AB 2351: Suspensions and expulsions: acts occurring outside of school hours.
- Session Year: 2023-2024
- House: Assembly
- Latest Version Date: 2024-05-02
Current Status:
Failed
(2024-05-15: In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.)
Introduced
In Committee
First Chamber
In Committee
Second Chamber
Enacted
What does this bill do?
The bill limits when school principals or district superintendents may suspend or recommend expulsion of students in grades K–12 for misconduct that happens off campus. It says off‑campus behavior — including sexual harassment, hate violence, harassment or threats against staff or students, and terroristic threats — must be severe or pervasive enough to materially disrupt classwork, create substantial disorder, or create an intimidating or hostile learning environment before suspension or expulsion is allowed; it also requires schools to try other corrective measures first, requires districts to report whether the action was for an off‑campus act, and encourages restorative justice for racist incidents.
The summary is provided by generative AI which can make mistakes. For original language, please view the details in the table below.
(1)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 an act from a list of specified acts. Existing law authorizes suspension or expulsion for one of those acts if the act is related to a school activity or school attendance occurring at any time, including while going to and coming from school.
This bill bill, until January 1, 2028, would limit the above-described authorization for suspension or recommendation for expulsion for certain acts that occur outside of school hours by providing that when engaged in outside of the campus, the act is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment. The bill bill, until January 1, 2028, would prohibit a pupil from being suspended or expelled for an act that occurs outside of school hours unless other means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct, as provided.
Existing(2)Existing law also authorizes suspension or recommendation for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school determines that a pupil enrolled in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, has committed sexual harassment, as defined; a pupil enrolled in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, has caused, attempted to cause, threatened to cause, or participated in an act of, hate violence, as defined; a pupil enrolled in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, has intentionally engaged in harassment, threats, or intimidation, directed against school district personnel or pupils, that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, and invading the rights of either school personnel or pupils by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment; or a pupil, of any grade, has made terroristic threats against school officials or school property, or both.
This bill bill, until January 1, 2028, would authorize suspension or recommendation for expulsion if the above-described acts occur during or outside of school hours, provided that, when engaged in outside of the campus, the act is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.
Existing(3)Existing law encourages, for a pupil who has been suspended, or for whom other means of correction have been implemented, for an incident of racist bullying, harassment, or intimidation, local educational agencies to have both the victim and perpetrator engage in a restorative justice practice that is found to suit the needs of both the victim and the perpetrator.
This bill bill, until January 1, 2028, would specify that an incident of racist bullying, harassment, or intimidation may occur during or outside of school hours provided that the above-described conditions are met.
(4)Existing law requires, for purposes of notification to parents, and for the reporting of expulsion or suspension offenses to the State Department of Education, each school district to specifically identify, by offense committed, in all appropriate official records of a pupil each suspension or expulsion of that pupil for the commission of specified offenses, including the above-described acts.
This bill, until January 1, 2028, for the reporting of expulsion or suspension offenses to the department, would require the school district to indicate whether the expulsion or suspension was imposed for any of the above-described acts engaged in outside of the campus, as provided. To the extent the bill would impose new duties on school districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(5)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 the statutory provisions noted above.
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 an act from a list of specified acts. Existing law authorizes suspension or expulsion for one of those acts if the act is related to a school activity or school attendance occurring at any time, including while going to and coming from school. Existing
This bill would limit the above-described authorization for suspension or recommendation for expulsion for certain acts that occur outside of school hours by providing that when engaged in outside of the campus, the act is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment. The bill would prohibit a pupil from being suspended or expelled for an act that occurs outside of school hours unless other means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct, as provided.
Existing law also authorizes suspension or recommendation for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school determines that a pupil enrolled in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, has committed sexual harassment, as defined; a pupil enrolled in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, has caused, attempted to cause, threatened to cause, or participated in an act of, hate violence, as defined; a pupil enrolled in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, has intentionally engaged in harassment, threats, or intimidation, directed against school district personnel or pupils, that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, and invading the rights of either school personnel or pupils by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment; or a pupil, of any grade, has made terroristic threats against school officials or school property, or both.
