
discretion to provide alternatives to suspension or
expulsion, including counseling and an anger management
program. (ED Section 48900(v))
School principals are authorized to assign a suspended
pupil to a supervised suspension classroom for the entire
period of suspension if the pupil poses no imminent danger
or threat to the campus, pupils, or staff, or if an action
to expel the pupil has not been initiated. (ED Section
48911.1)
Existing law states that schools should consider
implementing at least one of the following if the number of
pupils suspended during the prior school year exceeded 30%
of the school's enrollment:
1. A supervised suspension program.
2. A progressive discipline approach during the schoolday
on campus (as an alternative to off-campus suspension),
using any of the following activities:
A. Conferences between the school staff, parents and
pupils.
B. Referral to the school counselor, psychologist,
child welfare attendance personnel, or other school
support service staff.
C. Detention.
D. Study teams, guidance teams, resource panel teams,
or other assessment-related teams. (ED Section
48911.2)
Teachers may suspend pupils from class for the day and the
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following day. If the pupil is to remain on campus during
that suspension, the pupil must be under appropriate
supervision. Teachers must ask the parent to attend a
parent-teacher conference regarding the suspension. Pupils
are prohibited from returning to the class from which he or
she was suspended, during the period of the suspension,
without the concurrence of the teacher and principal. (ED
Section 48910)
Schools are authorized to require a pupil to perform
community service as part of or instead of suspension or
expulsion for most offenses. (ED Section 48900.6)
Missed assignments . The teacher of any class from which a
pupil is suspended is authorized to require the pupil to
complete any assignments and tests missed during the
suspension. (ED Section 48913)
Number of days of suspension . The number of days that a
pupil may be suspended from school is capped at five
consecutive schooldays. (ED Section 48911)
With some exception, the total number of days for which a
pupil may be suspended is capped at 20 schooldays per
school year, unless the pupil enrolls in or is transferred
to another regular school, an opportunity school or a
continuation school, in which case the cap is 30 schooldays
per school year. School districts are authorized to count
suspensions that occur while a pupil is enrolled in another
school district toward the maximum numbers of days for
which a pupil may be suspended in any school year. (ED
Section 48903)
In cases where expulsion from any school or suspension for
the remainder of the semester from continuation schools is
being processed by a school district, the district
superintendent may extend the suspension until the
governing board has rendered a decision. (ED Section
48911(g))
Length of expulsion . School district governing boards are
required to set a date, not later than the last day of the
semester following the semester in which the expulsion
occurred, when the pupil shall be reviewed for readmission
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to a school within the district or the school the pupil
last attended. (ED Section 48916(a))
School district governing boards are required to set a date
of one year from the date the expulsion occurred for a
pupil who has been expelled for:
1. Possessing, selling, or furnishing a firearm.
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. (ED Section 48916(a))
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,
a functional analysis is then amended to include a behavior
intervention plan. (ED Sections 48915.5, 56523, and
California Code of Regulations Title 5, Section 3052)
This bill grants discretion to school principals to make a
determination of the appropriateness of the expulsion of a
pupil who possesses an imitation firearm, as defined, and
makes other changes relative to mandatory expulsion
provisions.
Comments
Discretion . Existing law requires a school principal to
immediately suspend and recommend the expulsion of a pupil
who sold a controlled substance, and requires the governing
board of the school district to order the pupil expelled.
This bill allows school principals to use discretion to
determine whether to recommend the expulsion, but does not
grant discretion to the school board; if the principal
determines expulsion is appropriate and recommends
expulsion to the school board, the school board must order
the pupil to be expelled.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/8/12)
ACLI (co-source)
PolicyLink (co-source)
Public Counsel (co-source)
Black Organizing Project
Black Parallel School Board
California Association for Parent-Child Advocacy
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
California State Conference of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People
Children's Defense Fund - California
Community Asset Development Re-Defining Education
Community Coalition
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
Disability Rights Legal Center
Gay-Straight Alliance Network
Labor/Community Strategy Center
Legal Advocates for Children and Youth
Legal Services for Children
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Mills Legal Clinic - Youth and Education Law Project
National Center for Youth Law
Northern California Association of Counsel for Children
Restorative Schools Vision Project
The Advancement Project
Youth and Education Law Project, Mills Legal Clinic
Youth Justice Coalition
Youth Law Center
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "Since
the passage of mandatory or 'zero tolerance' provisions for
some offenses in California law more than a decade ago, a
number of students have been expelled or forced through the
costly expulsion process and denied access to school
instruction and their school district, even where under the
circumstances of the case the school administrator may have
believed that another punishment could have better
addressed the issue or that the facts of the case did not
warrant the most extreme punishment, expulsion. For
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example, in a well-publicized case, a young Latino girl in
Los Angeles with straight As who had no prior history of
discipline problems accidentally brought the boxcutter she
used at her night job to school and was expelled by her
district because the act fell under the mandatory expulsion
section in the code."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 50-24, 5/31/12
AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan,
Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo,
Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes,
Furutani, Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Hall, Hayashi, Roger
Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel
Pérez, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Wieckowski,
Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly,
Beth Gaines, Garrick, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Harkey,
Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Miller, Morrell,
Nestande, Nielsen, Olsen, Portantino, Silva, Smyth,
Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Fletcher, Halderman, Mansoor, Mendoza,
Norby, Valadao
PQ:k 8/8/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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