BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2300
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Date of Hearing: April 11, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 2300 (Swanson) - As Amended: April 9, 2012
SUBJECT : Pupil records: suspensions: community service:
disclosure
SUMMARY : Prohibits, at the request of a pupil or a pupil's
parent or guardian, a school from disclosing to a postsecondary
educational institution a pupil's disciplinary records relating
to suspensions. Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies that at the request of a pupil or a pupil's parent
or guardian, a school shall not disclose to a postsecondary
educational institution, when providing transcript data or
other pupil information to that institution, the pupil's
disciplinary records relating to a suspension, if:
a) The suspension was for a minor offense specified in the
policy adopted by the school district; and,
b) The pupil has completed five hours of approved community
service and submitted proof of completion.
2)Requires a school district to adopt a policy regarding which
behaviors constitute minor offenses for purposes of this bill.
Requires the behaviors identified in this policy to include,
but not be limited, to, the willful defiance of a teacher's
authority and the habitual use of profanity.
3)Specifies that when a suspension is imposed for a minor
offense specified in the school district's policy, the pupil
and the pupil's parent or guardian shall be informed of the
option to perform community service.
4)Specifies that if a pupil opts to perform community service,
he or she shall obtain approval from the school before
commencing the community service. Authorizes a school to
reject community service that it finds has little or no
educational value.
5)Specifies that upon completion of the five hours of community
service, a pupil shall submit proof of completion using either
of the following:
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a) A note from a school employee, if the community service
is completed at a school within the school district that
the pupil attends; or,
b) A letter from the employee or volunteer of the program
or agency, if the community service is completed through a
program that is not operated by the school district.
6)Expresses the intent of the Legislature that this bill not be
construed to eliminate or change the obligation of a school to
report suspension offenses to the California Department of
Education (CDE) or otherwise report or maintain disciplinary
data.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that a pupil may be suspended or expelled for
committing any of the following offenses:
a) Causing, attempting to cause, or threatening to cause
physical injury to another person; or willfully using force
or violence upon another person, except in self-defense;
b) Possessing, selling, or otherwise furnishing a firearm,
knife, explosive, or other dangerous object;
c) Unlawfully possessing, using, selling or otherwise
furnishing a controlled substance;
d) Unlawfully offering, arranging or negotiating to sell a
controlled substance, alcoholic beverage, or an intoxicant
of any kind;
e) Committing or attempting to commit robbery or extortion;
f) Causing or attempting to cause damage to school property
or private property;
g) Stealing or attempting to steal school property or
private property;
h) Possessing or using tobacco, or products containing
tobacco or nicotine products;
i) Committing an obscene act or engaging in habitual
profanity or vulgarity;
j) Unlawfully possessing or unlawfully offering, arranging
or negotiating to sell drug paraphernalia;
aa) Disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully
defying the authority of supervisors, teachers,
administrators, school officials or other school personnel
engaged in the performance of their duties;
bb) Knowingly receive stolen school property or private
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property;
cc) Possessing an imitation firearm;
dd) Committing or attempting to commit a sexual assault or
sexual battery;
ee) Harassing, threatening or intimidating a pupil who is a
complaining witness or a witness in a school disciplinary
proceeding in order to prevent the pupil from being a
witness or retaliating against that pupil for being a
witness, or both;
ff) Unlawfully offering, arranging to sell, or negotiating
to sell the prescription drug Soma;
gg) Engaging in or attempting to engage in hazing;
hh) Engaging in the act of bullying, including, but not
limited to, bullying committed by means of an electronic
act;
ii) Committing sexual harassment (grades 4 through 12 only);
jj) Causing or attempting to cause, threatening to cause, or
participating in an act of hate violence (grades 4 through
12 only);
aaa) Engaging in harassment, threats, or intimidation against
school district personnel or pupils that have the effect of
disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder and
invading the rights of either school personnel or pupils by
creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment
(grades 4 through 12 only); and,
bbb) Making a terroristic threat against school officials or
school property, or both. (Education Code (EC) Sections
48900, 48900.2, 48900.3, 48900.4, 48900.7)
2)Requires, for purposes of notification to parents, and for the
reporting of expulsion or suspension offenses to the CDE, each
district to specifically identify, by offenses committed, in
all appropriate official records of a pupil each suspension of
expulsion of that pupil for the commission of any of specified
offenses. (EC Section 48900.8)
3)Provides that a suspension shall only be imposed when other
means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct. (EC
Section 48900.5)
4)Provides that as part of or instead of disciplinary action, a
principal, a principal's designee, a superintendent of school,
or a governing board may require a pupil to perform community
service on school grounds, or with written permission of the
parents or guardians, off school grounds, during the pupil's
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nonschool hours. (EC Section 48900.6)
5)Provides that a pupil may be assigned to a supervised
suspension classroom if the pupil poses no imminent danger or
threat to the campus, pupils or staff and authorizes the
school to continue to claim apportionment for the pupil if the
classroom is staffed and enables the pupil to complete
schoolwork and tests missed by the pupil during the
suspension. Requires the pupil to contact his or her
teacher(s) to receive the assignments and requires the
teacher(s) to provide all assignments and tests the pupil will
miss while suspended. (EC Section 48911.1)
6)Provides that a suspension may be made by a teacher, a
principal or a principal's designee, a superintendent of
schools or a governing board. Requires a conference to be
held between the pupil, his or her parents or guardians,
teacher, principal or principal's designee, or superintendent
regarding the suspension. (EC Section 48911)
7)Provides that a principal shall not suspend a pupil from
school for more than five consecutive days and the total
number of days for which a pupil may be suspended from school
shall not exceed 20 schooldays in any school year. (EC
Sections 48903 and 48911)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : This bill prohibits a school from disclosing
information regarding any suspensions for minor offenses a pupil
may have on his or her school record to any postsecondary
educational institution, when providing transcript data or other
pupil information to that institution, if the pupil completes
five hours of community service. The bill requires a school
district to develop a policy to determine the offenses
considered "minor," but requires the policy to include "willful
defiance of a teacher's authority" and "habitual use of
profanity." The type of community service to be performed must
be approved by the school.
