BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 744|
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VETO
Bill No: SB 744
Author: Lara (D)
Amended: 9/3/13
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 7-1, 5/1/13
AYES: Liu, Block, Correa, Hancock, Hueso, Jackson, Monning
NOES: Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 5/23/13
AYES: De Le�n, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Gaines
SENATE FLOOR : 27-11, 5/29/13
AYES: Beall, Block, Calderon, Corbett, Correa, De Le�n,
DeSaulnier, Evans, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso,
Jackson, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Monning, Padilla, Pavley,
Price, Roth, Steinberg, Torres, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Anderson, Berryhill, Cannella, Emmerson, Fuller, Gaines,
Huff, Knight, Nielsen, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wright, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 55-20, 9/9/13 - See last page for vote
SENATE FLOOR : 26-11, 9/10/13
AYES: Beall, Block, Calderon, Corbett, Correa, De Le�n,
DeSaulnier, Evans, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso,
Jackson, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Monning, Padilla, Pavley,
Roth, Steinberg, Torres, Wolk, Wright
NOES: Anderson, Berryhill, Cannella, Emmerson, Fuller, Gaines,
Huff, Knight, Nielsen, Vidak, Wyland
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NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Yee, Vacancy
SUBJECT : Community day schools and community schools
SOURCE : American Civil Liberties Union
Youth Justice Coalition
DIGEST : This bill amends the process for referral to and
programs offered within county community schools and community
day schools.
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides for various educational
options outside of a traditional comprehensive public school,
for students who are expelled from traditional schools or
referred to them by an SARB or probation officer.
The governing board of the school district, at the time
expulsion is ordered, must ensure that an educational program is
provided to the pupil. The district or county program
(community day schools or community schools, respectively) is
the only program required to be provided to expelled pupils.
Each school district governing board may determine to provide
additional programmatic options.
Pupils expelled from school for serious offenses such as
possessing a firearm, brandishing a knife, causing serious
physical injury, selling a controlled substance or committing a
sexual assault are prohibited from enrolling in any school other
than a community school, community day school, or juvenile court
school.
School districts are authorized to establish one or more
community day schools to serve pupils who have been expelled for
any reason, or referred by probation or a SARB.
A county board of education is authorized to maintain one or
more community schools to serve pupils who have been expelled,
referred by probation or an attendance review board, or are
homeless.
Existing law provides that juvenile court schools are public
schools or classes operated by the county superintendent of
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schools in juvenile halls, homes, day centers, ranches, camps,
and youth correctional facilities.
Existing law requires the governing board to recommend a plan of
rehabilitation for the pupil at the time of the expulsion order,
which may include periodic review as well as assessment at the
time of review for readmission. The plan may also include
recommendations for improved academic performance, tutoring,
special education assessments, job training, counseling,
employment, community service, or other programs.
Governing boards are further required to set a date, not later
than the last day of the semester following the semester in
which the expulsion occurred, when the pupil shall be reviewed
for readmission to a school within the district or the school
the pupil last attended.
Governing boards are required to set a date of one year from the
date the expulsion occurred for a pupil who has been expelled
for (1) possessing, selling, or furnishing a firearm; (2)
brandishing a knife at another person; (3) unlawfully selling a
controlled substance; (4) committing or attempting to commit a
sexual assault; or (5) possessing an explosive.
Existing law requires each school district to adopt rules and
regulations establishing a procedure for the filing and
processing of requests for readmission and the process for the
required review of all expelled pupils for readmission.
The governing board of a school district may permit, after the
term of expulsion, the enrollment of a pupil expelled from
another district for one of the most serious offenses if the
board determines the pupil no longer poses a threat.
The governing board of a school district that receives a request
for enrollment from a pupil who has been expelled from another
school district, for acts other than the most serious offenses,
must hold a hearing to determine whether the individual poses a
continuing danger to pupils or employees. If the board finds
the pupil does not pose a danger, the pupil must be permitted to
enroll if the pupil has established residence in the district or
enrolled pursuant to an interdistrict agreement.
Existing law prohibits a pupil from being denied enrollment or
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readmission to a public school solely on the basis that he/she
has had contact with the juvenile justice system, including
arrest, adjudication by a juvenile court, supervision by a
probation officer, detention in a juvenile facility, or
enrollment in a juvenile court school.
A school district governing board, upon voting to expel a pupil,
may suspend the enforcement of the expulsion order for up to one
calendar year and may, as a condition of the suspension of the
enforcement, assign the pupil to a school, class or program that
is deemed appropriate for the rehabilitation of the pupil. Upon
satisfactory completion of the rehabilitation assignment, the
governing board must reinstate the pupil in a school within the
district and may also order the expungement of any or all
records of the expulsion proceedings.
This bill:
1.Prohibits a school district from referring a pupil for
placement in a community school unless the school district, in
consultation with the community school, determines the
community school has space available for that pupil's
enrollment.
2.Prohibits a school district from referring a pupil for
placement in a county community school unless the educational
needs of the pupil, as determined by the school district and
county office of education, can be met in the county community
school.
3.Requires the SARB, or other district-level referral body, to
include a placement option for the pupil that is
geographically accessible to the him/her if the pupil is
referred for placement in a county community school that is
not geographically accessible to the pupil.
4.Prohibits a school district from referring a pupil for
placement in a county community school if the parent or
guardian of the pupil objects to the referral.
5.Restricts the time period for which a pupil can remain in a
county community school by specifying that the pupil has the
right to return to his/her prior school or another appropriate
school within his/her school district at the end of the
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semester following the semester when the act leading to the
referral occurred, regardless of whether the pupil is
successful at the county community school.
