AB 420, as amended, Dickinson. Pupil discipline: suspensions: willful defiance.
Existing law prohibits a pupil from being suspended from school or recommended for expulsion, unless the superintendent of the school district or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has committed a specified act, including, among other acts, disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully defying the valid authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties.begin insert Existing law authorizes a teacher to suspend from his or her class a pupil in any grade level for those same acts.end insert
This bill wouldbegin delete limit that authority of a superintendent of a school district and a principal regarding disruptive or similar pupil conduct by prohibiting a recommendation of expulsion for a pupil on those basis. It would limitend deletebegin insert
eliminateend insert the authority to suspendbegin delete for disruptive or similar conduct to a pupil who isend deletebegin insert a pupilend insert enrolled inbegin delete any of grades 6 to 12, inclusive, who has substantially disrupted school activities or substantially prevented instruction from occurring, only on or after the 3rd offense in a school year, and only if the pupil’s parent, guardian, or education rights holder has been informed that
other specified correction measures were attempted before the recommendation to suspend. The bill also would state the intent of the Legislature to, among other things, address the disproportionate suspension of particular subgroups of pupils and encourage schools to instead prioritize and use alternative means of correction.end deletebegin insert kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 3, inclusive, and the authority to recommend for expulsion a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, for disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully defying the valid authority of those school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties. The bill would make the restrictions inoperative on July 1, 2018.end insert
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
begin insertSection 48900 of the end insertbegin insertEducation Codeend insertbegin insert is amended
2to read:end insert
A pupil shall not be suspended from school or
4recommended for expulsion, unless the superintendent of the school
5district or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled
6determines that the pupil has committed an act as defined pursuant
7to any of subdivisions (a) to (r), inclusive:
8(a) (1) Caused, attempted to cause, or threatened to cause
9physical injury to another person.
10(2) Willfully used force or violence upon the person of another,
11except in self-defense.
12(b) Possessed, sold, or otherwise furnished a firearm, knife,
13explosive, or other dangerous object, unless, in the case of
14possession of an object of this type,
the pupil had obtained written
15permission to possess the item from a certificated school employee,
P3 1which is concurred in by the principal or the designee of the
2principal.
3(c) Unlawfully possessed, used, sold, or otherwise furnished,
4or been under the influence of, a controlled substance listed in
5Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11053) of Division 10 of the
6Health and Safety Code, an alcoholic beverage, or an intoxicant
7of any kind.
8(d) Unlawfully offered, arranged, or negotiated to sell a
9controlled substance listed in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section
1011053) of Division 10 of the Health and Safety Code, an alcoholic
11beverage, or an intoxicant of any kind, and either sold, delivered,
12or otherwise furnished to a person another liquid, substance, or
13material and represented the liquid, substance, or material as a
14controlled substance, alcoholic beverage, or intoxicant.
15(e) Committed or attempted to commit robbery or extortion.
16(f) Caused or attempted to cause damage to school property or
17private property.
18(g) Stole or attempted to steal school property or private
19property.
20(h) Possessed or used tobacco, or products containing tobacco
21or nicotine products, including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars,
22miniature cigars, clove cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, snuff, chew
23packets, and betel. However, this section does not prohibit use or
24possession by a pupil of his or her own prescription products.
25(i) Committed an obscene act or engaged in habitual profanity
26or vulgarity.
27(j) Unlawfully
possessed or unlawfully offered, arranged, or
28negotiated to sell drug paraphernalia, as defined in Section 11014.5
29of the Health and Safety Code.
30(k) begin insert(1)end insertbegin insert end insertDisrupted school activities or otherwise willfully defied
31the valid authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school
32officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of
33their duties.
34(2) Notwithstanding any other law, a pupil enrolled in
35kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 3, inclusive, shall not be
36suspended for any of the acts enumerated in this subdivision, and
37this subdivision shall not constitute grounds for a pupil enrolled
38in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to be
39
recommended for expulsion. This paragraph shall become
40inoperative on July 1, 2018, unless a later enacted statute that
P4 1becomes operative before July 1, 2018, deletes or extends that
2date.
3(l) Knowingly received stolen school property or private
4property.
5(m) Possessed an imitation firearm. As used in this section,
6“imitation firearm” means a replica of a firearm that is so
7substantially similar in physical properties to an existing firearm
8as to lead a reasonable person to conclude that the replica is a
9firearm.
10(n) Committed or attempted to commit a sexual assault as
11defined in Section 261, 266c, 286, 288, 288a, or 289 of the Penal
12Code or committed a sexual battery as defined in Section 243.4
13of the Penal Code.
14(o) Harassed, threatened, or intimidated a pupil who is a
15complaining witness or a witness in a school disciplinary
16proceeding for purposes of either preventing that pupil from being
17a witness or retaliating against that pupil for being a witness, or
18both.
