BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2212|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2212
Author: Harper (R), et al.
Amended: 8/16/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 9-0, 6/8/16
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan,
Vidak
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/12/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Pupils: suspensions and expulsions: bullying:
electronic acts: video
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill expands the definition of "bullying by an
electronic act," to include communication by video.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/16/16 include double-jointing
provisions to avoid chaptering problems with AB 2536 (Chau).
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Prohibits a pupil from being suspended or recommended for
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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 §
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 or 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.
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b) A post on a social network Web site 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.
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:
1)Expands the definition of "bullying by an electronic act," to
include communication by video.
2)Includes double-jointing provisions to avoid chaptering
problems with AB 2536 (Chau).
Comments
1)Need for the bill. Existing law specifies that bullying by an
electronic act means the creation or transmission of a
communication that includes but is not limited to a message,
text, sound or image. The California School Board Association
writing in support of the bill, states that posting of a video
was not included in the prior legislation and some question if
an "image" would include a video and that adding the term
video would provide clarity.
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This bill broadens the definition of bullying via an
electronic act, by clarifying that an "electronic act" means
the creation or transmission of communication by video.
2)Existing authorization 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 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 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 suspension. Existing law provides 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.
4)Is existing law sufficient? As mentioned, current law already
defines an electronic act to mean the creation or transmission
of a communication by means of an electronic device. Given
that creating or transmitting a video must be done by means of
these devices, it could be argued that current law provides
school districts with the sufficient authority to suspend or
expel a student who engages in bullying by means of posting,
sending or sharing video. The author's office maintains that
while current law authorizes the suspension or expulsion of
students who engage in bullying by means of an electronic act,
the law does not expressly include communication by video in
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definition of how one may communicate by an electronic act.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/17/16)
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Association of Regional Center Agencies
California School Boards Association
Junior League of Long Beach
Junior League of Orange County, California, Inc.
Junior Leagues of California State Public Affairs Committee
Regional Center of Orange County
UCLA, Undergraduate Student Association Council
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/17/16)
ACLU California
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/12/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Calderon,
Campos, Chang, 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, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen,
Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Burke, Jones-Sawyer
Prepared by:Olgalilia Ramirez / ED. / (916) 651-4105
8/17/16 15:57:59
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