This bill would authorize suspension or recommendation for expulsion if the above-described acts occur during or outside of school hours, provided that, when engaged in outside of the campus, the act is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.
Existing law encourages, for a pupil who has been suspended, or for whom other means of correction have been implemented, for an incident of racist bullying, harassment, or intimidation, local educational agencies to have both the victim and perpetrator engage in a restorative justice practice that is found to suit the needs of both the victim and the perpetrator.
This bill would specify that an incident of racist bullying, harassment, or intimidation may occur during or outside of school hours provided that the above-described conditions are met.
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 an act from a list of specified acts. Existing law authorizes suspension or expulsion for one of those acts if the act is related to a school activity or school attendance occurring at any time, including while going to and coming from school. Existing law also authorizes suspension or recommendation for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school determines that a pupil enrolled in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, has committed sexual harassment, as defined; a pupil enrolled in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, has caused, attempted to cause, threatened to cause, or participated in an act of, hate violence, as defined; a pupil enrolled in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, has intentionally engaged in harassment, threats, or intimidation, directed against school district personnel or pupils, that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, and invading the rights of either school personnel or pupils by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment; or a pupil, of any grade, has made terroristic threats against school officials or school property, or both.
This bill would authorize suspension or recommendation for expulsion if the above-described acts occur during or outside of school hours, provided that conduct that is speech or other communication, that, when engaged in outside of the campus, the act is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or invading the rights of either school personnel or pupils by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment. The bill would prohibit a pupil from being suspended or expelled solely on the basis of conduct that is speech or other communication that, when engaged in outside of the campus, is protected from governmental restriction by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or Section 2 of Article I of the California Constitution or conduct that is otherwise constitutionally protected.
Existing law encourages, for a pupil who has been suspended, or for whom other means of correction have been implemented, for an incident of racist bullying, harassment, or intimidation, local educational agencies to have both the victim and perpetrator engage in a restorative justice practice that is found to suit the needs of both the victim and the perpetrator.
This bill would specify that an incident of racist bullying, harassment, or intimidation may occur during or outside of school hours provided that the above-described conditions are met.
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 an act from a list of specified acts. Existing law authorizes suspension or expulsion for one of those acts if the act is related to a school activity or school attendance occurring at any time, including while going to and coming from school. Existing law also authorizes suspension or recommendation for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school determines that a pupil enrolled in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, has committed sexual harassment, as defined; a pupil enrolled in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, has caused, attempted to cause, threatened to cause, or participated in an act of, hate violence, as defined; a pupil enrolled in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, has intentionally engaged in harassment, threats, or intimidation, directed against school district personnel or pupils, that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, and invading the rights of either school personnel or pupils by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment; or a pupil, of any grade, has made terroristic threats against school officials or school property, or both.
This bill would authorize suspension or recommendation for expulsion if the above-described acts occur during or outside of school hours, provided that conduct that is speech or other communication, when engaged in outside of the campus, is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or invading the rights of either school personnel or pupils by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment. The bill would prohibit a pupil from being suspended or expelled solely on the basis of conduct that is speech or other communication that, when engaged in outside of the campus, is protected from governmental restriction by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or Section 2 of Article I of the California Constitution or conduct that is otherwise constitutionally protected.
Existing law encourages, for a pupil who has been suspended, or for whom other means of correction have been implemented, for an incident of racist bullying, harassment, or intimidation, local educational agencies to have both the victim and perpetrator engage in a restorative justice practice that is found to suit the needs of both the victim and the perpetrator.
This bill would specify that an incident of racist bullying, harassment, or intimidation may occur during or outside of school hours provided that the above-described conditions are met.
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 the use or possession by a pupil of the pupils 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)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.
