BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1909|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1909
Author: Ammiano (D), et al.
Amended: 7/6/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/20/12
AYES: Lowenthal, Alquist, Blakeslee, Hancock, Huff, Liu,
Price, Simitian, Vargas
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Vacancy
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 6-0, 7/2/12
AYES: Liu, Berryhill, Hancock, Strickland, Wright, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Emmerson
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/29/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Foster children: placement: suspension and
expulsion:
notification
SOURCE : Legal Advocates for Children
Public Counsel Law Center
DIGEST : This bill requires schools to notify a foster
youths attorney and representative of the county child
welfare agency of pending expulsion or other disciplinary
proceedings.
ANALYSIS :
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Existing law:
1. Requires each school district to designate a staff
person as the educational liaison for foster children.
The educational liaison is required to, among other
things, ensure and facilitate proper educational
placement, enrollment in school and checkout from
school, and assist foster children when transferring
schools in ensuring proper transfer of credits, records
and grades.
2. Prohibits a pupil from being suspended or recommended
for 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.
Discretion to suspend . Schools may suspend a pupil for
violating any number of acts, some of which include:
1. Attempting to cause or threatening to cause physical
injury to another person. (Expulsion must be
recommended for causing serious physical injury.)
2. Being under the influence of a controlled substance.
(Expulsion must be recommended for possession or the
sale of controlled substances.)
3. Caused or attempted to cause damage to school property.
4. Possessed or used tobacco.
5. Committed an obscene act or engaged in habitual
profanity or vulgarity.
6. Possessed, offered, arranged or negotiated to sell drug
paraphernalia.
7. Engaged in, or attempted to engage in, hazing.
8. Disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully
defying the valid authority of supervisor, teachers,
administrators, school officials, or other school
personnel engaged in the performance of their duties.
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9. Engaged in an act of bullying.
Pupils may be suspended for a first offense if the school
principal determines that the pupil's presence causes a
danger to persons or property or threatens to disrupt the
instructional process or the pupil committed certain acts.
Subjective decision . School may expel pupils for various
offenses upon finding either of the following:
1. Other means of correction are not feasible or have
repeatedly failed to bring about proper conduct.
2. Due to the nature of the violation, the presence of the
pupil causes a continuing danger to the physical safety
of the pupil or others.
Mandatory suspension and recommendation for expulsion .
School principals are required to immediately suspend, and
recommend expulsion of, a pupil who has committed any of
the following acts at school or a school activity off
school grounds:
1. Possessing, selling, or furnishing a firearm. (This is
consistent with the federal Gun-Free Schools Act.)
2. Brandishing a knife at another person.
3. Unlawfully selling a controlled substance.
4. Committing or attempting to commit a sexual assault.
5. Possession of an explosive.
Pupils with exceptional needs . Schools are authorized to
suspend or expel an individual with exceptional needs in
accordance with federal law. If a pupil with an
individualized education program (IEP) exhibits behavior
problems, the IEP team must make a determination if the
behavior is a manifestation of the disability and whether
the strategies in the IEP are effective to address the
behavior. If it is determined that the IEP is ineffective,
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a functional analysis assessment must be conducted, and
typically the IEP is then amended to include a behavior
intervention plan.
Decision to suspend . The governing board of a school
district is required, unless a request has been made to the
contrary, to hold closed sessions if the board is
considering suspending or taking other disciplinary action
(other than expulsion) if a public hearing would lead to
the release of confidential information. School districts
are required to notify, in writing, the pupil and the
pupil's parent of the intent to call and hold a closed
session.
Expulsion hearing . Pupils are entitled to a hearing to
determine whether the pupil should be expelled. The
expulsion hearing must be held within 30 schooldays after
the date the principal or superintendent determines that
the pupil has committed acts that could warrant expulsion.
Schools are required to send written notice of an expulsion
hearing to the pupil and parent at least 10 calendar days
prior to the date of the expulsion hearing. The notice
must include, among other things, the following
information:
1. Date and place of the hearing.
2. Statement of the specific facts and charges upon which
the proposed expulsion is based.
3. A copy of the disciplinary rules of the district that
related to the alleged violation.
4. The opportunity for the pupil or the pupil's parent to
appear in person or to be represented by legal counsel
or by a non-attorney adviser.
Foster youth . Existing law requires the court to appoint
counsel for a child who is not represented by counsel
unless the court finds that the child would not benefit
from the appointment of counsel. The counsel may be a
district attorney, public defender, or other member of the
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bar provided that he or she does not represent another
party or county agency whose interest conflict with the
child's interests. The primary responsibility of counsel
is to advocate for the protection, safety and physical and
emotional well-being of the foster child.
The case plan for each child placed in foster care must
contain a summary of health and education information or
records of the child, including, among other things, the
names and addresses of the child's health, dental, and
education providers.
This bill requires schools to notify a foster youth's
attorney and representative of the county child welfare
agency (typically the foster youth's social worker) of
pending expulsion or other disciplinary proceedings.
Specifically, this bill:
1. Requires the educational liaison, or another employee
designated by the superintendent of the school district,
to notify a foster child's attorney and the appropriate
representative of the county child welfare agency, of
pending expulsion proceedings, pending proceedings to
extend a suspension, and if the child is an individual
with exceptional needs, pending manifestation
determinations.
2. Authorizes school districts to provide written notice
of an expulsion hearing, if the decision to recommend
expulsion is mandatory and the pupil is a foster child,
to the pupil's attorney and an appropriate
representative of the county child welfare agency at
least 10 calendar days before the date of the hearing.
