BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1309
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Date of Hearing: August 3, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
SB 1309
(Leyva) - As Amended June 29, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill establishes a process for expulsion of a student
enrolled in a school operated by a county office of education
(COE). Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires, if a principal or designee recommends a student for
expulsion, the county board of education to contract with the
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Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) to conduct the
expulsion hearing or appoint an impartial administrative
panel, as specified, to conduct the expulsion hearing.
2)Requires the OAH hearing officer or the impartial
administrative panel to prepare and submit to the county board
of education, findings of fact in support of a decision to
expel. Final action to expel a student must be taken only by
the county board of education in a public session.
3)Requires parents or guardians of the student to be provided
with a written notice of the hearing at least 10 days before
the date of the hearing, including a statement of specific
facts and charges upon which the proposed expulsion is based.
The notice must also inform parents of their right to be
represented by legal counsel or by a nonattorney adviser.
4)Authorizes a student, or his or her guardian, within 30 days
of a decision to expel, to file an appeal with the county
board of education. Requires the county board of education to
hold a hearing and determine the outcome. If the county board
of education upholds an expulsion, the county superintendent
of schools or his or her designee must provide the student, or
the parent or guardian, a written notice of the decision to
expel along with an education plan or notice of the education
alternative placement.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Unknown costs to the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH)
to conduct expulsion hearings, to the extent a county board of
education chooses to contract with OAH. According to OAH,
estimated costs for a one-day hearing are approximately
$4,500.
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There is no statewide data on the number of hearings that were
conducted to determine whether a student attending a county
school should be suspended or expelled. Although only six
students were expelled from county schools last year, over
7,000 students were suspended from these schools. It is
possible that some of the suspension cases began as expulsion
cases. For illustration, if OAH was required to conduct 50
hearings, OAH would incur costs in the range of $225,000
(special funds).
2)Unknown Proposition 98/GF state mandated costs, likely in the
tens of thousands, for county boards of education to amend
their education plan to include a plan for students expelled
from a county school and to process expulsion appeals. Actual
costs will depend upon the number of appeals.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. Existing law does not provide a process for expulsion
of students enrolled in COEs. According to the author,
although there is a detailed process for handling student
expulsion at the school district level, current law is silent
on how expulsions should be handled by COE operated schools.
This lack of clarity does not ensure that students have access
to due process when going through expulsion proceedings.
There is no requirement in current law for a COE to hold an
expulsion hearing or to have an appeals hearing following an
expulsion. Furthermore, if there is an appeal, the situation
could arise where the COE board hears and decides both the
expulsion and the appeal. This bill establishes a process that
is similar to the expulsion process required of school
districts.
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2)Background on COEs and expulsion. COEs operate county
community schools for students who have been expelled from a
school district. COEs also run juvenile court schools for
students who are in juvenile detention facilities and provide
career technical education, special education and related
services. Although rare, some COEs run comprehensive schools.
Los Angeles County Office of Education and the Santa Clara
County Office, for example, operate comprehensive high
schools. Typically, students expelled from district schools
enroll in county operated programs. Generally, COEs do not
expel students. If a student is expelled from a county school,
they are likely to be enrolled in other COE-operated programs,
such as county community schools.
3)Impact on OAH. School district governing boards currently have
the option to conduct a hearing for expulsion or to contract
with OAH or an impartial administrative panel to conduct the
hearing. Most governing boards conduct their own hearings.
OAH indicates they have never been contacted by a school board
to conduct an expulsion hearing.
This bill will require the county board to contract with OAH,
or develop an impartial administrative panel, to conduct the
expulsion hearing since the county board is also the body that
processes appeals. Therefore, OAH will likely receive
requests to conduct hearings as a result of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
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