BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 420| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 420 Author: Dickinson (D), et al. Amended: 6/19/13 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 7-1, 6/26/13 AYES: Liu, Block, Correa, Hancock, Hueso, Monning, Torres NOES: Huff NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-23, 5/30/13 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Pupil discipline: suspensions: willful defiance SOURCE : ACLU Brothers, Sons, Selves Children Now Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Public Counsel DIGEST : This bill eliminates the option to suspend or recommend for expulsion a pupil who disrupted school activities or otherwise willfully defied the authority of school officials and instead authorizes schools to suspend a pupil in grades 6-12 who has substantially disrupted school activities or substantially prevented instruction from occurring, as specified. Also, states the intent of the Legislature to address the disproportionate suspension of particular pupil subgroups and encourage schools to prioritize and use alternate means of correction, as specified. CONTINUED AB 420 Page 2 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. 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 supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties. 9.Engaged in an act of bullying. Pupils may be suspended for a first offense if the school principal determines that the pupil committed certain acts or that a pupil's presence causes a danger to persons or property or threatens to disrupt the instructional process or the pupil committed certain acts. CONTINUED AB 420 Page 3 Subjective decision to expel Schools may expel pupils for various offenses, including disruption and defiance, 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. Prior to suspension Existing law states that suspension shall be imposed only when other means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct. 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. Decision to suspend The governing board of a school district (GBSD) is required, unless a request has been made to the contrary, to hold closed sessions if the GBSD 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. 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. CONTINUED AB 420 Page 4 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. 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. Teachers may suspend pupils from class for the day and the 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. Schools are authorized to require a pupil to perform community service as part of or instead of suspension or expulsion for most offenses. Missed assignments CONTINUED AB 420 Page 5 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. Number of days of suspension The number of days that a pupil may be suspended from school is capped at five consecutive schooldays. 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. 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. Length of expulsion GBSD 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 to a school within the district or the school the pupil last attended. 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. CONTINUED AB 420 Page 6 This bill eliminates the option to suspend or recommend for expulsion a pupil who disrupted school activities or otherwise willfully defied the authority of school officials and instead authorizes schools to suspend a pupil in grades 6-12 who has substantially disrupted school activities or substantially prevented instruction from occurring. Specifically, this bill: 1.Eliminates the option to suspend or recommend for expulsion a pupil who 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. 2.Authorizes schools to suspend a pupil in grades 6-12 who has substantially disrupted school activities or substantially prevented instruction from occurring. 3.Limits the authority to suspend a pupil for substantially disrupting school activities or substantially preventing instruction from occurring to the third or more offense in a school year, and only if the pupil's parent, guardian or educational rights holder has been informed that other means of correction were attempted before the recommendation to suspend. 4.Prohibits a pupil from being recommended for expulsion for substantial disruption of school activities or substantial prevention of instruction from occurring. 5.Specifically authorizes teachers to continue to suspend from class for up to 2 days a pupil in any grade who disrupts school activities or otherwise willfully defies the valid authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties. 6.States it is the intent of the Legislature to address the disproportionate suspension of particular pupil subgroups, and to encourage schools to prioritize and use alternative means of correction such as participation in a restorative justice program or a positive behavior support system with tiered interventions to improve educational outcomes for children. Comments CONTINUED AB 420 Page 7 According to the author, "Existing law provides that students can be suspended or recommended for expulsion from a school district for willful defiance, defined simply as: disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully defying the valid authority of school staff. Without regard to the severity, under this highly subjective category, students can be suspended or expelled from the entire district and denied valuable instructional time for any disruptive or defiant behavior including failing to turn in homework, not paying attention, or refusing to follow directions. California has one of the highest rates of suspension in the nation, with more than 700,000 recorded suspensions in 2010-11. Nationally, nearly 43% of all out-of-school suspensions are for insubordination, whereas only .7% are for use or possession of a firearm or explosive. According to unofficial data obtained from the California Department of Education, it is estimated that "willful defiance" was identified as the most "severe" grounds for 42% of all suspensions in 2010-11. Under this highly subjective category, students are sent home, too often to an empty home, with no supervision, and denied valuable instructional time for anything from failing to