Bill Text: CA AB420 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 420 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Pupil discipline: suspensions and expulsions: willful defiance.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Passed) 2014-09-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 660, Statutes of 2014. [AB420 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AB420-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 420	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 19, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 24, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 10, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Dickinson
   (  Coauthor:   Assembly Member 
 John A. P�rez  Coauthors:   Assembly
Members   Alejo,   Ammiano,   Brown, 
 John A. P�rez,   and V. Manuel P�rez  )
   (Coauthor: Senator Leno)

                        FEBRUARY 15, 2013

   An act to amend  Section   Sections 
48900  and 48910  of the Education Code, relating to pupil
discipline.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   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.
   This bill would limit that authority of a superintendent of a
school district and a principal  by only allowing 
 regarding disruptive or similar pupil conduct by prohibiting a
  recommendation of expulsion for  a pupil  on
those basis. It would limit the authority to suspend for disruptive
or similar conduct to a pupil who is  enrolled in any of grades
6 to 12, inclusive,  to be suspended, but not expelled, for
willful defiance   who has substantially disrupted
school activities or substantially prevented instruction from
occurring, only  on or after the 3rd offense in a school year,
 provided   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 minimize the excessive use of willful
defiance   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.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 48900 of the Education Code is amended to read:

   48900.  A pupil shall not be 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 an act as defined pursuant to any of
subdivisions (a) to (r), inclusive:
   (a) (1) Caused, attempted to cause, or threatened to cause
physical injury to another person.
   (2) Willfully used force or violence upon the person of another,
except in self-defense.
   (b) Possessed, sold, or otherwise furnished a firearm, knife,
explosive, or other dangerous object, unless, in the case of
possession of an object of this type, the pupil had obtained written
permission to possess the item from a certificated school employee,
which is concurred in by the principal or the designee of the
principal.
   (c) Unlawfully possessed, used, sold, or otherwise furnished, or
been under the influence of, a controlled substance listed in Chapter
2 (commencing with Section 11053) of Division 10 of the Health and
Safety Code, an alcoholic beverage, or an intoxicant of any kind.
   (d) Unlawfully offered, arranged, or negotiated to sell a
controlled substance listed in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section
11053) of Division 10 of the Health and Safety Code, an alcoholic
beverage, or an intoxicant of any kind, and either sold, delivered,
or otherwise furnished to a person another liquid, substance, or
material and represented the liquid, substance, or material as a
controlled substance, alcoholic beverage, or intoxicant.
   (e) Committed or attempted to commit robbery or extortion.
   (f) Caused or attempted to cause damage to school property or
private property.
   (g) Stole or attempted to steal school property or private
property.
   (h) Possessed or used tobacco, or products containing tobacco or
nicotine products, including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars,
miniature cigars, clove cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, snuff, chew
packets, and betel. However, this section does not prohibit use or
possession by a pupil of his or her own prescription products.
   (i) Committed an obscene act or engaged in habitual profanity or
vulgarity.
   (j) Unlawfully possessed or unlawfully offered, arranged, or
negotiated to sell drug paraphernalia, as defined in Section 11014.5
of the Health and Safety Code.
   (k) (1) A pupil enrolled in any of grades 6 to 12, inclusive, 
who has substantially  disrupted school activities or 
otherwise willfully defied the valid authority of supervisors,
teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school personnel
engaged in the performance of their duties  
substantially prevented instruction from occurring  .
   (2) A pupil may only be suspended from school pursuant to this
subdivision on or after the third offense in a school year, 
provided   and only if   the pupil's parent,
guardian, or education rights holder has been informed that 
other means of correction, pursuant to Section 48900.5, were
attempted before the recommendation to suspend. Pursuant to Section
48900.5, a school district may document other means of correction but
is not required to do so.
   (3) Notwithstanding any other law, this subdivision shall not
constitute grounds for a pupil to be recommended for expulsion.