Purpose of the bill . The author states that schools are
increasingly using "zero tolerance" disciplinary policies and
criminalizing behaviors that were previously handled by the
school, such as disturbing the peace and destruction of
property. The author further states that suspensions
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disproportionately impacts students of color. By allowing
students to do community work, this bill gives students an
opportunity to correct and learn from minor bad behaviors and
prevent them from impacting students' higher education
opportunities.
Under existing law, a principal or a superintendent may suspend
or expel a pupil for committing any of a number of specified
acts, including "disruption of school activities or willful
defiance." The CDE reported that in 2010-11, of a total
enrollment of 6,174,717, there were 700,884 suspensions and
18,649 expulsions. Unfortunately, the CDE does not currently
offer disaggregated data that show the causes for suspensions
and expulsions and only reports the categories that are required
for federal reporting purposes, which includes the categories of
"violent drug expulsion," "non-student firearm incidents," and
"persistently dangerous expulsions." It is not known how many of
the 700,884 suspensions were due to "disrupting school
activities or willful defiance," although calculations of school
level data by some put the estimate at around 42% while the
national level estimate is 43%.
Current law requires schools to consider suspension only when
other means of correction fail, which may include counseling and
anger management programs. Current law also allow a principal,
superintendent or governing board to require a pupil to perform
community service on school grounds or, with written permission
of the parent or guardian of the pupil, off school grounds,
during the pupil's non-school hours. The community service
authorized by this bill is in addition to the community service
required in lieu of suspension.
Do postsecondary institutions require disciplinary records as
part of the application for admission or otherwise part of the
enrollment process? California's public higher education
institutions do not require disciplinary records for admission.
The author indicates that private colleges may require
disciplinary records. The author is also concerned that some
high school transcripts may include notations of disciplinary
actions.
Why five hours ? According to the author's office, since the
community service will be performed after school hours and since
the suspensions are for minor offenses, the author believes that
five hours is a reasonable amount of time for students to learn
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from the experience while not distracting students from their
school work.
Committee amendments . The bill does not specify whether the
five hours of community service is for each suspension or for
all suspensions in the pupil's record. The author's office
indicates that the intent is to require five hours for each
suspension. Staff recommends an amendment to clarify that each
suspension requires five hours of community service. Staff also
recommends clarifying that the community service is to be
performed during non-school hours. The bill requires the policy
to be developed by the school district to include "willful
defiance of a teacher's authority" and the "habitual use of
profanity." Staff recommends specifying that the two
classifications are pursuant to Education Code Section 48900 (k)
and (i), respectfully.
Related legislation . A number of bills have been introduced
this year attempting to reduce the use of punitive measures to
respond to disciplinary and attendance problems. They include
the following:
AB 1729 (Ammiano), also on today's agenda, requires other means
of correction to be used and documented prior to the suspension
or expulsion of any student and revises the steps taken for
suspensions and expulsions of students with exceptional needs.
AB 2242 (Dickinson), also on today's agenda, imposes in-school
suspension and prohibits off-campus suspension or extended
suspension, or expulsion, due to disruption of school activities
or willful defiance of school officials.
AB 2537 (V. Manuel Perez), also on today's agenda, limits the
acts committed by pupils that result in mandatory expulsion;
authorizes, rather than requires, a school district to expel a
student for committing specified acts; and authorizes, rather
than requires, a principal to notify appropriate law enforcement
authorities of specified acts committed by pupils.
AB 2616 (Carter), pending in this Committee, eliminates the
requirement and instead authorizes a school to use its
discretion to classify a pupil who misses three full days in one
school year or is tardy or absent for more than a 30-minute
period during the schoolday without a valid excuse on three
occasions in one school year, or any combination thereof, as a
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truant.
SB 1235 (Steinberg), pending in the Senate, requires a school
district to, if the number of pupils suspended from school
during the prior school year exceeded 25% of a school's
enrollment or any numerically significant racial or ethnic
subgroup, implement for a minimum of three years, an
evidence-based system of schoolwide positive behavioral
interventions or strategies that are evidence based and designed
to address school climate.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(prior version)
Opposition
Association of California School Administrators (prior version)
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087