(2)Except as provided in Section 48910, a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 5, inclusive, shall not be suspended for any of the acts specified in paragraph (1), and those acts shall not constitute grounds for a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to be recommended for expulsion.
(3)Except as provided in Section 48910, a pupil enrolled in any of grades 6 to 8, inclusive, shall not be suspended for any of the acts specified in paragraph (1). This paragraph is inoperative on July 1, 2029.
(4)Except as provided in Section 48910, commencing July 1, 2024, a pupil enrolled in any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, shall not be suspended for any of the acts specified in paragraph (1). This paragraph is inoperative on July 1, 2029.
(5)(A)A certificated or classified employee may refer a pupil to school administrators for appropriate and timely in-school interventions or supports from the list of other means of correction specified in subdivision (b) of Section 48900.5 for any of the acts enumerated in paragraph (1).
(B)A school administrator shall, within five business days, document the actions taken pursuant to subparagraph (A) and place that documentation in the pupils record to be available for access, to the extent permissible under state and federal law, pursuant to Section 49069.7. The school administrator shall, by the end of the fifth business day, also inform the referring certificated or classified employee, verbally or in writing, what actions were taken and, if none, the rationale used for not providing any appropriate or timely in-school interventions or supports.
(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, 287, 288, or 289 of, or former Section 288a 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, that 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 pupils or those pupils person or property.
(B)Causing a reasonable pupil to experience a substantially detrimental effect on the pupils physical or mental health.
(C)Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial interference with the pupils academic performance.
(D)Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial interference with the pupils ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.
(2)(A)Electronic act means the creation or transmission originated on or off the schoolsite, 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, video, or image.
(ii)A post on a social network internet website, including, but not limited to:
(I)Posting to or creating a burn page. Burn page means an internet website 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.
(iii)(I)An act of cyber sexual bullying.
(II)For purposes of this clause, cyber sexual bullying means the dissemination of, or the solicitation or incitement to disseminate, a photograph or other visual recording by a pupil to another pupil or to school personnel by means of an electronic act that has or can be reasonably predicted to have one or more of the effects described in subparagraphs (A) to (D), inclusive, of paragraph (1). A photograph or other visual recording, as described in this subclause, shall include the depiction of a nude, semi-nude, seminude, or sexually explicit photograph or other visual recording of a minor where the minor is identifiable from the photograph, visual recording, or other electronic act.
(III)For purposes of this clause, cyber sexual bullying does not include a depiction, portrayal, or image that has any serious literary, artistic, educational, political, or scientific value or that involves athletic events or school-sanctioned activities.
(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, a pupil with exceptional needs, who exercises average care, skill, and judgment in conduct for a person of that age, or for a person of that age with the pupils 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.
(5)Excluding the acts described in subdivisions (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (j), (k), (l), and (p), outside of school hours, provided that, when engaged in outside of the campus, the act is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment. A pupil shall not be suspended or expelled for an act that occurs outside of school hours unless other means of correction, as described in Section 48900.5, fail to bring about proper conduct.
(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 is encouraged to provide alternatives to suspension or expulsion, using a research-based framework with strategies that improve behavioral and academic outcomes, that are age appropriate and designed to address and correct the pupils specific misbehavior as specified in Section 48900.5.
(w)(1)A suspension or expulsion shall not be imposed against a pupil based solely on the fact that they are truant, tardy, or otherwise absent from school activities.
(2)It is the intent of the Legislature that the Multi-Tiered System of Supports, which includes restorative justice practices, trauma-informed practices, social and emotional learning, and schoolwide positive behavior interventions and support, be used to help pupils gain critical social and emotional skills, receive support to help transform trauma-related responses, understand the impact of their actions, and develop meaningful methods for repairing harm to the school community.
(x)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2028, and as of that date is repealed.
SEC. 2.Section 48900 is added to the Education Code, 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 the use or possession by a pupil of the pupils 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)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.