turn in homework, not paying attention, or refusing to follow directions, taking off a coat or hat, or swearing in class. They can also be potentially expelled from a district for such offenses." Prior Legislation AB 2242 (Dickinson, 2012) would have prohibited pupils who are found to have disrupted school activities or otherwise willfully defied the authority of school officials from being subject to extended suspension, or recommended for expulsion. AB 2242 was vetoed by the Governor Brown, whose veto message read: I cannot support limiting the authority of local school leaders, especially at a time when budget cuts have greatly increased class sizes and reduced the number of school personnel. It is important that teachers and school officials retain broad discretion to manage and set the tone in the classroom. The principle of subsidiarity calls for greater, not less, deference to our elected school boards which are directly CONTINUED AB 420 Page 8 accountable to the citizenry. SB 1235 (Steinberg, 2012) would have encouraged schools that have suspended more than 25% of the school's enrollment or more than 25% of any numerically significant racial or ethnic subgroup of the school's enrollment in the prior school year to implement, for at least three years, at least one specified strategies to reduce the suspension rate or disproportionality. SB 1235 was vetoed by the Governor Brown, whose veto message read: This bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction each year to compile a list of schools which suspend too high a percentage of their students and then invite districts that have such schools to attend meetings to discuss the problem. My preference is to leave the matter of student suspension to local school boards and the citizens who elect them. I understand the author's concern, which is why I have signed a number of other bills aimed at reducing the number of student suspensions and expulsions. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 8/6/13) ACLU (co-source) Brothers, Sons, Selves (co-source) Children Now (co-source) Fight Crime: Invest in Kids (co-source) Public Counsel (co-source) Advancement Project Alameda Unified School District American Academy of Pediatrics Attendance Works Black Organizing Project Black Parallel School Board Brotherhood Crusade Cadre California Alliance of African American Educators California Black Health Network CONTINUED AB 420 Page 9 California Correctional Peace Officers Association California Mental Health Directors Association California National Organization for Women California School Health Centers Association California State PTA Californians for Justice Child Care Results Children's Defense Fund - California Colibri Law Group Community Asset Development Re-defining Education Community Coalition Community Works Developmental Disabilities Area Board 10 Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund Disability Rights Legal Center East Bay Children's Law Offices Equality California Families In Schools First 5 Fresno County Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange County Gay-Straight Alliance Network George Stafford and Associates Growing up in Santa Cruz Homeboy Industries Inner City Struggle Intercity Struggle Issokson and Associates Khmer Girls in Action Labor/Community Strategy Center LAUSD Board President, Monica Garcia Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Legal Advocates for Children and Youth Legal Services for Children Liberty Hill Foundation Los Angeles Trust for Children's Health Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District Board President, Monica Garcia MALDEF MarinKids Mental Health Advocacy Services Mills Legal Clinic Mission Readiness National Lawyers Guild of Sacramento CONTINUED AB 420 Page 10 Nutritionally for You Pacific Community Solutions, Inc. PACT LA Positive Alternative Choice Today Peace Over Violence PICO California Policy Link Public Counsel Respect Institute Restorative Schools Vision Project San Francisco Unified School District San Mateo County Office of Education State Council on Developmental Disabilities The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy California Collaboration The Center of Orange County The Children's Movement Fresno The Children's Movement of California The Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles University of California Student Association Vallejo Unified School District Valley LEAP Weingart East Los Angeles YMCA Western Center on Law and Poverty Youth and Education Law Project Youth Law Center Youth Leadership Institute OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/5/13) Association of California School Administrators California Federation of Teachers Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association Small School Districts Association ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Supporters of this bill maintain that to limit the use of suspension and expulsion for acts of disruption and defiance encourages other means of correction as the preferred remedy for such acts by only allowing high school students to be suspended on these grounds, only permitting such suspensions after multiple offenses, and removing the ability to expel students for such acts. ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Opponents argue that this bill "restricts a district from suspending or expelling a student in grades Kindergarten to Grade 5 for acts of will defiance. CONTINUED AB 420 Page 11 Suspension for willful defiance for students in grades 6 through 12 could only occur after the third documented offense provided specified alternative corrective measures were attempted and documented." ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-23, 5/30/13 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hall, Roger Hernández, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal, Mitchell, Mullin, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NOES: Allen, Bigelow, Conway, Dahle, Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Jones, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez, Morrell, Muratsuchi, Patterson, Salas, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk NO VOTE RECORDED: Fox, Holden, Medina, Pan, Vacancy PQ:nl:d 8/8/13 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED