BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 2276
AUTHOR: Bocanegra
AMENDED: June 17, 2014
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 25, 2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lenin Del Castillo
SUBJECT : Juvenile court schools.
SUMMARY
This bill makes various changes regarding the transfer of
pupils from juvenile court schools to district schools.
BACKGROUND
Current law:
1) Provides that public school or classes in any
juvenile hall or home, day center, juvenile ranch or
camp, regional youth educational facility, or Orange
County youth correctional center, or in any group home
housing 25 or more children and operating one or more
additional sites under a central administration, with
acceptable school structures at one or more centrally
located sites to serve the single or composite
populations of juvenile court school pupils shall be
known as juvenile court schools.
(EC § 48645.1)
2) Requires the county board of education to provide
for the administration and operation of juvenile court
schools by the county superintendent of schools or by
contract with the respective governing boards of the
elementary, high school, or unified school district in
which the juvenile court school is located.
(EC § 48645.2)
3) Specifies that juvenile court schools shall be
conducted in a manner prescribed by the county board
of education and requires the schooldays to be 240
minutes. (EC § 48645.3)
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4) Prohibits a pupil from being denied enrollment or
readmission to a public school solely on the basis
that he or she has had contact with the juvenile
justice system, including arrest, adjudication by a
juvenile court, formal or informal supervision by a
probation officer, or detention in a juvenile facility
or enrollment in a juvenile court school. (EC §
48645.5)
5) 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. (EC § 48900)
6) Provides that the governing board of the school
district, at the time expulsion is ordered, must
ensure that an educational program is provided to the
pupil. The district or county program (community day
schools or community schools, respectively) is the
only program required to be provided to expelled
pupils. Each school district governing board may
determine to provide additional programmatic options.
(EC § 48916.1)
7) Requires that pupils expelled from school for
serious offenses such as possessing a firearm,
brandishing a knife, causing serious physical injury,
selling a controlled substance or committing a sexual
assault, are prohibited from enrolling in any school
other than a community school, community day school,
or juvenile court school. (EC § 48915.2)
8) Allows the governing board of a school district to
establish one or more community day schools to serve
pupils who have been expelled for any reason, or
referred by probation or a school attendance review
board.
(EC § 48660 & § 48662)
9) Authorizes a county board of education to maintain
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one or more community schools to serve pupils who have
been expelled, referred by probation or an attendance
review board, or are homeless. (EC § 1980 et. seq.)
10) Establishes juvenile court schools as public
schools or classes operated by the county
superintendent of schools in juvenile halls, homes,
day centers, ranches, camps, and youth correctional
facilities. (EC § 48645.1 & § 48645.2)
ANALYSIS
This bill:
1) Requires that pursuant to an existing provision of
law, as specified, a pupil who has had contact with
the juvenile justice system shall be immediately
enrolled in a public school.
2) Provides that local educational agencies are
strongly encouraged to enter into memoranda of
understanding and create joint policies, systems,
including data sharing systems, transition centers,
and other joint structures that will allow for the
immediate transfer of educational records, create
uniform systems for calculating and awarding course
credit, and allow for the immediate enrollment of
pupils transferring from juvenile court schools.
3) Provides that the county office of education and
county probation department shall have a joint
transition planning policy that includes collaboration
with relevant local educational agencies to improve
communication regarding dates of release and the
educational needs of pupils who have had contact with
the juvenile justice system; to coordinate immediate
school placement and enrollment; and to ensure that
probation officers in the community have the
information they need to support the return of pupils
who are being transferred from juvenile court schools
to public schools in their communities.
4) Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction
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and the Board of State and Community Corrections to
convene a statewide group with stakeholders from the
community, advocacy organizations, and education and
probation department leaders to develop a model and
study existing successful county programs and policies
for the immediate transfer of educational records,
uniform systems for calculating and awarding credits,
transition planning, and the immediate enrollment of
pupils who are being transferred from juvenile court
schools.
5) Requires the statewide group to report its findings
and provide recommendations for state action to the
Legislature and appropriate policy committees on or
before January 1, 2016.