(2)Except as provided in Section 48910, a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 5, inclusive, shall not be suspended for any of the acts specified in paragraph (1), and those acts shall not constitute grounds for a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to be recommended for expulsion.
(3)Except as provided in Section 48910, a pupil enrolled in any of grades 6 to 8, inclusive, shall not be suspended for any of the acts specified in paragraph (1). This paragraph is inoperative on July 1, 2029.
(4)Except as provided in Section 48910, commencing July 1, 2024, a pupil enrolled in any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, shall not be suspended for any of the acts specified in paragraph (1). This paragraph is inoperative on July 1, 2029.
(5)(A)A certificated or classified employee may refer a pupil to school administrators for appropriate and timely in-school interventions or supports from the list of other means of correction specified in subdivision (b) of Section 48900.5 for any of the acts enumerated in paragraph (1).
(B)A school administrator shall, within five business days, document the actions taken pursuant to subparagraph (A) and place that documentation in the pupils record to be available for access, to the extent permissible under state and federal law, pursuant to Section 49069.7. The school administrator shall, by the end of the fifth business day, also inform the referring certificated or classified employee, verbally or in writing, what actions were taken and, if none, the rationale used for not providing any appropriate or timely in-school interventions or supports.
(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, 287, 288, or 289 of, or former Section 288a 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, that 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 pupils or those pupils person or property.
(B)Causing a reasonable pupil to experience a substantially detrimental effect on the pupils physical or mental health.
(C)Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial interference with the pupils academic performance.
(D)Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial interference with the pupils ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.
(2)(A)Electronic act means the creation or transmission originated on or off the schoolsite, 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, video, or image.
(ii)A post on a social network internet website, including, but not limited to:
(I)Posting to or creating a burn page. Burn page means an internet website 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.
(iii)(I)An act of cyber sexual bullying.
(II)For purposes of this clause, cyber sexual bullying means the dissemination of, or the solicitation or incitement to disseminate, a photograph or other visual recording by a pupil to another pupil or to school personnel by means of an electronic act that has or can be reasonably predicted to have one or more of the effects described in subparagraphs (A) to (D), inclusive, of paragraph (1). A photograph or other visual recording, as described in this subclause, shall include the depiction of a nude, seminude, or sexually explicit photograph or other visual recording of a minor where the minor is identifiable from the photograph, visual recording, or other electronic act.
(III)For purposes of this clause, cyber sexual bullying does not include a depiction, portrayal, or image that has any serious literary, artistic, educational, political, or scientific value or that involves athletic events or school-sanctioned activities.
(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, a pupil with exceptional needs, who exercises average care, skill, and judgment in conduct for a person of that age, or for a person of that age with the pupils 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 is encouraged to provide alternatives to suspension or expulsion, using a research-based framework with strategies that improve behavioral and academic outcomes, that are age appropriate and designed to address and correct the pupils specific misbehavior as specified in Section 48900.5.
(w)(1)A suspension or expulsion shall not be imposed against a pupil based solely on the fact that they are truant, tardy, or otherwise absent from school activities.
(2)It is the intent of the Legislature that the Multi-Tiered System of Supports, which includes restorative justice practices, trauma-informed practices, social and emotional learning, and schoolwide positive behavior interventions and support, be used to help pupils gain critical social and emotional skills, receive support to help transform trauma-related responses, understand the impact of their actions, and develop meaningful methods for repairing harm to the school community.
(x)This section shall become operative on January 1, 2028.
SEC. 2.SEC. 3.Section 48900.2 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.2.(a)In addition to the reasons specified in Section 48900, a pupil may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has committed sexual harassment, as defined in Section 212.5, during or outside of school hours, provided that, when engaged in outside of the campus, it is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.
(b)For the purposes of this chapter, the conduct described in Section 212.5 must be considered by a reasonable person of the same gender as the victim to be sufficiently severe or pervasive to have a negative impact upon the individuals academic performance or to create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational environment. This section shall not apply to pupils enrolled in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive.
