BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 288
Page 1
GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 288 (Fong)
As Amended August 30, 2011
2/3 vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |60-0 |(April 14, |SENATE: |39-0 |(September 6, |
| | |2011) | | |2011) |
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|ASSEMBLY: |79-0 |(September 7, | | | |
| | |2011) | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: HIGHER ED.
SUMMARY : Authorizes the governing board of a California
Community College District (CCCD) to deny admission to someone
expelled from another CCD within the previous five years, under
specified circumstances. Specifically, this bill :
1)Allows a district to deny enrollment upon a finding, through a
hearing, that an individual was expelled within the preceding
five years, or is undergoing expulsion procedures in another
district, for specified offenses and presents a continuing
danger to the physical safety of the district's students and
employees.
2)Requires a district, if requested by another district seeking
to make a determination per 1), to respond to an information
request within five working days.
3)Requires a student expelled for one of the specified actions
to inform the community college district of their prior
expulsion when seeking admission to the district. Failure of
the student to do so is to be considered by the district in
determining whether to grant admission.
4)Allows the governing board, upon making a determination
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regarding a previously expelled student, to deny enrollment,
permit enrollment, or permit conditional enrollment.
5)Requires a district, prior to taking any action to deny
enrollment per the above, to establish an appeals process, and
allows a student denied enrollment per the above to appeal the
decision to the district governing board.
The Senate amendments clarify that the immunity from liability
for specified CCD employees for an injury resulting from an
exercise of the discretion provided pursuant to this bill must
be in accordance with existing Government Code provisions
relative to liability of public employees.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that a CCCD governing board is authorized to expel a
student for good cause when other means of correction fail to
bring about proper conduct, or when the presence of the
student causes a continuing danger to the physical safety of
the student or others. Provides that the expulsion shall be
accompanied by a hearing.
2)Provides that a CCCD governing body may exclude students from
attendance for "filthy or vicious habits, or students
suffering from contagious or infectious diseases" as well as
"any student whose physical or mental disability is such as to
cause his or her attendance to be inimical to the welfare of
other students."
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to the version approved by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, potentially significant reimbursable mandate costs
for the CCD enrollment process and information requests.
COMMENTS :
Purpose of this bill : According to the author, California
Community Colleges (CCCs) are the only public educational
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segment in California without the ability to ensure campus
safety at one CCCD through a screening process of students who
have been expelled from another CCCD. Currently, a student who
is expelled from one CCCD for a violent offense can freely
enroll in another CCCD without that CCCD's knowledge of his or
her expulsion. This bill addresses these problems by requiring
a student enrolling in a CCC to disclose that he or she had been
expelled for a violent offense from a CCCD, requiring a CCCD
that had expelled a student for one of the specified reasons to
provide the information to the receiving CCCD upon request,
authorizing a receiving CCCD to conduct a hearing in order to
determine if a student posed a threat to the faculty, staff, or
other students, and allowing the CCCD to deny enrollment to this
student if deemed necessary to ensure the safety of those on
campus.
Governor's veto of prior legislation : AB 1400 (Fong) of 2010
was substantially similar to this bill. In his veto of AB 1400,
Governor Schwarzenegger wrote, in part, "As drafted, the bill
creates an uneven standard between students who could be denied
admission because of criminal acts they may have committed in
the past. Since I am committed to having community colleges be
both safe places for quality education, as well as open
institutions of hope for all students, I am asking the CCC Board
of Governors to work in collaboration with CCC Chancellor Scott
to work on a policy that will most effectively address this
issue for the campuses." According to the CCC Chancellors
Office (CCCCO), discussions have occurred in response to the
Governor's request, however it appears that new statute would be
required in order for the CCCCO to issue regulations on this
matter.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
"Requiring every community college to follow a uniform
process for evaluating a student expulsion taken by another
district adds unnecessary burdens and costs that the state
will have to reimburse.
"I invite Chancellor Scott and the California Community
Colleges Board of Governors to work with local districts to
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craft a more flexible and cost-effective approach to enable
districts to share critical information about student
expulsions."
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
FN: 0002954