19(p) Unlawfully offered, arranged to sell, negotiated to sell, or
20sold the prescription drug Soma.
21(q) Engaged in, or attempted to engage in, hazing. For purposes
22of this subdivision, “hazing” means a method of initiation or
23preinitiation into a pupil organization or body, whether or not the
24organization or body is officially recognized by an educational
25institution, which is likely to cause serious bodily injury or personal
26degradation or disgrace resulting in physical or mental harm to a
27former, current, or prospective pupil. For purposes of this
28subdivision, “hazing” does not include athletic events or
29
school-sanctioned events.
30(r) Engaged in an act of bullying. For purposes of this
31subdivision, the following terms have the following meanings:
32(1) “Bullying” means any severe or pervasive physical or verbal
33act or conduct, including communications made in writing or by
34means of an electronic act, and including one or more acts
35committed by a pupil or group of pupils as defined in Section
3648900.2, 48900.3, or 48900.4, directed toward one or more pupils
37that has or can be reasonably predicted to have the effect of one
38or more of the following:
39(A) Placing a reasonable pupil or pupils in fear of harm to that
40pupil’s or those pupils’ person or property.
P5 1(B) Causing a reasonable pupil to experience a substantially
2detrimental effect on his or her physical
or mental health.
3(C) Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial
4interference with his or her academic performance.
5(D) Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial
6interference with his or her ability to participate in or benefit from
7the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.
8(2) (A) “Electronic act” means the creation and transmission
9originated on or off the schoolsite, by means of an electronic
10device, including, but not limited to, a telephone, wireless
11telephone, or other wireless communication device, computer, or
12pager, of a communication, including, but not limited to, any of
13the following:
14(i) A message, text, sound, or image.
15(ii) A post on a social network Internet Web site, including, but
16not limited to:
17(I) Posting to or creating a burn page. “Burn page” means an
18Internet Web site created for the purpose of having one or more
19of the effects listed in paragraph (1).
20(II) Creating a credible impersonation of another actual pupil
21for the purpose of having one or more of the effects listed in
22paragraph (1). “Credible impersonation” means to knowingly and
23without consent impersonate a pupil for the purpose of bullying
24the pupil and such that another pupil would reasonably believe, or
25has reasonably believed, that the pupil was or is the pupil who was
26impersonated.
27(III) Creating a false profile for the purpose of having one or
28more of the effects listed in paragraph (1). “False
profile” means
29a profile of a fictitious pupil or a profile using the likeness or
30attributes of an actual pupil other than the pupil who created the
31false profile.
32(B) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) and subparagraph (A), an
33electronic act shall not constitute pervasive conduct solely on the
34basis that it has been transmitted on the Internet or is currently
35posted on the Internet.
36(3) “Reasonable pupil” means a pupil, including, but not limited
37to, an exceptional needs pupil, who exercises average care, skill,
38and judgment in conduct for a person of his or her age, or for a
39person of his or her age with his or her exceptional needs.
P6 1(s) A pupil shall not be suspended or expelled for any of the
2acts enumerated in this section unless the act is related to a school
3activity or school attendance occurring within a school
under the
4jurisdiction of the superintendent of the school district or principal
5or occurring within any other school district. A pupil may be
6suspended or expelled for acts that are enumerated in this section
7and related to a school activity or school attendance that occur at
8any time, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
9(1) While on school grounds.
10(2) While going to or coming from school.
11(3) During the lunch period whether on or off the campus.
12(4) During, or while going to or coming from, a
13school-sponsored activity.
14(t) A pupil who aids or abets, as defined in Section 31 of the
15Penal Code, the infliction or attempted infliction of physical injury
16to another person
may be subject to suspension, but not expulsion,
17pursuant to this section, except that a pupil who has been adjudged
18by a juvenile court to have committed, as an aider and abettor, a
19crime of physical violence in which the victim suffered great bodily
20injury or serious bodily injury shall be subject to discipline pursuant
21to subdivision (a).
22(u) As used in this section, “school property” includes, but is
23not limited to, electronic files and databases.
24(v) For a pupil subject to discipline under this section, a
25superintendent of the school district or principal may use his or
26her discretion to provide alternatives to suspension or expulsion
27that are age appropriate and designed to address and correct the
28pupil’s specific misbehavior as specified in Section 48900.5.
29(w) It is the intent of the Legislature that
alternatives to
30suspension or expulsion be imposed against a pupil who is truant,
31tardy, or otherwise absent from school activities.
Section 48900 of the Education Code is amended
33to read:
A pupil shall not be suspended from school or
35recommended for expulsion, unless the superintendent of the school
36district or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled
37determines that the pupil has committed an act as defined pursuant
38to any of subdivisions (a) to (r), inclusive:
39(a) (1) Caused, attempted to cause, or threatened to cause
40physical injury to another person.