(c)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2028, and as of that date is repealed.
SEC. 4.Section 48900.2 is added to the Education Code, to read:48900.2.(a)In addition to the reasons specified in Section 48900, a pupil may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has committed sexual harassment, as defined in Section 212.5.
(b)For the purposes of this chapter, the conduct described in Section 212.5 must be considered by a reasonable person of the same gender as the victim to be sufficiently severe or pervasive to have a negative impact upon the individuals academic performance or to create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational environment. This section shall not apply to pupils enrolled in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive.
(c)This section shall become operative on January 1, 2028.
SEC. 3.SEC. 5.Section 48900.3 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.3.(a)In addition to the reasons set forth in Sections 48900 and 48900.2, a pupil in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has caused, attempted to cause, threatened to cause, or participated in an act of, hate violence, as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 233, during or outside of school hours, provided that, when engaged in outside of the campus, it is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.
(b)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2028, and as of that date is repealed.
SEC. 6.Section 48900.3 is added to the Education Code, to read:48900.3.(a)In addition to the reasons set forth in Sections 48900 and 48900.2, a pupil in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has caused, attempted to cause, threatened to cause, or participated in an act of, hate violence, as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 233.
(b)This section shall become operative on January 1, 2028.
SEC. 4.SEC. 7.Section 48900.4 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.4.(a)In addition to the grounds specified in Sections 48900 and 48900.2, a pupil enrolled in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has intentionally engaged in harassment, threats, or intimidation, directed against school district personnel or pupils, during or outside of school hours that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.
(b)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2028, and as of that date is repealed.
SEC. 8.Section 48900.4 is added to the Education Code, to read:48900.4.(a)In addition to the grounds specified in Sections 48900 and 48900.2, a pupil enrolled in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has intentionally engaged in harassment, threats, or intimidation, directed against school district personnel or pupils, that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, and invading the rights of either school personnel or pupils by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.
(b)This section shall become operative on January 1, 2028.
SEC. 5.SEC. 9.Section 48900.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.5.(a)Suspension, including supervised suspension as described in Section 48911.1, shall be imposed only when other means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct. A school district may document the other means of correction used and place that documentation in the pupils record, which may be accessed pursuant to Section 49069.7. However, a pupil, including an individual with exceptional needs, as defined in Section 56026, may be suspended, subject to Section 1415 of Title 20 of the United States Code, for any of the reasons enumerated in Section 48900 upon a first offense, if the principal or superintendent of schools determines that the pupil violated subdivision (a), (b), (c), (d), or (e) of Section 48900 or that the pupils presence causes a danger to persons.
(b)Other means of correction include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1)A conference between school personnel, the pupils parent or guardian, and the pupil.
(2)Referrals to the school counselor, psychologist, social worker, child welfare attendance personnel, or other school support service personnel for case management and counseling.
(3)Study teams, guidance teams, resource panel teams, or other intervention-related teams that assess the behavior, and develop and implement individualized plans to address the behavior in partnership with the pupil and the pupils parents.
(4)Referral for a comprehensive psychosocial or psychoeducational assessment, including for purposes of creating an individualized education program, or a plan adopted pursuant to Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 794(a)).
(5)Enrollment in a program for teaching prosocial behavior or anger management.
(6)Participation in a restorative justice program.
(7)A positive behavior support approach with tiered interventions that occur during the schoolday on campus.
(8)After school programs that address specific behavioral issues or expose pupils to positive activities and behaviors, including, but not limited to, those operated in collaboration with local parent and community groups.
(9)Any of the alternatives described in Section 48900.6.
(c)For a pupil who has been suspended, or for whom other means of correction have been implemented pursuant to subdivision (b), for an incident of racist bullying, harassment, or intimidation, during or outside of school hours, provided that, when engaged in outside of the campus, it is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment, local educational agencies are encouraged to have both the victim and perpetrator engage in a restorative justice practice that is found to suit the needs of both the victim and the perpetrator. Local educational agencies are encouraged to regularly check on the victim of racist bullying, harassment, or intimidation to ensure that the victim is not in danger of suffering from long-lasting mental health issues. Local educational agencies are encouraged to require perpetrators to engage in culturally sensitive programs that promote racial justice and equity and combat racism and ignorance.