6) Makes various findings and declarations, including:
the mobility of pupils in foster care often disrupts
their educational experience; pupils who have had
contact with the juvenile justice system are often
denied credit or partial credit earned during
enrollment in juvenile court schools; and delays in
school enrollment and loss of earned credit can result
in improper class or school placement, denial of
special education services, and school dropout.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author, "the
reintegration, or transition, of youth from the
juvenile justice system into the community is perhaps
the most critical component of correctional education
programming. Research clearly indicates that school
engagement reduces recidivism and that if a pupil does
not successfully transition back into their local
school they will likely reoffend and return to
confinement. Thus, a youth's transition from a
juvenile court school to the local school actually
offers the community a distinct opportunity to
reengage that youth and get them back on track to
graduate high school. Despite the importance of the
reintegration process, it is frequently neglected;
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very little is currently done to effectively
facilitate this transition." This bill is intended to
ensure the successful educational transition of
justice-involved youth.
2) Readmission. A governing board is required to readmit
the pupil following completion of the readmission
process, unless the governing board makes a finding
that the pupil has not met the conditions of the
rehabilitation plan or continues to pose a danger to
campus safety or to other pupils and school staff. If
the governing board decides to deny readmission of an
expelled pupil, the governing board is required to
determine either to continue the placement of the
pupil in the alternative educational program initially
selected for the pupil or to place the pupil in
another program that may include placement in a county
community school. For most acts committed by a pupil,
the date of the evaluation for readmission must be set
no later than the last day of the semester following
the semester in which the expulsion occurred. Pupils
who commit one of the zero tolerance acts are expelled
for a year and will not be evaluated for readmission
until a year after the date of expulsion.
By requiring transition policies for those students
that have had contact with the juvenile justice
system, this bill is consistent with a number of
pieces of recent legislation attempting to keep or
return pupils to school. Studies have shown that once
a pupil exits the school system, he or she is at much
greater risk of dropping out of school, entering the
juvenile justice system, and committing crimes. Many
of the letters in support of the bill stress the
challenges they have experienced attempting to help
kids stabilize their lives by re-enrolling in school.
These may not be the kids who have been expelled from
school, but kids who got into trouble, were arrested,
and entered the juvenile justice system.
3) Report on youth in juvenile justice system . A 2010
report by the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at
Georgetown University titled "Addressing the Unmet
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Educational Needs of Children and Youth in the
Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Systems" identified
an estimated 1.6 million youth who are referred to
juvenile court per year in the nation. According to
the report, of those, approximately 24 percent are
charged with offenses against another person(s), 39
percent are charged with property offenses, 12 percent
involve drug-related offenses, and 25 percent involve
public order offenses. The report found that youth
who enter the juvenile justice system are often from
low-income families, have learning disabilities, have
substance abuse issues, or have experienced physical
or emotional abuse. The researchers found that
"reenrollment of youth in schools following discharge
from a juvenile correctional facility has been a
perennial challenge as schools and school districts
have resisted reenrollment of formerly incarcerated
youth." Data from the statewide summary of the report
on the number of pupils served with federal Title I
funds shows that, in the 2009-10 school year, 13,693
of the 56,492 pupils served in juvenile detention
enrolled in a comprehensive public school within 30
days of exiting a juvenile court school. Youth Law
Center, one of the co-sponsors of the bill, states
that most youth who has been involved in the juvenile
justice system want to return to school upon release.
4) Related legislation .
SB 1111 (Lara) would amend the process for referrals
to a county community school and also establish the
right of a student to reenroll in his or her former
school or another school upon completion of the term
of involuntary transfer to a county community school.
This measure is pending before the Assembly Education
Committee.
SB 744 (Lara), introduced in 2013, was substantially
similar to SB 1111 and vetoed by the Governor with the
following message:
"This bill imposes new and rather specific
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requirements on the way local schools handle
disruptive students.
The recently enacted Local Control Funding
Formula has created a new regime of greater
equity and increased accountability at the local
level. I'm putting my trust in the skill and good
faith of local educators to manage the issues
that are the subject of this bill in a caring and
responsible way."
Chapter 381, Statutes of 2012 (SB 1088, Price),
similar to this bill, made changes regarding the
transfer of pupils from juvenile court schools to
district schools, specifically the prohibition against
denying a pupil from being enrolled or readmitted to a
public school solely on the basis that he or she has
had contact with the juvenile justice system.
SUPPORT
Advancement Project
American Civil Liberties Union
California Alliance for Youth and Community Justice
Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
Children's Defense Fund-California
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California
Gay-Straight Alliance Network
Labor/Community Strategy Center's Community Rights Campaign
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Los Angeles Unified School District
National Center for Youth Law
Public Counsel
Youth Justice Coalition
Youth Law Center
OPPOSITION
None on file.
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