3. Requires the counsel for a foster youth, if the list of
educational liaisons is available on the website of the
California Department of Education, to provide, on at
least an annual basis, his/her contact information to
the educational liaisons of each school district serving
his/her clients in the county of the court's
jurisdiction.
4. Authorizes, if the council is part of a firm or
organization representing foster youth, the firm or
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organization to provide contact information in lieu of
contact information for individual counsel. The firm or
organization may designate a person or persons within
the firm or organization to receive communications from
educational liaisons.
5. Authorizes the notification currently required
regarding foster youth placed in a licensed children's
institution to include the name and contact information
for a representative of the placing agency who can
communicate with the child's school district and child's
attorney about educational matters.
6. Authorizes the health and education summary for a
foster youth to include the name and contact information
for the educational liaison of the child's school
district.
7. When initially placing a child into foster care or
kinship care, and within 48 hours of any subsequent
placement of that child, the placing agency shall
provide to the child's caretaker both of the following:
A. Prescribed medications for the child that is in the
possession of the placing agency, with instructions
for the use of the medication.
B. Information regarding any treatments that are known
to the placing agency and that are in effect for the
child at the time of the placement, as specified.
8. States the intent of the Legislature, for purposes of
implementing this bill, the notification of, and
invitation to, a parent or guardian for meetings and
hearings related to the discipline of the pupil also is
provided to a person who holds the right to make
educational decisions for a foster child, as specified.
Comments
Disciplinary meetings and hearings. There are many types
of disciplinary meetings that take place ranging from
parent-teacher-student conferences to expulsion hearings.
This bill addresses expulsion hearings, extends suspension
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meetings, and IEP meetings regarding a manifestation
determination.
Expulsion hearings : School districts are required to hold
an expulsion hearing for a pupil prior to making a final
decision to expel the pupil. Districts are authorized to
hold these hearings in various ways; some governing boards
conduct the hearings on their own, while others may appoint
an impartial administrative panel of three or more
certificated persons or contract with the county hearing
officer or with the Office of Administrative Hearings.
These hearings are closed to the public unless the pupil
follows specific procedures to request otherwise. Whether
the hearing is closed or open to the public, the governing
board may hold a closed deliberation session during the
hearing. Existing law allows for the parent or guardian,
the pupil and, if the pupil has counsel, the pupil's
counsel to attend the closed deliberation. The governing
board, administrative panel or hearing officer must
determine whether to recommend expulsion of the pupil
within three schooldays after the hearing. If expulsion is
recommended, the governing board's final decision must be
based upon substantiated evidence of the charges made
against the pupil at the expulsion hearing.
Extended suspension meetings . In cases where expulsion
from any school or suspension for the reminder of the
semester from continuation school is being considered by a
school district, the district superintendent may extend the
suspension until the district board has rendered a
decision. However, an extension may be granted only the
superintendent determines, following a meeting with the
pupil and the pupil's parent or guardian, that the presence
of the pupil at the school or in an alternative school
placement does not cause a danger to persons or property or
a threat of disrupting the instructional process.
Manifestation determination . IEP team meetings making a
manifestation determination are held only for pupils with
exceptional needs to determine whether the behavior leading
to the pending disciplinary action was a manifestation of
the pupil's disability. These meetings are required to be
held for pupils with exceptional needs in compliance with
the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and
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call for the meeting of all individuals regularly involved
in the pupil's IEP team meetings, which do not specifically
include a pupil's counsel or county child welfare worker.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/20/12)
Legal Advocates for Children (co-source)
Public Counsel Law Center (co-source)
State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson
Alameda County Foster Youth Alliance
Alliance for Children's Rights
American Civil Liberties Union of California
Aspiranet
California Alliance of Child and Family Services
California Communities United Institute
California Probation, Parole and Correctional Association
California State Parent Teacher Association
California Youth Connection
California Youth Justice Coalition
Center on Juvenile & Criminal Justice
Chief Probation Officers of California
Children's Advocacy Institute
Children's Defense Fund
Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
Disability Rights Legal Center
Elk Grove Unified School District Foster Youth Services
Fight Crime Invest in Kids California
Lambda Legal
Legal Services for Children
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
National Association of Social Workers
National Center for Youth Law
New America Foundation
PolicyLink
Restorative Schools Vision Project
San Mateo Foster Youth Services
State Bar of California, Family Law Section
Youth and Education Law Project, Mills Legal Clinic
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "Foster
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youth are more likely to exhibit emotional and behavioral
problems than their non-foster peers, which often impact
their school behavior. Children and youth in foster care
receive disproportionate levels of discipline in relation
to their non-foster peers and are more likely to be
suspended or expelled from school. Although foster youth
are more likely to have behavioral issues and receive
school discipline, they do not receive the same level of
adult support as their non-foster peers in disciplinary
situations. Existing law requires that a parent is
notified when their child faces expulsion or is subject to
a manifestation determination meeting. Because foster
youth often change homes and the adult responsible for the
education also shifts, it is difficult for the school to
identify the appropriate adult to contact if discipline
problems arise. AB 1909 would close this communication gap
between the school and those responsible for the foster
youth's welfare."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/29/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth
Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove,
Hagman, Halderman, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez,
Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight,
Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza,
Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen,
Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino,
Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao,
Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cedillo, Fletcher, Hall
PQ:d 8/20/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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