(d)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2028, and as of that date is repealed.
SEC. 10.Section 48900.5 is added to the Education Code, to read:48900.5.(a)Suspension, including supervised suspension as described in Section 48911.1, shall be imposed only when other means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct. A school district may document the other means of correction used and place that documentation in the pupils record, which may be accessed pursuant to Section 49069.7. However, a pupil, including an individual with exceptional needs, as defined in Section 56026, may be suspended, subject to Section 1415 of Title 20 of the United States Code, for any of the reasons enumerated in Section 48900 upon a first offense, if the principal or superintendent of schools determines that the pupil violated subdivision (a), (b), (c), (d), or (e) of Section 48900 or that the pupils presence causes a danger to persons.
(b)Other means of correction include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1)A conference between school personnel, the pupils parent or guardian, and the pupil.
(2)Referrals to the school counselor, psychologist, social worker, child welfare attendance personnel, or other school support service personnel for case management and counseling.
(3)Study teams, guidance teams, resource panel teams, or other intervention-related teams that assess the behavior, and develop and implement individualized plans to address the behavior in partnership with the pupil and the pupils parents.
(4)Referral for a comprehensive psychosocial or psychoeducational assessment, including for purposes of creating an individualized education program, or a plan adopted pursuant to Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 794(a)).
(5)Enrollment in a program for teaching prosocial behavior or anger management.
(6)Participation in a restorative justice program.
(7)A positive behavior support approach with tiered interventions that occur during the schoolday on campus.
(8)After school programs that address specific behavioral issues or expose pupils to positive activities and behaviors, including, but not limited to, those operated in collaboration with local parent and community groups.
(9)Any of the alternatives described in Section 48900.6.
(c)For a pupil who has been suspended, or for whom other means of correction have been implemented pursuant to subdivision (b), for an incident of racist bullying, harassment, or intimidation, local educational agencies are encouraged to have both the victim and perpetrator engage in a restorative justice practice that is found to suit the needs of both the victim and the perpetrator. Local educational agencies are encouraged to regularly check on the victim of racist bullying, harassment, or intimidation to ensure that the victim is not in danger of suffering from long-lasting mental health issues. Local educational agencies are encouraged to require perpetrators to engage in culturally sensitive programs that promote racial justice and equity and combat racism and ignorance.
(d)This section shall become operative on January 1, 2028.
SEC. 6.SEC. 11.Section 48900.7 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.7.(a)In addition to the reasons specified in Sections 48900, 48900.2, 48900.3, and 48900.4, a pupil may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has made terroristic threats against school officials or school property, or both, during or outside of school hours, provided that, when engaged in outside of the campus, it is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.
(b)For the purposes of this section, terroristic threat shall include any statement, whether written or oral, by a person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which will result in death, great bodily injury to another person, or property damage in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000), with the specific intent that the statement is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out, which, on its face and under the circumstances in which it is made, is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to the person threatened, threatened a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby causes that person reasonably to be in sustained fear for their own safety or for their immediate familys safety, or for the protection of school district property, or the personal property of the person threatened or their immediate family.
(c)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2028, and as of that date is repealed.
SEC. 12.Section 48900.7 is added to the Education Code, to read:48900.7.(a)In addition to the reasons specified in Sections 48900, 48900.2, 48900.3, and 48900.4, a pupil may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has made terroristic threats against school officials or school property, or both.
(b)For the purposes of this section, terroristic threat shall include any statement, whether written or oral, by a person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which will result in death, great bodily injury to another person, or property damage in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000), with the specific intent that the statement is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out, which, on its face and under the circumstances in which it is made, is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to the person threatened a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby causes that person reasonably to be in sustained fear for their own safety or for their immediate familys safety, or for the protection of school district property, or the personal property of the person threatened or their immediate family.