P7 1(2) Willfully used force or violence upon the person of another,
2except in self-defense.
3(b) Possessed, sold, or otherwise furnished a firearm, knife,
4explosive, or other dangerous
object, unless, in the case of
5possession of an object of this type, the pupil had obtained written
6permission to possess the item from a certificated school employee,
7which is concurred in by the principal or the designee of the
8principal.
9(c) Unlawfully possessed, used, sold, or otherwise furnished,
10or been under the influence of, a controlled substance listed in
11Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11053) of Division 10 of the
12Health and Safety Code, an alcoholic beverage, or an intoxicant
13of any kind.
14(d) Unlawfully offered, arranged, or negotiated to sell a
15controlled substance listed in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section
1611053) of Division 10 of the Health and Safety Code, an alcoholic
17beverage, or an intoxicant of any kind, and either sold, delivered,
18or otherwise
furnished to a person another liquid, substance, or
19material and represented the liquid, substance, or material as a
20controlled substance, alcoholic beverage, or intoxicant.
21(e) Committed or attempted to commit robbery or extortion.
22(f) Caused or attempted to cause damage to school property or
23private property.
24(g) Stole or attempted to steal school property or private
25property.
26(h) Possessed or used tobacco, or products containing tobacco
27or nicotine products, including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars,
28miniature cigars, clove cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, snuff, chew
29packets, and betel. However, this section does not prohibit use or
30possession by a
pupil of his or her own prescription products.
31(i) Committed an obscene act or engaged in habitual profanity
32or vulgarity.
33(j) Unlawfully possessed or unlawfully offered, arranged, or
34negotiated to sell drug paraphernalia, as defined in Section 11014.5
35of the Health and Safety Code.
36(k) (1) A pupil enrolled in any of grades 6 to 12, inclusive, who
37has substantially disrupted school activities or substantially
38prevented instruction from occurring.
39(2) A pupil may only be suspended from school pursuant to this
40
subdivision on or after the third offense in a school year, and only
P8 1if the pupil’s parent, guardian, or education rights holder has been
2informed that other means of correction, pursuant to Section
348900.5, were attempted before the recommendation to suspend.
4Pursuant to Section 48900.5, a school district may document other
5means of correction but is not required to do so.
6(3) Notwithstanding any other law, this subdivision shall not
7constitute grounds for a pupil to be recommended for expulsion.
8(4) It is the intent of the Legislature to address the
9disproportionate suspension of particular subgroups of pupils, to
10minimize the excessive use of
this subdivision as a reason to
11impose in-school and
off-campus removals that often lead to poor
12educational outcomes, and to encourage schools to instead
13prioritize and use alternative means of correction such as
14participation in a restorative justice program, a positive behavior
15support system with tiered interventions, or other forms of
16correction as specified in Section 48900.5, in order to improve
17educational outcomes for children.
18(l) Knowingly received stolen school property or private
19property.
20(m) Possessed an imitation firearm. As used in this section,
21“imitation firearm” means a replica of a firearm that is so
22substantially similar in physical properties to an existing firearm
23as to lead a reasonable person to conclude that the replica is a
24firearm.
25(n) Committed or attempted to commit a sexual assault as
26defined in Section 261, 266c, 286, 288, 288a, or 289 of the Penal
27Code or committed a sexual battery as defined in Section 243.4
28of the Penal Code.
29(o) Harassed, threatened, or intimidated a pupil who is a
30complaining witness or a witness in a school disciplinary
31proceeding for purposes of either preventing that pupil from being
32a witness or retaliating against that pupil for being a witness, or
33both.
34(p) Unlawfully offered, arranged to sell, negotiated to sell, or
35sold the prescription drug Soma.
36(q) Engaged in, or attempted to engage in, hazing. For purposes
37of this subdivision, “hazing” means a method of initiation or
38preinitiation into a pupil
organization or body, whether or not the
39organization or body is officially recognized by an educational
40institution, which is likely to cause serious bodily injury or personal
P9 1degradation or disgrace resulting in physical or mental harm to a
2
former, current, or prospective pupil. For purposes of this
3subdivision, “hazing” does not include athletic events or
4school-sanctioned events.
5(r) Engaged in an act of bullying. For purposes of this
6subdivision, the following terms have the following meanings:
7(1) “Bullying” means any severe or pervasive physical or verbal
8act or conduct, including communications made in writing or by
9means of an electronic act, and including one or more acts
10committed by a pupil or group of pupils as defined in Section
1148900.2, 48900.3, or 48900.4, directed toward one or more pupils
12that has or can be reasonably predicted to have the effect of one
13or more of the following:
14(A) Placing a reasonable pupil or pupils in
fear of harm to that
15pupil’s or those pupils’ person or property.
