Bill Text: CA SB1235 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Pupils: suspension.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2012-09-26 - In Senate. Consideration of Governor's veto pending. [SB1235 Detail]

Download: California-2011-SB1235-Amended.html

---

BILL NUMBER: SB 1235	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 18, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Senators Steinberg  and Price  
, Price,   and Rubio 
    (   Coauthors:   Senators  
Alquist,   Lowenthal,   and Vargas   )


                        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 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 batter, 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 a school district,  for
  commencing with  the 2013-14 school year, to
implement, for a minimum of 3 years, at a school where the number of
pupil suspensions in the prior school year exceeded 25% of its
enrollment, or a numerically significant racial or ethnic 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. Commencing with the 2014-15 school year, the bill
would decrease by 2% each year the percentage of enrollment or 
numerically  significant  racial or ethnic  subgroup of
enrollment required to trigger this requirement until it is 15%. 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 district 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.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


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)  For   Commencing with 
the 2013-14 school year  and each school year thereafter  ,
 if  the number of pupils suspended from school during the
prior school year exceeded 25 percent of the school's enrollment or
of any numerically significant racial or ethnic subgroup of the
school's enrollment, the school district shall 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) 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) 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.
   (b) Commencing with the 2014-15 school year, the percentage of a
school's enrollment, or of any numerically significant racial or
ethnic 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.
   (c) At the end of the academic year, the school shall report to
the  district superintendent in charge of school support
services, or other comparable administrator if that position does not
exist,   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
out-of-school suspensions.
   (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.
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
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) For purposes of this section, to be a numerically significant
racial or ethnic subgroup, the subgroup must constitute at least 15
percent of the total population of pupils at a school. 
  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.