BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 744|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 744
Author: Lara (D)
Amended: 5/28/13
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 7-1, 5/1/13
AYES: Liu, Block, Correa, Hancock, Hueso, Jackson, Monning
NOES: Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 5/23/13
AYES: De Le�n, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Gaines
SUBJECT : Community day schools and community schools
SOURCE : American Civil Liberties Union
Children Now
Public Counsel
Youth Justice Coalition
Youth Law Center
DIGEST : This bill requires parental consent for referrals to
a county community school or community day school by a school
attendance review board (SARB), school district, or probation
department, except for situations where a student is expelled or
pursuant to a court order. This bill also establishes the right
of a student to reenroll in his/her former school or another
school upon completion of the term of involuntary transfer to a
county community school or community day school.
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ANALYSIS : Existing law provides for various educational
options outside of a traditional comprehensive public school,
for students who are expelled from traditional schools or
referred to them by a SARB or probation officer.
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.
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.
School districts are authorized to establish one or more
community day schools to serve pupils who have been expelled for
any reason, or referred by probation or a SARB.
A county board of education is authorized to maintain one or
more community schools to serve pupils who have been expelled,
referred by probation or an attendance review board, or are
homeless.
Existing law provides that juvenile court schools are public
schools or classes operated by the county superintendent of
schools in juvenile halls, homes, day centers, ranches, camps,
and youth correctional facilities.
Existing law requires the governing board to recommend a plan of
rehabilitation for the pupil at the time of the expulsion order,
which may include periodic review as well as assessment at the
time of review for readmission. The plan may also include
recommendations for improved academic performance, tutoring,
special education assessments, job training, counseling,
employment, community service, or other programs.
Governing boards are further required to set a date, not later
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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.
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; or (5) possessing an explosive.
Existing law requires each school district to adopt rules and
regulations establishing a procedure for the filing and
processing of requests for readmission and the process for the
required review of all expelled pupils for readmission.
The governing board of a school district may permit, after the
term of expulsion, the enrollment of a pupil expelled from
another district for one of the most serious offenses if the
board determines the pupil no longer poses a threat.
The governing board of a school district that receives a request
for enrollment from a pupil who has been expelled from another
school district, for acts other than the most serious offenses,
must hold a hearing to determine whether the individual poses a
continuing danger to pupils or employees. If the board finds
the pupil does not pose a danger, the pupil must be permitted to
enroll if the pupil has established residence in the district or
enrolled pursuant to an interdistrict agreement.
Existing law prohibits a pupil from being denied enrollment or
readmission to a public school solely on the basis that he/she
has had contact with the juvenile justice system, including
arrest, adjudication by a juvenile court, supervision by a
probation officer, detention in a juvenile facility, or
enrollment in a juvenile court school.
A school district governing board, upon voting to expel a pupil,
may suspend the enforcement of the expulsion order for up to one
calendar year and may, as a condition of the suspension of the
enforcement, assign the pupil to a school, class or program that
is deemed appropriate for the rehabilitation of the pupil. Upon
satisfactory completion of the rehabilitation assignment, the
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governing board must reinstate the pupil in a school within the
district and may also order the expungement of any or all
records of the expulsion proceedings.
This bill:
1.Makes numerous changes to statute and practice governing pupil
transfers to county community schools and community day
schools by districts, SARBs, and probation officials. This
bill revises the list of pupils who may be involuntarily
enrolled in a county community school to limit the kind of
probation referrals and remove homeless children, and requires
the consent of the pupil's parent or guardian for the
enrollment of a pupil who is referred as the result of a
recommendation by a SARB.
2.Requires the student, based on the educational assessment or
rehabilitation plan of a student, to be enrolled in or have
access to programs either at the school or through community
organizations: (a) counseling; (b) mental health counseling or
other support services; (c) access to services necessary to
transition the student back to his/her prior school or to
another comprehensive school; (d) mediation, conflict
resolution, or alternative behavior interventions; and (e)
supplemental services to assist with passage of the high
school exit exam.
3.Revises the list of pupils who may be involuntarily
transferred to a community day school to limit the kind of
probation referrals. This bill allows enrollment of other
pupils in a community day school with the consent of the
pupil's parent or guardian, and under specified conditions.
This bill further provides that a pupil who is involuntarily
enrolled in a county community school or a community day
school the right to reenroll in his/her former school or
another comprehensive school immediately after being
readmitted from expulsion or court-ordered placement, as
specified. This bill prohibits additional academic or
behavioral criteria or conditions that would extend the
duration of the placement of a pupil in a county community
school or a community day school beyond the terms of the
initial or subsequent expulsion order from being added.
4.Requires, with regard to an expulsion hearing, upon the
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decision of a hearing officer or administrative panel not to
expel a student, that a student be permitted to return to the
classroom instructional program from which the expulsion
referral was made, unless the parent, guardian or responsible
adult requests another school placement in writing.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
County community and community day schools: Potentially
significant ongoing savings, to the extent that students that
would have enrolled in county community and community day
schools instead attend traditional schools.
Mandate: Individual education services - To the extent that
this bill expands a local education agency's (LEA's) role in
providing or securing services related to a pupil's
educational assessment, those additional activities may
constitute a reimbursable state mandate.
Mandate: Expulsion procedures - This bill creates a new
mandate on LEAs by changing expulsion hearing requirements.
The long-term result is likely minor ongoing savings, but
there may be one-time reimbursable costs to change LEA
process, materials and training.
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/1/13 - per Senate Education Committee
analysis) (Unable to reverify at time of writing)
American Civil Liberties Union (co-source)
Children Now (co-source)
Public Counsel (co-source)
Youth Justice Coalition (co-source)
Youth Law Center (co-source)
American GI Forum Women of California
Black Organizing Project
Brothers, Sons, Selves Coalition
California County Superintendents Educational Services
Association
Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
Children's Defense Fund-California
Community Asset Development Redefining Education
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Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California
Gay & Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange County
Gay-Straight Alliance Network
Humboldt County Office of Education
Labor/Community Strategy Center's Community Rights Campaign
Legal Services for Children
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Liberty Hill Foundation
Mills Legal Clinic
National Juvenile Justice Network
Orange County Department of Education
PolicyLink
San Jose State University
Stanford Law School
W. Haywood Burns Institute
Youth and Education Law Project
Youth Leadership Institute
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "Currently,
students are involuntarily transferred to county community and
community day schools without due process, without ensuring that
a parent or guardian's right to choose a school for their child
is protected and with minimal consideration as to whether the
placement is the appropriate educational fit for the educational
needs of the student."
PQ:nl 5/28/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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