16(B) Causing a reasonable pupil to experience a substantially
17detrimental effect on his or her physical or mental health.
18(C) Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial
19interference with his or her academic performance.
20(D) Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial
21interference with his or her ability to participate in or benefit from
22the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.
23(2) (A) “Electronic act” means the transmission, by means of
24an electronic device, including, but not limited to, a telephone,
25wireless telephone, or other wireless
communication device,
26computer, or pager, of a communication, including, but not limited
27to, any of the following:
28(i) A message, text, sound, or image.
29(ii) A post on a social network Internet Web site including, but
30not limited to:
31(I) Posting to or creating a burn page. “Burn page” means an
32Internet Web site created for the purpose of having one or more
33of the effects listed in paragraph (1).
34(II) Creating a credible impersonation of another actual pupil
35for the purpose of having one or more of the effects listed in
36paragraph (1). “Credible impersonation” means to knowingly and
37without consent impersonate a pupil for the purpose of bullying
38the pupil
and such that another pupil would reasonably believe, or
39has reasonably believed, that the pupil was or is the pupil who was
40impersonated.
P10 1(III) Creating a false profile for the purpose of having one or
2more of the effects listed in paragraph (1). “False profile” means
3a profile of a fictitious pupil or a profile using the likeness or
4attributes of an actual pupil other than the pupil who created the
5false profile.
6(B) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) and subparagraph (A), an
7electronic act shall not constitute pervasive conduct solely on the
8basis that it has been transmitted on the Internet or is currently
9posted on the Internet.
10(3) “Reasonable pupil” means a pupil, including, but not limited
11to, an exceptional
needs pupil, who exercises average care, skill,
12and judgment in conduct for a person of his or her age, or for a
13person of his or her age with his or her exceptional needs.
14(s) A pupil shall not be suspended or expelled for any of the
15acts enumerated in this section unless the act is related to a school
16activity or school attendance occurring within a school under the
17jurisdiction of the superintendent of the school district or principal
18or occurring within any other school district. A pupil may be
19suspended or expelled for acts that are enumerated in this section
20and related to a school activity or school attendance that occur at
21any time, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
22(1) While on school grounds.
23(2) While going to or coming from school.
24(3) During the lunch period whether on or off the campus.
25(4) During, or while going to or coming from, a
26school-sponsored activity.
27(t) A pupil who aids or abets, as defined in Section 31 of the
28Penal Code, the infliction or attempted infliction of physical injury
29to another person may be subject to suspension, but not expulsion,
30pursuant to this section, except that a pupil who has been adjudged
31by a juvenile court to have committed, as an aider and abettor, a
32crime of physical violence in which the victim suffered great bodily
33injury or serious bodily injury shall be subject to discipline pursuant
34to subdivision (a).
35(u) As used in this section, “school property” includes, but is
36not limited to, electronic files and databases.
37(v) For a pupil subject to discipline under this section, a
38superintendent of the school district or principal may use his or
39her discretion to provide alternatives to suspension or expulsion
P11 1that are age appropriate and designed to address and correct the
2pupil’s specific misbehavior as specified in Section 48900.5.
3(w) It is the intent of the Legislature that alternatives to
4suspension or expulsion be imposed against a pupil who is truant,
5tardy, or otherwise absent from school activities.
Section 48910 of the Education Code is amended to
7read:
(a) A teacher may suspend any pupil from class, for
9any of the acts enumerated in Section 48900, for the day of the
10suspension and the day following. The teacher shall immediately
11report the suspension to the principal of the school and send the
12pupil to the principal or the designee of the principal for appropriate
13action. If that action requires the continued presence of the pupil
14at the schoolsite, the pupil shall be under appropriate supervision,
15as defined in policies and related regulations adopted by the
16governing board of the school district. As soon as possible, the
17teacher shall ask the parent or guardian of the pupil to attend a
18parent-teacher conference regarding the suspension. If practicable,
19a
school counselor or a school psychologist may attend the
20conference. A school administrator shall attend the conference if
21the teacher or the parent or guardian so requests. The pupil shall
22not be returned to the class from which he or she was suspended,
23during the period of the suspension, without the concurrence of
24the teacher of the class and the principal.
25(b) A pupil suspended from a class shall not be placed in another
26regular class during the period of suspension. However, if the pupil
27is assigned to more than one class per day this subdivision shall
28apply only to other regular classes scheduled at the same time as
29the class from which the pupil was suspended.
30(c) A teacher may also refer a pupil, for any of the acts
31enumerated in Section 48900, to the principal or the designee
of
32the principal for consideration of a suspension from the school.
33(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (k) of Section 48900, a teacher
34may suspend a pupil in any grade level from class, including for
35a first offense and from a one-room schoolhouse, for disrupting
36school activities or otherwise willfully defying the valid authority
37of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other
38school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties.
O
95