   (4) This subdivision does not prevent a teacher from suspending a
pupil from class, pursuant to Section 48910, for conduct described in
paragraph (1).  
   (5) 
    (   4)  It is the intent of the Legislature
 to address the disproportionate suspension of particular
subgroups of pupils,  to minimize the excessive use of 
willful defiance   this subdivision  as a reason to
impose in-school and off-campus removals that often lead to poor
educational outcomes, and to encourage schools to instead prioritize
and use alternative means of correction such as participation in a
restorative justice program, a positive behavior support system with
tiered interventions, or other forms of correction as specified in
Section 48900.5, in order to improve educational outcomes for
children.
   (  l  ) Knowingly received stolen school property or
private property.
   (m) Possessed an imitation firearm. As used in this section,
"imitation firearm" means a replica of a firearm that is so
substantially similar in physical properties to an existing firearm
as to lead a reasonable person to conclude that the replica is a
firearm.
   (n) Committed or attempted to commit a sexual assault as defined
in Section 261, 266c, 286, 288, 288a, or 289 of the Penal Code or
committed a sexual battery as defined in Section 243.4 of the Penal
Code.
   (o) Harassed, threatened, or intimidated a pupil who is a
complaining witness or a witness in a school disciplinary proceeding
for purposes of either preventing that pupil from being a witness or
retaliating against that pupil for being a witness, or both.
   (p) Unlawfully offered, arranged to sell, negotiated to sell, or
sold the prescription drug Soma.
   (q) Engaged in, or attempted to engage in, hazing. For purposes of
this subdivision, "hazing" means a method of initiation or
preinitiation into a pupil organization or body, whether or not the
organization or body is officially recognized by an educational
institution, which is likely to cause serious bodily injury or
personal degradation or disgrace resulting in physical or mental harm
to a former, current, or prospective pupil. For purposes of this
subdivision, "hazing" does not include athletic events or
school-sanctioned events.
   (r) Engaged in an act of bullying. For purposes of this
subdivision, the following terms have the following meanings:
   (1) "Bullying" means any severe or pervasive physical or verbal
act or conduct, including communications made in writing or by means
of an electronic act, and including one or more acts committed by a
pupil or group of pupils as defined in Section 48900.2, 48900.3, or
48900.4, directed toward one or more pupils that has or can be
reasonably predicted to have the effect of one or more of the
following:
   (A) Placing a reasonable pupil or pupils in fear of harm to that
pupil's or those pupils' person or property.
   (B) Causing a reasonable pupil to experience a substantially
detrimental effect on his or her physical or mental health.
   (C) Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial
interference with his or her academic performance.
   (D) Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial
interference with his or her ability to participate in or benefit
from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.
   (2) (A) "Electronic act" means the transmission, by means of an
electronic device, including, but not limited to, a telephone,
wireless telephone, or other wireless communication device, computer,
or pager, of a communication, including, but not limited to, any of
the following:
   (i) A message, text, sound, or image.
   (ii) A post on a social network Internet Web site including, but
not limited to:
   (I) Posting to or creating a burn page. "Burn page" means an
Internet Web site created for the purpose of having one or more of
the effects listed in paragraph (1).
   (II) Creating a credible impersonation of another actual pupil for
the purpose of having one or more of the effects listed in paragraph
(1). "Credible impersonation" means to knowingly and without consent
impersonate a pupil for the purpose of bullying the pupil and such
that another pupil would reasonably believe, or has reasonably
believed, that the pupil was or is the pupil who was impersonated.
   (III) Creating a false profile for the purpose of having one or
more of the effects listed in paragraph (1). "False profile" means a
profile of a fictitious pupil or a profile using the likeness or
attributes of an actual pupil other than the pupil who created the
false profile.
   (B) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) and subparagraph (A), an
electronic act shall not constitute pervasive conduct solely on the
basis that it has been transmitted on the Internet or is currently
posted on the Internet.
   (3) "Reasonable pupil" means a pupil, including, but not limited
to, an exceptional needs pupil, who exercises average care, skill,
and judgment in conduct for a person of his or her age, or for a
person of his or her age with his or her exceptional needs.
   (s) A pupil shall not be suspended or expelled for any of the acts
enumerated in this section unless the act is related to a school
activity or school attendance occurring within a school under the
jurisdiction of the superintendent of the school district or
principal or occurring within any other school district. A pupil may
be suspended or expelled for acts that are enumerated in this section
and related to a school activity or school attendance that occur at
any time, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
   (1) While on school grounds.
   (2) While going to or coming from school.
   (3) During the lunch period whether on or off the campus.
   (4) During, or while going to or coming from, a school-sponsored
activity.
   (t) A pupil who aids or abets, as defined in Section 31 of the
Penal Code, the infliction or attempted infliction of physical injury
to another person may be subject to suspension, but not expulsion,
pursuant to this section, except that a pupil who has been adjudged
by a juvenile court to have committed, as an aider and abettor, a
crime of physical violence in which the victim suffered great bodily
injury or serious bodily injury shall be subject to discipline
pursuant to subdivision (a).
   (u) As used in this section, "school property" includes, but is
not limited to, electronic files and databases.
   (v) For a pupil subject to discipline under this section, a
superintendent of the school district or principal may use his or her
discretion to provide alternatives to suspension or expulsion that
are age appropriate and designed to address and correct the pupil's
specific misbehavior as specified in Section 48900.5.
   (w) It is the intent of the Legislature that alternatives to
suspension or expulsion be imposed against a pupil who is truant,
tardy, or otherwise absent from school activities.
   SEC. 2.    Section 48910 of the   Education
Code   is amended to read: 
   48910.  (a) A teacher may suspend any pupil from class, for any of
the acts enumerated in Section 48900, for the day of the suspension
and the day following. The teacher shall immediately report the
suspension to the principal of the school and send the pupil to the
principal or the designee of the principal for appropriate action. If
that action requires the continued presence of the pupil at the
schoolsite, the pupil shall be under appropriate supervision, as
defined in policies and related regulations adopted by the governing
board of the school district. As soon as possible, the teacher shall
ask the parent or guardian of the pupil to attend a parent-teacher
conference regarding the suspension. If practicable, a school
counselor or a school psychologist may attend the conference. A
school administrator shall attend the conference if the teacher or
the parent or guardian so requests. The pupil shall not be returned
to the class from which he or she was suspended, during the period of
the suspension, without the concurrence of the teacher of the class
and the principal.
   (b) A pupil suspended from a class shall not be placed in another
regular class during the period of suspension. However, if the pupil
is assigned to more than one class per day this subdivision shall
apply only to other regular classes scheduled at the same time as the
class from which the pupil was suspended.
   (c) A teacher may also refer a pupil, for any of the acts
enumerated in Section 48900, to the principal or the designee of the
principal for consideration of a suspension from the school. 
   (d) Notwithstanding subdivision (k) of Section 48900, a teacher
may suspend a pupil in any grade level from class, including for a
first offense and from a one-room schoolhouse, for 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.