(c)This section shall become operative on January 1, 2028.
SEC. 13.Section 48900.8 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.8.(a)For purposes of notification to parents, and for the reporting of expulsion or suspension offenses to the department, each school district shall specifically identify, by offense committed, in all appropriate official records of a pupil each suspension or expulsion of that pupil for the commission of any of the offenses set forth in Section 48900, 48900.2, 48900.3, 48900.4, 48900.7, or 48915.
(b)For purposes of the reporting of expulsion or suspension offenses to the department, the school district shall also indicate whether the expulsion or suspension was imposed for an act engaged in outside of the campus pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (s) of Section 48900 or Section 48900.2, 48900.3, 48900.4, or 48900.7.
(c)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2028, and as of that date is repealed.
SEC. 14.Section 48900.8 is added to the Education Code, to read:48900.8.(a)For purposes of notification to parents, and for the reporting of expulsion or suspension offenses to the department, each school district shall specifically identify, by offense committed, in all appropriate official records of a pupil each suspension or expulsion of that pupil for the commission of any of the offenses set forth in Section 48900, 48900.2, 48900.3, 48900.4, 48900.7, or 48915.
(b)This section shall become operative on January 1, 2028.
SEC. 15.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.
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 the use or possession by a pupil of the pupils 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)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.
(2)Except as provided in Section 48910, a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 5, inclusive, shall not be suspended for any of the acts specified in paragraph (1), and those acts shall not constitute grounds for a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to be recommended for expulsion.
(3)Except as provided in Section 48910, a pupil enrolled in any of grades 6 to 8, inclusive, shall not be suspended for any of the acts specified in paragraph (1). This paragraph is inoperative on July 1, 2029.
(4)Except as provided in Section 48910, commencing July 1, 2024, a pupil enrolled in any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, shall not be suspended for any of the acts specified in paragraph (1). This paragraph is inoperative on July 1, 2029.
(5)(A)A certificated or classified employee may refer a pupil to school administrators for appropriate and timely in-school interventions or supports from the list of other means of correction specified in subdivision (b) of Section 48900.5 for any of the acts enumerated in paragraph (1).
(B)A school administrator shall, within five business days, document the actions taken pursuant to subparagraph (A) and place that documentation in the pupils record to be available for access, to the extent permissible under state and federal law, pursuant to Section 49069.7. The school administrator shall, by the end of the fifth business day, also inform the referring certificated or classified employee, verbally or in writing, what actions were taken and, if none, the rationale used for not providing any appropriate or timely in-school interventions or supports.
(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, 287, 288, or 289 of, or former Section 288a 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, that 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 pupils or those pupils person or property.
(B)Causing a reasonable pupil to experience a substantially detrimental effect on the pupils physical or mental health.
(C)Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial interference with the pupils academic performance.
(D)Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial interference with the pupils ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.
(2)(A)Electronic act means the creation or transmission originated on or off the schoolsite, 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, video, or image.
(ii)A post on a social network internet website, including, but not limited to:
(I)Posting to or creating a burn page. Burn page means an internet website 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.
(iii)(I)An act of cyber sexual bullying.
(II)For purposes of this clause, cyber sexual bullying means the dissemination of, or the solicitation or incitement to disseminate, a photograph or other visual recording by a pupil to another pupil or to school personnel by means of an electronic act that has or can be reasonably predicted to have one or more of the effects described in subparagraphs (A) to (D), inclusive, of paragraph (1). A photograph or other visual recording, as described in this subclause, shall include the depiction of a nude, semi-nude, or sexually explicit photograph or other visual recording of a minor where the minor is identifiable from the photograph, visual recording, or other electronic act.
