BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1111|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1111
Author: Lara (D)
Amended: 7/1/14
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 6-1, 4/24/14
AYES: Liu, Block, Galgiani, Hancock, Hueso, Monning
NOES: Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland, Correa
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 5/23/14
AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Gaines
SENATE FLOOR : 24-11, 5/27/14
AYES: Beall, Block, Corbett, Correa, De León, DeSaulnier,
Evans, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Jackson,
Lara, Leno, Lieu, Mitchell, Monning, Padilla, Pavley, Roth,
Steinberg, Torres, Wolk
NOES: Anderson, Berryhill, Fuller, Gaines, Huff, Knight,
Morrell, Nielsen, Vidak, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon, Cannella, Liu, Wright, Yee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 56-20, 8/19/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Pupils: involuntary transfer
SOURCE : American Civil Liberties Union
Children Now
Public Counsel
Youth Justice Coalition
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Youth Law Center
DIGEST : This bill requires parental consent for referrals to
a county community 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.
Assembly Amendments state criteria regarding referrals to county
community schools that the parent, guardian, or responsible
adult of the pupil may use to expressly objected to the
referral, as specified; provide that if the parent, guardian, or
responsible adult of the pupil objects for any of the reasons,
as specified, the school district may either address the express
objection or find an alternative placement in another
comprehensive or continuation school within the school district,
as specified; specify that a pupil has the right to return to
his/her prior school or another appropriate school within
his/her school district at the end of the semester following the
semester when the acts leading to referral occurred until the
end of the pupil's 18th birthday; and make technical changes.
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 a school district (GBSD), 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 GBSD may elect 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.
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A county board of education (COE) 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 GBSD 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.
The GBSDs are further 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.
The GBSDs are required to set a date of one year from the date
the expulsion occurred for a pupil who has been expelled for:
(a) possessing, selling, or furnishing a firearm; (b)
brandishing a knife at another person; (c) unlawfully selling a
controlled substance; (d) committing or attempting to commit a
sexual assault; or, (e) possession of 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 GBSD 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 SARB determines the pupil no longer
poses a threat.
The GBSD that receives a request for enrollment from a pupil who
has been expelled from another school district, for acts other
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than the most serious offenses, must hold a hearing to determine
whether the individual poses a continuing danger to pupils or
employees. If the SARB 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 GBSD, 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
GBSD 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 amends the process for referral to and programs
offered within county community schools. Specifically, this
bill:
1. Prohibits a school district upon the recommendation of SARB,
from referring a pupil for placement in a county community
school unless the school district and COE make a
determination using specified criteria.
2. Requires, if the county community school to which a pupil
has been referred is not geographically accessible to the
pupil, the SARB to include in its recommendation a school
option for the pupil that is geographically accessible and
meets the same criteria as set forth in the previous
paragraph and defines the term "geographically accessible."
3. Specifies that if a parent, guardian, or responsible adult
of the pupil objects to the placement recommended by the
school district, as specified, the school district may either
address the express objection or find an alternative
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placement in another comprehensive or continuation school
within the school district; this bill further specifies that
if the school district has offered the pupil all other
options, the school district may refer the pupil to the
county community school. This bill also permits the school
district to require such objections to be in writing, as
specified.
4. Places a restriction on the time period for which a pupil
can remain in a county community school by specifying that
the pupil has the right to return to his/her prior school or
another appropriate school within his/her school district, as
specified.
5. Specifies that the appropriateness of placing a child in a
county community school may be examined in the judicial
hearing in which the placement is made or concerns of the
placement are raised.
6. Repeals language that allows districts and COEs to enroll
pupils in county community schools on the basis of the
pupil's status as homeless, and the language that defines
"homeless children."
7. Specifies the conditions that apply when a pupil is
voluntarily placed in a community day school.
