BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 881
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
881 (Cristina Garcia)
As Introduced February 26, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
|----------------+------+-----------------------+--------------------|
|Education |7-0 |O'Donnell, Chávez, | |
| | |Kim, McCarty, | |
| | |Santiago, Thurmond, | |
| | |Weber | |
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SUMMARY: Revises, for the purposes of pupil suspension and
expulsion, the definition of bullying via an electronic act from
the "creation and transmission" of a communication to the
"creation or transmission" of a communication, via an electronic
device, originated on or off the schoolsite.
FISCAL EFFECT: None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS: Under existing law, a principal or a superintendent may
suspend or recommend expulsion of a pupil for committing any of a
number of specified acts, including bullying and bullying via an
electronic act (cyberbullying). "Bullying" is defined as any
severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct, including
communications made in writing or by means of an electronic act,
and including one or more acts committed by a pupil or group of
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pupils engaging in sexual harassment, hate violence, harassment,
threats, or intimidation, directed toward one or more pupils that
has or can be reasonably predicted to cause fear and have an
impact on a student's physical and mental health, academic
performance, or a student's ability to participate in school and
school activities.
AB 256 (Garcia), Chapter 700, Statutes of 2013, amended the
definition of an "electronic act" to mean the creation and
transmission of a communication, by means of an electronic device,
that may be originated on or off the schoolsite. Prior to AB 256,
the definition of an "electronic act" only referenced the
transmission of a communication via an electronic device, and was
silent on whether the act must be generated and/or transmitted on
or off the schoolsite. While the courts have ruled that
cyberbullying is contingent on whether an action causes a
substantial disruption to school activities or work of a school,
regardless of where the action took place, AB 256 made it clear in
the law that where the communication was created and transmitted
does not matter. Concerns have been raised that AB 256 may have
inadvertently narrowed the definition of bullying via an
electronic act, by defining "electronic act" as the creation and
transmission of a communication, which limits a principal or
superintendent's ability to suspend or expel a pupil to only those
incidences where a pupil created and transmitted a communication
via an electronic device, and prevents a principal or
superintendent from suspending or recommending expulsion if a
pupil did not create the communication but took part in
transmitting it to others. This bill changes "creation and
transmission" to "creation or transmission." This bill will not
result in automatic suspension or expulsion. Principals and
superintendents continue to have the discretion to determine
whether the act causes a substantial disruption to school
activities or work of a school.
Arguments in support. The Association of Regional Center Agencies
supports the bill and states, "Cyber-bullying has made it possible
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for individuals whose torment might be somewhat more limited and
public be pervasive, constant, and (literally) global. Current
law describes, for the purposes of bullying, text messages and
social media posts, among other new methods of communication. But
it erroneously limits the definition to mean both the act of
creation and transmission. This eliminates every act of
forwarding, copying, or sharing onwards any act of bullying. This
bill solves this oversight with a very concise stroke of the pen,
ensuring a closer adherence to the intent of the law."
Arguments in opposition. Public Counsel opposes the bill and
argues that suspension of pupils is ineffective in preventing or
stopping bullying. "Instead of reducing the likelihood of
behavioral incidents, school suspension in general appears to
predict higher future rates of misbehavior and suspension among
those students who are suspended," states the organization.
Previous legislation. AB 1450 (Garcia) introduced last year, is
identical to this bill. The bill passed the Assembly Education
Committee, the Assembly Floor, and the Senate Education Committee
with no "no" votes. The author later struck the contents of the
bill and used the vehicle for another subject.
Analysis Prepared by:
Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN:
0000133
AB 881
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