BILL NUMBER: SB 1235	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senators Steinberg and Price

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2012

   An act to amend Section 48911.2 of the Education Code, relating to
pupils.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1235, as introduced, Steinberg. Pupils: suspension.
   (1) 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. Existing law requires the
school district superintendent or the school principal to immediately
suspend and recommend the expulsion of a pupil who is determined to
have, at school or at a school activity off school grounds,
possessed, sold, or otherwise furnished a firearm, brandished a knife
at another person, unlawfully sold a controlled substance, committed
or attempted to commit a sexual assault or batter, as defined, or
possessed an explosive.
   Existing law states that a school should consider implementing a
supervised suspension program or an alternative to the school's
off-campus suspension program that involves a progressive discipline
approach using specified activities if the number of pupils suspended
from school during the prior school year exceeded 30% of the school'
s enrollment.
   This bill would instead require a school district, for the 2013-14
school year, to implement, for a minimum of 3 years, at a school
where the number of pupil suspensions in the prior school year
exceeded 25% of its enrollment, or a numerically significant racial
or ethnic subgroup of that enrollment, either (a) an evidence-based
system of schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports
that employs school-level information about the behavioral and
academic history of pupils to define and implement systems of support
and interventions at the school, classroom, and individual levels
that is aimed at improving the social, emotional, and academic
success for all pupils, or (b) other schoolwide strategies that are
evidence based and designed to address school climate in order to
create learning environments where teachers can teach and pupils can
learn and to reduce suspensions from classrooms and the school.
Commencing with the 2014-15 school year, the bill would decrease by
2% each year the percentage of enrollment or significant subgroup of
enrollment required to trigger this requirement until it is 15%. By
requiring a school district to implement one of these strategies, the
bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
   The bill would authorize the State Department of Education to
provide school district information regarding schoolwide
evidence-based strategies that could be implemented.
   The bill would require a school at which one of the strategies is
implemented to report to the school district on the rate of reduction
in the school's suspensions and the strategy used to address the
matter.
   (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 48911.2 of the Education Code is amended to
read:
   48911.2.  (a)  If   For the 2013-14 school
year,  the number of pupils suspended from school during the
prior school year exceeded  30   25 
percent of the school's enrollment  or of any numerically
significant racial or ethnic subgroup of the school's enrollment
 , the school  should consider doing at least one of the
following   district shall implement, for a minimum of
three years, at least one of the following strategies at the school
for the purpose of reducing the suspension rate or disproportionality
 : 
   (1) Implement the supervised suspension program described in
Section 48911.1.  
   (2) Implement an alternative to the school's off-campus suspension
program, which involves a progressive discipline approach that
occurs during the schoolday on campus, 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.  
   (1) An evidence-based system of schoolwide positive behavioral
interventions and supports that employs school-level information
about the behavioral and academic history of pupils to define and
implement systems of support and interventions at the school,
classroom, and individual levels that is aimed at improving the
social, emotional, and academic success for all pupils.  
   (2) Other schoolwide strategies that are evidence based and
designed to address school climate in order to create learning
environments where teachers can teach and pupils can learn and to
reduce suspensions from classrooms and the school. The department may
provide information regarding additional schoolwide strategies that
meet the criteria for evidence-based strategies.  
   (b) Commencing with the 2014-15 school year, the percentage of a
school's enrollment, or of any numerically significant racial or
ethnic subgroup of a school's enrollment, whose suspension triggers
the requirements in subdivision (a) shall be reduced by 2 percent per
year until it is 15 percent.  
   (b) 
    (c)  At the end of the academic year, the school
 may   shall  report to the district
superintendent in charge of school support services, or other
comparable administrator if that position does not exist, on the rate
of reduction in the school's off-campus suspensions and the 
plan   strategies  or activities used to comply
with  subdivision (a)   subdivisions (a) and
(b). The school district shall report this information on an annual
basis at a regularly scheduled meeting of the governing board and to
the Superintendent. The Superintendent shall publish, on an annual
basis, a list of all schools that trigger the requirements in
subdivision (a) and shall include the annual rate of reduction in
each school   's out-of-school suspensions  . 
   (c) 
    (d)  It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage
 all  schools  that choose to implement this section
 to examine alternatives to off-campus suspensions that
lead to resolution of pupil misconduct without sending pupils off
campus. Schools that use  strategies described in  this
section should not be precluded from suspending pupils to an
off-campus site. 
   (e) A school district may use any appropriate state or federal
funding sources to support the evidence-based schoolwide strategies
required to be implemented at schools that meet the criteria
described in subdivisions (a) and (b). 
  SEC. 2.  If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.