BILL NUMBER: SB 1235 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 20, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 5, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 14, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 18, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senators Steinberg, Price, and Rubio
(Coauthors: Senators Alquist, Lowenthal, and Vargas)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Swanson)
FEBRUARY 23, 2012
An act to amend Section 48911.2 of the Education Code, relating to
pupils.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1235, as amended, Steinberg. Pupils: suspension.
(1) Existing
Existing law prohibits the suspension, or
recommendation for expulsion, of a pupil from school unless the
school district superintendent or the school principal determines
that the pupil has committed any of various specified acts. Existing
law requires the school district superintendent or the school
principal to immediately suspend and recommend the expulsion of a
pupil who is determined to have, at school or at a school activity
off school grounds, possessed, sold, or otherwise furnished a
firearm, brandished a knife at another person, unlawfully sold a
controlled substance, committed or attempted to commit a sexual
assault or battery, as defined, or possessed an explosive.
Existing law states that a school should consider implementing a
supervised suspension program or an alternative to the school's
off-campus suspension program that involves a progressive discipline
approach using specified activities if the number of pupils suspended
from school during the prior school year exceeded 30% of the school'
s enrollment.
This bill would instead require encourage
a school district, commencing with the 2013-14 school year, to
implement, for a minimum of 3 years, at a school where the number of
pupils receiving off-campus suspensions in the prior school year
exceeded 25% of its enrollment, or a numerically significant pupil
subgroup of that enrollment, as defined, either (A) an evidence-based
system of schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports
that employs school-level information about the behavioral and
academic history of pupils to define and implement systems of support
and interventions at the school, classroom, and individual levels
that is aimed at improving the social, emotional, and academic
success for all pupils, or (B) other schoolwide strategies that are
evidence based and designed to address school climate in order to
create learning environments where teachers can teach and pupils can
learn and to reduce suspensions from classrooms and the school.
The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instructi
on to invite a school that meets or exceeds this threshold
percentage of suspensions to attend a regional forum
organized by the Superintendent to provide assistance and training
regarding the strategies described above, among other things.
Commencing with the 2014-15 school year, the bill would decrease by
2% each year the percentage of enrollment or numerically significant
pupil subgroup of enrollment that triggers this requirement
an invitation to attend a regional forum until
it that percentage is 15%, in accordance
with a prescribed schedule. By requiring a school district
to implement one of these strategies, the bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
The bill would authorize the State Department of Education to
provide school districts with information regarding schoolwide
evidence-based strategies that could be implemented.
The bill would require a school at which one of the strategies is
implemented to report to the superintendent of the school district,
the county superintendent of schools, and the Superintendent of
Public Instruction on the rate of reduction in the school's
suspensions and the strategy used to address the matter.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
The bill would require the Superintendent annually to invite the
schools that meet or exceed the specified thresholds applicable to
suspensions to send a school leadership team to a regional forum and
to provide the State Board of Education with the names of the schools
invited to attend a regional forum and the annual rate of reduction
or increase in each school's off-campus suspensions.
The bill would authorize the State Department of Education to
provide school districts with information regarding schoolwide
evidence-based strategies that could be implemented.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 48911.2 of the Education Code is amended to
read:
48911.2. (a) (1) Commencing with the
2013-14 school year and each school year thereafter, if the number of
pupils receiving off-campus suspensions from school during the prior
school year exceeded 25 percent of the school's enrollment or of any
numerically significant pupil subgroup of the school's enrollment,
the school district shall is encouraged to
implement, for a minimum of three years, at least one of the
following strategies at the school for the purpose of reducing the
suspension rate or disproportionality:
(1)
(A) An evidence-based system of schoolwide positive
behavioral interventions and supports that employs school-level
information about the behavioral and academic history of pupils to
define and implement systems of support and interventions at the
school, classroom, and individual levels that is aimed at improving
the social, emotional, and academic success for all pupils.
(2)
(B) Other schoolwide strategies that are evidence based
and designed to address school climate in order to create learning
environments where teachers can teach and pupils can learn and to
reduce suspensions from classrooms and the school. The department may
provide information regarding additional schoolwide strategies that
meet the criteria for evidence-based strategies.
