BILL NUMBER: AB 1721 CHAPTERED 07/21/00 CHAPTER 147 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JULY 21, 2000 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR JULY 21, 2000 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY JULY 6, 2000 PASSED THE SENATE JUNE 29, 2000 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 7, 2000 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 4, 2000 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Cardenas JANUARY 4, 2000 An act to amend Sections 48919 and 48923 of the Education Code, relating to pupil expulsion. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1721, Cardenas. Pupil expulsion. Existing law authorizes a pupil who is expelled from school, or the pupil's parent or guardian, to file an appeal to the county board of education within 30 days following the decision of the governing board to expel and requires the county board of education to hold a hearing on the appeal and render its decision. Existing law requires the pupil to submit a request for a copy of the written transcripts and supporting documents from the school district simultaneously with the filing of the notice of appeal with the county board of education. Existing law requires the school district to provide the pupil with the transcripts, supporting documents, and records within 5 schooldays following the pupil's request. This bill would require the pupil's request for a copy of the written transcripts and supporting documents to be in writing and would require the school district to provide the pupil with the transcripts, supporting documents, and records within 10 schooldays following the pupil's request. Existing law authorizes a county board of education to remand an expulsion matter to the governing board of a school district for reconsideration or grant a hearing de novo if the county board finds that relevant and material evidence exists which, in the exercise of reasonable diligence, could not have been produced or which was improperly excluded at the hearing before the governing board. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district to make certain findings when it expels a pupil. This bill would authorize a county board to remand an expulsion matter to the governing board of a school district for adoption of required findings if the county board determines that the decision to expel a pupil is not supported by the required findings, but evidence supporting those findings exists in the record of the expulsion hearing. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 48919 of the Education Code is amended to read: 48919. If a pupil is expelled from school, the pupil or the pupil' s parent or guardian may, within 30 days following the decision of the governing board to expel, file an appeal to the county board of education which shall hold a hearing thereon and render its decision. The county board of education, or in a class 1 or class 2 county a hearing officer or impartial administrative panel, shall hold the hearing within 20 schooldays following the filing of a formal request under this section. If the county board of education hears the appeal without a hearing conducted pursuant to Section 48919.5, then the board shall render a decision within three schooldays of the hearing conducted pursuant to Section 48920, unless the pupil requests a postponement. The period within which an appeal is to be filed shall be determined from the date a governing board votes to expel even if enforcement of the expulsion action is suspended and the pupil is placed on probation pursuant to Section 48917. A pupil who fails to appeal the original action of the board within the prescribed time may not subsequently appeal a decision of the board to revoke probation and impose the original order of expulsion. The county board of education shall adopt rules and regulations establishing procedures for expulsion appeals conducted under this section. If the county board of education in a class 1 or class 2 county elects to use the procedures in Section 48919.5, then the board shall adopt rules and regulations establishing procedures for expulsion appeals conducted under Section 48919.5. The adopted rules and regulations shall include, but need not be limited to, the requirements for filing a notice of appeal, the setting of a hearing date, the furnishing of notice to the pupil and the governing board regarding the appeal, the furnishing of a copy of the expulsion hearing record to the county board of education, procedures for the conduct of the hearing, and the preservation of the record of the appeal. The pupil shall submit a written request for a copy of the written transcripts and supporting documents from the school district simultaneously with the filing of the notice of appeal with the county board of education. The school district shall provide the pupil with the transcriptions, supporting documents, and records within 10 schooldays following the pupil's written request. Upon receipt of the records, the pupil shall immediately file suitable copies of these records with the county board of education. SEC. 2. Section 48923 of the Education Code is amended to read: 48923. The decision of the county board shall be limited as follows: (a) If the county board finds that relevant and material evidence exists which, in the exercise of reasonable diligence, could not have been produced or which was improperly excluded at the hearing before the governing board, it may do either of the following: (1) Remand the matter to the governing board for reconsideration and may in addition order the pupil reinstated pending the reconsideration. (2) Grant a hearing de novo upon reasonable notice thereof to the pupil and to the governing board. The hearing shall be conducted in conformance with the rules and regulations adopted by the county board under Section 48919. (b) If the county board determines that the decision of the governing board is not supported by the findings required to be made by Section 48915, but evidence supporting the required findings exists in the record of the proceedings, the county board shall remand the matter to the governing board for adoption of the required findings. This remand for the adoption and inclusion of the required findings shall not result in an additional hearing pursuant to Section 48918, except that final action to expel the pupil based on the revised findings of fact shall meet all requirements of subdivisions (j) and (k) of Section 48918. (c) In all other cases, the county board shall enter an order either affirming or reversing the decision of the governing board. In any case in which the county board enters a decision reversing the local board, the county board may direct the local board to expunge the record of the pupil and the records of the district of any references to the expulsion action and the expulsion shall be deemed not to have occurred.