BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 881|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 881
Author: Cristina Garcia (D)
Introduced:2/26/15
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 8-0, 6/10/15
AYES: Liu, Runner, Block, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan, Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hancock
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 4/16/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Pupils: grounds for suspension and expulsion:
bullying
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill expands the definition of "bullying by an
electronic act," from the "creation and transmission" of a
communication to the "creation or transmission" of a
communication by means of an electronic device.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)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. (Education Code §
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48900)
2)Authorizes, schools to suspend or recommend for expulsion a
pupil who engages in an act of bullying, which 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, directed toward one or more pupils that has or
can be reasonably predicted to have the effect of one or more
of the following:
a) Placing a reasonable student or students in fear of harm
to that student's or those students' person or property.
b) Causing a reasonable student to experience a
substantially detrimental effect on his or her physical or
mental health.
c) Causing a reasonable student to experience substantial
interference with his or her academic performance.
d) Causing a reasonable student to experience substantial
interference with his or her ability to participate in or
benefit from the services, activities, or privileges
provided by a school. (EC § 48900(r)(1))
3)Defines "electronic act" as the creation and transmission of
a communication originated on or off school sites, by means of
an electronic device, including but not limited to a
telephone, wireless telephone, or other wireless communication
device, computer, or pager, of a communication, including but
not limited to any of the following:
a) A message, text, sounds, or image.
b) A post on a social network website including, but not
limited to:
i) Posting to or creating a burn page, as defined,
created for the purpose of having one or more of the
effects listed above.
ii) Creating a credible impersonation of another
actual student, as defined, for the purpose of having
one or more of the effects listed above.
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iii) Creating a false profile, as defined, for the
purpose of having one or more of the effects listed
above. (EC § 48900(r)(2))
This bill expands the definition of "bullying by an electronic
act," from the "creation and transmission" of a communication to
the "creation or transmission" of a communication by means of an
electronic device.
Comments
1)Need for the bill: According to the author, concerns have been
raised that prior legislation, AB 256 (Garcia, Chapter 700,
Statutes of 2013), may have inadvertently narrowed the
definition of bullying via an electronic act, by defining
"electronic act" as the creation and transmission of a
communication. These provisions limit a principal or
superintendent's ability to suspend or expel a student to only
those incidences where a student created and transmitted a
communication via an electronic device. A principal or
superintendent is unable to suspend or recommend expulsion if
a student did not create the communication but took part in
transmitting it to others.
This bill broadens the definition of bullying via an
electronic act, by clarifying that an "electronic act" means
the creation or transmission of any communication.
2)Currently authorized to suspend or recommend for expulsion.
Existing law authorizes schools to suspend, or recommend for
expulsion, a student who has been found to engage in an act of
bullying provided that the behavior is related to attendance
or school activity regardless of the time of day.
Prior to suspending a student for bullying, schools must first
determine that the victim is in fear of harm, the act has a
substantially detrimental effect on the victim's health,
academic performance, or the victim experiences substantial
interference with his or her ability to participate in or
benefit from school services or activities. As such, a student
cannot be suspended or recommended for expulsion unless the
act disrupts a school activity or attendance.
3)Alternatives to out-of-school suspension. Existing law provides
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that suspension may be imposed only when other means of
correction fail to bring about proper conduct. Before a
student can be suspended, an informal conference between the
principal, student and whenever practicable, the teacher,
supervisor or school employee must take place. Schools may
also consider alternative forms of corrective action, such as
in-school suspension.
This bill provides an additional tool for addressing student
conduct issues should alternative means of corrective action
fail.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified 6/11/15)
California Association for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation, and Dance
California Federation of Teachers
California School Boards Association
California Teacher Association
Junior League of Long Beach
Public Affairs Committee of the Junior Leagues of California
San Francisco Unified School District
State Council on Developmental Disabilities
OPPOSITION: (Verified 6/11/15)
American Civil Liberties Union of California
GSA Network of California
National Center for Youth Law
Public Counsel
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 4/16/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
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Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson,
Perea, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Obernolte, Quirk
Prepared by:Olgalilia Ramirez / ED. / (916) 651-4105
6/18/15 14:33:00
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