(2) The Superintendent shall invite a school to which this
subdivision applies to send a school leadership team to an annual
regional forum, as described in subdivision (c).
(b) (1) Commencing with the 2014-15 school year, if the
number of pupils receiving off-campus suspensions exceeds the
percentage of a school's enrollment, or of any numerically
significant pupil subgroup of a school's enrollment , whose
suspension triggers the requirements in subdivision (a) shall be
reduced by 2 percent per year until it is 15 percent, in accordance
with the percentages listed in paragraph (2) as set
forth in paragr aph (2), the Superintendent shall invite
the school to send a school leadership team to an annual regional
forum, as described in subdivision (c) .
(2) (A) Twenty-three percent for the 2014-15 school year.
(B) Twenty-one percent for the 2015-16 school year.
(C) Nineteen percent for the 2016-17 school year.
(D) Seventeen percent for the 2017-18 school year.
(E) Fifteen percent for the 2018-19 school year, and each school
year thereafter.
(c) At the end of the academic year, the school shall report to
the superintendent of the school district on the rate of reduction in
the school's off-campus suspensions and the strategies or activities
used to comply with subdivisions (a) and (b). The school district
shall report this information on an annual basis at a regularly
scheduled meeting of the governing board and to the Superintendent
and the county superintendent of schools. The Superintendent shall
publish, on an annual basis, a list of all schools that trigger the
requirements in subdivision (a), and shall include the annual rate of
reduction in each school's off-campus suspensions.
(c) (1) For the 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18
school years, inclusive, the Superintendent shall provide technical
assistance and training at three annual regional forums each year for
schools that exceed the thresholds described in subdivisions (a) and
(b). The purposes of the regional forums shall include, but not be
limited to, all of the following:
(A) Providing training regarding implementation of schoolwide
evidence-based strategies described in subdivision (a).
(B) Using data to create positive school climates and to assist
with data-based decisionmaking.
(C) Sharing resources and evidence-based practices, engaging
community, and building capacity for alternatives to off-campus
suspensions.
(D) Identifying gaps and weaknesses in services.
(E) Identifying and sharing solutions and best practices at the
local level and exposing schools to other school leaders, experts,
and educators in California and nationally who are successfully
implementing the evidence-based strategies described in subdivision
(a).
(F) Evaluating the efficacy of strategies adopted.
(2) On an annual basis, the Superintendent shall invite all
schools that exceed the thresholds in subdivisions (a) and (b) to
send a school leadership team that includes the school principal and
other administrators responsible for implementing alternatives to
excessive suspensions to the applicable regional forum. The
Superintendent shall annually provide to the state board the names of
the schools invited to attend a regional forum and the annual rate
of reduction or increase in each school's off-campus suspensions.
(3) For schools that exceed the thresholds in subdivisions (a) and
(b), the department also shall provide technical assistance
regarding implementation of the schoolwide evidence-based strategies
described in subdivision (a).
(4) The Superintendent may use any appropriate state, federal, or
private funding sources to support the activities described in this
subdivision.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage all schools
to examine alternatives to off-campus suspensions that lead to
resolution of pupil misconduct without sending pupils off campus
and to address disproportionate rates of off-campus and in-school
suspensions . Schools that use strategies described in this
section should not be precluded from suspending pupils to an
off-campus site.
(e) A school district may use any appropriate state or
, federal , or private funding
sources to support the evidence-based schoolwide strategies required
to be implemented at schools that meet the criteria described in
subdivisions (a) and (b).
(f) (1) For purposes of this section, a numerically significant
pupil subgroup includes the subgroups listed in paragraph (2),
consistent with paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 52052,
and that meet at least one of the following criteria:
(A) The subgroup consists of at least 100 pupils enrolled at the
school.
(B) The subgroup consists of at least 50 pupils, and constitutes
at least 15 percent of the total population of pupils enrolled at the
school.
(2) (A) Racial and ethnic subgroups.
(B) Socioeconomically disadvantaged pupils.
(C) English learners.
(D) Pupils with disabilities.
(E) Gender-based subgroups.
SEC. 2. If the Commission on State Mandates
determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs
shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of
Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.