Amended in Assembly April 23, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 969


Introduced by Assembly Member Williams

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Rendon)

February 26, 2015


An act to amend Sections 76034 and 76038 of the Education Code, relating to community college districts.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 969, as amended, Williams. Community college districts: removal, suspension, or expulsion.

(1) Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law establishes community college districts,begin insert eachend insert administered by a governing board, throughout the state, and authorizes these districts to provide instruction to students at the community college campuses maintained by the districts.

Existing law prohibits a community college student from being removed, suspended, or expelled unless the conduct for which the student is disciplined is related to college activity or attendance.

This bill would instead prohibit a community college student from being removed, suspended, or expelled unless the conduct for which the student is disciplined is related to college activity or attendance, or is conduct that threatens the safety of students or the public, whether that conduct occurs on or off campus.

(2) Existing law authorizes the governing board of a district to either deny enrollment, permit enrollment, or permit conditional enrollment to any individual who has been expelled from a community college within the preceding 5 years, or who is, at the time of the application, undergoing expulsion procedures, for certain offenses, as provided, if the board determines that the person continues to pose a risk to the safety of others. Existing law requires the board or a delegate to hold a hearing, before taking action to deny enrollment or permit conditional enrollment, to determine whether the person continues to pose a risk.

begin insert

Existing law requires the governing boards of each community college district, in order to receive state funds for student financial assistance, to adopt policies concerning sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking that include certain elements, including an affirmative consent standard in the determination of whether consent was given by a complainant.

end insert

This bill would expandbegin delete this authorization,end deletebegin insert the authorizationend insert to either deny enrollment, permit enrollment, or permit conditionalbegin delete enrollment, to includeend deletebegin insert enrollment to apply toend insert an individual who has beenbegin insert expelled from another community college district within the preceding 5 years, who is currentlyend insert suspendedbegin insert from another district, or who is undergoing expulsion procedures in another district,end insert forbegin delete a sexual assault or sexual battery offense from another community college district, as specified.end deletebegin insert end insertbegin insertcertain offenses or for a violation of a district’s adopted policies concerning sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking described above.end insert The bill would also authorize a community college district to require a student seeking admission to inform the community college districtbegin insert considering admitting the studentend insert if he or she has been previouslybegin insert expelled or is currentlyend insert suspended from a community college in the state forbegin delete rape, sexual assault, or sexual battery.end deletebegin insert a violation of that community college’s district-adopted policies concerning sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.end insert By imposing additional duties on a community college district, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P3    1

SECTION 1.  

Section 76034 of the Education Code is amended
2to read:

3

76034.  

No student shall be removed, suspended, or expelled
4unless the conduct for which the student is disciplined is related
5to college activity or college attendance, or is conduct that threatens
6the safety of students and the public, whether that conduct occurs
7on or off campus.

8

SEC. 2.  

Section 76038 of the Education Code is amended to
9read:

10

76038.  

(a) If the governing board of a community college
11district receives an application for admission from an individual
12who has been expelled from another community college district
13begin deleteor suspended for a sexual assault or sexual battery offense from
14another community college districtend delete
pursuant to this article within
15the preceding five years,begin insert who is currently suspended from another
16district,end insert
or who is undergoing expulsion procedures in another
17district, for any of the offenses listed in subdivisionbegin delete (b),end deletebegin insert (b) or for
18a violation of a district’s policies adopted pursuant to Section
1967386,end insert
before taking action to deny enrollment or permit
20conditional enrollment as authorized by subdivision (f), the
21governing board or delegate pursuant to subdivision (g) shall hold
22a hearing, conducted in accordance with this section and the
23applicable rules and regulations governing enrollment hearings
24authorized by this section and adopted in accordance with Section
2566300, to determine whether that individual poses a continuing
26danger to the physical safety of the students and employees of the
27district.

28(b) For purposes of this section, “offense” means one of the
29following:

30(1) Committed or attempted to commit murder.

31(2) Caused, attempted to cause serious, or threatened to cause
32 physical injury to another person, including assault or battery as
33defined in Section 240 or 242 of the Penal Code, except in
34self-defense.

35(3) Committed or attempted to commit a sexual assault as
36defined in Section 261, 266c, 286, 288, 288a, or 289 of the Penal
37Code or committed sexual battery as defined in Section 243.4 of
38the Penal Code.

P4    1(4) Committed or attempted to commit kidnapping, or seized,
2confined, inveigled, enticed, decoyed, abducted, concealed,
3kidnapped, or carried away another person by any means with the
4intent to hold or detain that person for ransom or reward.

5(5) Committed or attempted to commit robbery or extortion.

6(6) Committed stalking as defined in Section 646.9 of the Penal
7Code.

8(7) Unlawfully possessed, sold, or otherwise furnished a firearm,
9knife, explosive, or other dangerous object.

10(c) A community college district may request information, and
11respond to a request for information, from another community
12college district to determine whether an applicant continues to
13pose a danger to the physical safety of others.

14(d) A community college district may require a student seeking
15admission who has been previously expelled from a community
16college in the state for any of the actions listed in subdivision (b)
17to inform the district of his or her prior expulsion. Failure to do so
18may be considered by the district in determining whether to grant
19admission, and a written record of the fact may be maintained by
20the district with the applicant’s file.

21(e) A community college district may require a student seeking
22admission who has been previouslybegin insert expelled or is currentlyend insert
23 suspended from a community college in the state forbegin delete rape, sexual
24assault, or sexual batteryend delete
begin insert a violation of that district’s policies
25adopted pursuant to Section 67386end insert
to inform the district
26begin insert considering admitting the studentend insert of his or her priorbegin insert expulend insertbegin insertsion or
27currentend insert
suspension. Failure to do so may be considered by the
28district in determining whether to grant admission, and a written
29record of the fact may be maintained by the community college
30district with the applicant’s file.

31(f) The governing board of a community college district, upon
32making a determination pursuant to subdivision (a), shall take into
33 consideration evidence of subsequent offenses and rehabilitative
34efforts since the offense and may take any of the following actions:

35(1) Deny enrollment.

36(2) Permit enrollment.

37(3) Permit conditional enrollment.

38(g) The governing board of a community college district may
39delegate any authority under this section to the superintendent or
40president of a community college district, or his or her designee,
P5    1or a threat assessment crisis response team pursuant to rules and
2regulations adopted pursuant to Section 66300.

3(h) Before the governing board of a community college district
4takes action as authorized under this section, the governing board
5shall establish a formal appeals process for students denied
6enrollment to appeal the decision to the governing board. A student
7who is denied enrollment under subdivision (f) may appeal the
8decision to deny enrollment to the governing board of the
9community college district.

10(i) This section shall not be construed to impose any duty on a
11community college district to review applicants for admission or
12review previously enrolled students, whether returning or
13continuing, or to conduct a hearing in response to the receipt of
14any information regarding a potential, former, or existing student.

15(j) In accordance with Sections 815.2 and 820.2 of the
16Government Code, a community college district, a member of the
17governing board of a community college district, an officer or
18 employee of a community college district, including a
19superintendent of a community college district, a president of a
20community college district, and the designee of a president or a
21superintendent, shall not be liable for an injury resulting from an
22exercise of discretion pursuant to this section, including, but not
23limited to, an exercise of discretion not to conduct a hearing when
24a hearing is not required.

25(k) This section shall not apply to the admission of students for
26whom a community college district has discretion to admit pursuant
27to Section 76000.

28

SEC. 3.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
29this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
30local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
31pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
324 of Title 2 of the Government Code.



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