8. States that pupils who have been involuntarily transferred
to county community school, as specified, shall have the
right to reenroll in his/her former school or another
comprehensive school immediately after being readmitted from
the expulsion order but clarifies that nothing in this
section is intended to limit the school placement options
that a school district may recommend for a pupil being
readmitted.
9. Restates and specifies existing provisions of law, including
provisions relating to independent study, the extension of an
expelled pupil's placement in a county community school,
assessments in areas of suspected disabilities, appropriate
services and programs for English learners, and the inclusion
of school credit recovery assistance.
10.Changes the requirement that in the instance where a hearing
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officer or administrative panel decides not to recommend
expulsion. Current law requires the pupil be reinstated and
permitted to return to a classroom instructional program, any
other instructional program, a rehabilitation program, or any
combination of these programs. This bill instead requires
the pupil be reinstated and permitted to return to the
classroom instructional program from which the expulsion
referral was made, unless the parent, guardian, or
responsible adult of the pupil requests another school
placement in writing. If a parent requests another
placement, this bill requires the superintendent of schools
or the superintendent's designee to consult with school
district personnel, including the pupil's teachers, and the
parent, guardian, or responsible adult regarding any other
school placement options for the pupil in addition to the
option to return to his/her classroom instructional program
from which the expulsion referral was made.
11.Specifies that if the hearing officer or administrative
panel finds that the pupil committed specified acts,
including but not limited to, possessing a firearm,
brandishing a knife, and selling a controlled substance, but
does not recommend expulsion, the pupil shall be immediately
reinstated but may be referred to his/her school, another
comprehensive school, or a continuation school of the school
district.
12.Makes technical and non-substantive changes.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, there are
potential state reimbursable mandated General Fund/Proposition
98 costs, likely in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars,
for school districts and COEs to meet the requirements of this
bill. The majority of the requirements in this bill are
clarifying, to provide a nexus between pupils being adjudicated
in a court and their educational placement decisions. However,
to the extent school districts and COEs need to alter their
current pupil referral processes, including revision of the
rules and regulations governing procedures for the expulsion of
pupils, costs will be incurred.
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SUPPORT : (Verified 8/19/14)
American Civil Liberties Union (co-source)
Children Now (co-source)
Public Counsel (co-source)
Youth Justice Coalition (co-source)
Youth Law Center (co-source)
Advancement Project
Black Organizing Project
Black Parallel School Board
Centro CHA, Inc.
Children's Defense Fund-California
Families in Good Health
Fight Crime, Invest in Kids
Gay-Straight Alliance Network
Labor/Community Strategy Center
Legal Services for Children
Los Angeles County Office of Education
Mills Legal Clinic
National Association of Social Workers
National Center for Youth Law
Peace Over Violence
Policy Link
San Francisco Counsel for Families and Children
Strategy Center
W. Haywood Burns Institute
Youth and Education Law Project, Mills Legal Clinic
Youth Leadership Institute
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Sponsors of this bill indicate that
this bill intends to establish a clear and transparent transfer
process with built-in safeguards to reduce improper transfers
and ensure that both students and parents have a meaningful say
in the student's academic success. The confusion around the
transfer process and lack of safeguards for students who desire
to return to a traditional school has resulted in too many
students either leaving school altogether or attending a school
that cannot meet their educational needs. Such transfers
disproportionally affect students of color who make up a
majority of these schools' populations. According to the
sponsors, while county community schools are only supposed to be
short-term placements, students who have been involuntarily
transferred are either prohibited from returning to a
comprehensive school or are faced with hurdles to returning to a
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district school.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 56-20, 8/19/14
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta,
Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau,
Chesbro, Cooley, Dababneh, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hall, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal,
Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Pan, Perea, John A.
Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Weber,
Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NOES: Allen, Bigelow, Chávez, Conway, Dahle, Donnelly, Beth
Gaines, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Linder, Logue,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez, Nestande, Patterson, Wagner,
Waldron
NO VOTE RECORDED: Achadjian, Gomez, Olsen, Vacancy
PQ:d 8/19/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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