6.Removes from the list of eligible pupils for referral to a
county community school, those pupils who are dependent
children of the juvenile courts, pursuant to Section 300 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code.
7.Specifies that the appropriateness of placing a child in a
county community school may be examined in the judicial
hearing in which the placement is made or concerns of the
placement are raised.
8.Specifies that placement in a county community school shall be
in accordance with exiting law that prohibits a school
district from denying a pupil enrollment or readmission to a
public school based on his/her contact with the juvenile
justice system.
9.Prohibits a school district from denying readmission to the
school district of residence based on the pupil's failure to
comply with any additionally imposed criteria beyond the terms
of the initial order or any subsequent order to expel.
10.Prohibits a school district from imposing any additional
academic or behavioral criteria or conditions that would
extend the duration of the placement of a pupil in a county
community school beyond the terms of the initial order or any
subsequent order to expel.
11.Requires a school district to identify the services or
programs that best address the student's needs if included in
a student's readmission plan, including, for example,
substance treatment programs and, recognizing those pupils who
are unable to access services or programs due to circumstances
beyond their control such as financial hardship or geographic
inaccessibility of the program or service location, prohibits
a school district from denying a pupil readmission to the
district based solely on his/her failure to meet the service
or program requirement of his/her rehabilitation plan if that
failure was due to circumstances beyond his/her control.
12.Specifies that independent study programs offered through
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county community day schools shall be in accordance with all
other laws governing independent study programs.
13.Encourages county community day schools to include in their
instructional programs school credit recovery assistance and
tutorial assistance.
14.Requires county boards of education operating county
community schools to ensure that assessments in all areas of
suspected disability and appropriate services and programs
specified in a pupil's individualized education program are
provided in compliance with existing state and federal law.
15.Requires county boards of education operating county
community schools to ensure that appropriate services and
programs designed to address the language needs of pupils
identified as English learners are provided in compliance with
all applicable state and federal laws.
16.Specifies the intent of the Legislature that if an
individualized assessment shows that the pupil requires
additional educational services, supports, such as mental
health counseling, or classes, that are not available at the
community day school, the parent, guardian, or responsible
adult of the pupil, or the probation officer as appropriate,
should be informed.
17.Specifies the circumstances under which a pupil may be
involuntarily transferred to a county community school.
18.Repeals language relating to enrollment of homeless children
and youth in county community schools.
19.Reiterates existing provisions of the Welfare and
Institutions Code for the placements of pupils who are on
probation or are under the supervision of a probation officer.
20.Extends procedures established under the California Rules of
Court as they relate to the rights of children in a judicial
proceeding to the placement of a pupil in an alternative
setting by a probation officer.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
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According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
County community and community day schools: Potentially
significant ongoing savings, to the extent that students that
would have enrolled in county community and community day
schools instead attend traditional schools.
Mandate: Individual education services - To the extent that
this bill expands a local education agency's (LEA's) role in
providing or securing services related to a pupil's
educational assessment, those additional activities may
constitute a reimbursable state mandate.
Mandate: Expulsion procedures - This bill creates a new
mandate on LEAs by changing expulsion hearing requirements.
The long-term result is likely minor ongoing savings, but
there may be one-time reimbursable costs to change LEA
process, materials and training.
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/18/13)
American Civil Liberties Union of California (co-source)
Youth Justice Coalition (co-source)
Advancement Project
Brothers, Sons, Selves Coalition
California County Superintendents Educational Services
Association
California Families to Abolish Solitary Confinement
California Latino School Boards Association
California Rural Legal Assistance
Californians United for a Responsible Budget
Centro C.H.A., Inc.
Children Now
Children's Defense Fund, California
Community Asset Development Redefining Education
Critical Resistance
Families in Good Health
Fight Crime, Invest in Kids
Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center of Orange County
Gay-Straight Alliance Network
Humboldt County Office of Education
Justice Now
Labor/Community Strategy Center's Community Rights Campaign
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Legal Advocates for Children and Youth
Legal Services for Children
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Liberty Hill Foundation
Los Angeles Community Action Network
Los Angeles Unified School District
Mills Legal Clinic of Stanford University School of Law
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Center for Youth Law
National Juvenile Justice Network
Orange County Department of Education
Policy Link
Public Counsel
Public Interest Law Firm
Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles
W. Haywood Burns Institute
Weingart East Los Angeles YMCA
Youth Law Center
Youth Leadership Institute
OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/18/13)
Association of California School Administrators
California School Boards Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "Currently,
students are involuntarily transferred to county community and
community day schools without due process, without ensuring that
a parent or guardian's right to choose a school for their child
is protected and with minimal consideration as to whether the
placement is the appropriate educational fit for the educational
needs of the student."
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE:
"I am returning Senate Bill 744 without my signature.
This bill imposes new and rather specific requirements on
the way local schools handle disruptive students.
The recently enacted Local Control Funding Formula has
created a new regime of greater equity and increased
accountability at the local level. I'm putting my trust in
the skill and good faith of local educators to manage the
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issues that are the subject of this bill in a caring and
responsible way."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 55-20, 9/9/13
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta,
Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez,
Chesbro, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier,
Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hagman, Hall,
Roger Hern�ndez, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal,
Medina, Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Pan, Perea, V.
Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner,
Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A.
P�rez
NOES: Achadjian, Allen, Bigelow, Conway, Dahle, Donnelly, Beth
Gaines, Grove, Harkey, Jones, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor,
Melendez, Morrell, Nestande, Patterson, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gorell, Linder, Olsen, Vacancy, Vacancy
PQ/RM:ne:n 1/6/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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