(III)For purposes of this clause, cyber sexual bullying does not include a depiction, portrayal, or image that has any serious literary, artistic, educational, political, or scientific value or that involves athletic events or school-sanctioned activities.
(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, a pupil with exceptional needs, who exercises average care, skill, and judgment in conduct for a person of that age, or for a person of that age with the pupils 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.
(5)Outside Excluding the acts described in subdivisions (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (j), (k), (l), and (p), outside of school hours, provided that, when engaged in outside of the campus, the act is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment. A pupil shall not be suspended or expelled for an act that occurs outside of school hours unless other means of correction, as described in Section 48900.5, fail to bring about proper conduct.
(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 is encouraged to provide alternatives to suspension or expulsion, using a research-based framework with strategies that improve behavioral and academic outcomes, that are age appropriate and designed to address and correct the pupils specific misbehavior as specified in Section 48900.5.
(w)(1)A suspension or expulsion shall not be imposed against a pupil based solely on the fact that they are truant, tardy, or otherwise absent from school activities.
(2)It is the intent of the Legislature that the Multi-Tiered System of Supports, which includes restorative justice practices, trauma-informed practices, social and emotional learning, and schoolwide positive behavior interventions and support, be used to help pupils gain critical social and emotional skills, receive support to help transform trauma-related responses, understand the impact of their actions, and develop meaningful methods for repairing harm to the school community.
SEC. 2.Section 48900.2 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.2.(a)In addition to the reasons specified in Section 48900, a pupil may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has committed sexual harassment, as defined in Section 212.5, during or outside of school hours, provided that, when engaged in outside of the campus, it is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.
(b)For the purposes of this chapter, the conduct described in Section 212.5 must be considered by a reasonable person of the same gender as the victim to be sufficiently severe or pervasive to have a negative impact upon the individuals academic performance or to create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational environment. This section shall not apply to pupils enrolled in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive.
SEC. 3.Section 48900.3 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.3.In addition to the reasons set forth in Sections 48900 and 48900.2, a pupil in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has caused, attempted to cause, threatened to cause, or participated in an act of, hate violence, as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 233, during or outside of school hours, provided that, when engaged in outside of the campus, it is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.
SEC. 4.Section 48900.4 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.4.In addition to the grounds specified in Sections 48900 and 48900.2, a pupil enrolled in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has intentionally engaged in harassment, threats, or intimidation, directed against school district personnel or pupils, during or outside of school hours that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.
SEC. 5.Section 48900.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.5.(a)Suspension, including supervised suspension as described in Section 48911.1, shall be imposed only when other means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct. A school district may document the other means of correction used and place that documentation in the pupils record, which may be accessed pursuant to Section 49069.7. However, a pupil, including an individual with exceptional needs, as defined in Section 56026, may be suspended, subject to Section 1415 of Title 20 of the United States Code, for any of the reasons enumerated in Section 48900 upon a first offense, if the principal or superintendent of schools determines that the pupil violated subdivision (a), (b), (c), (d), or (e) of Section 48900 or that the pupils presence causes a danger to persons.
(b)Other means of correction include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1)A conference between school personnel, the pupils parent or guardian, and the pupil.
(2)Referrals to the school counselor, psychologist, social worker, child welfare attendance personnel, or other school support service personnel for case management and counseling.
(3)Study teams, guidance teams, resource panel teams, or other intervention-related teams that assess the behavior, and develop and implement individualized plans to address the behavior in partnership with the pupil and the pupils parents.
(4)Referral for a comprehensive psychosocial or psychoeducational assessment, including for purposes of creating an individualized education program, or a plan adopted pursuant to Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 794(a)).
(5)Enrollment in a program for teaching prosocial behavior or anger management.
(6)Participation in a restorative justice program.
(7)A positive behavior support approach with tiered interventions that occur during the schoolday on campus.
(8)After school programs that address specific behavioral issues or expose pupils to positive activities and behaviors, including, but not limited to, those operated in collaboration with local parent and community groups.
(9)Any of the alternatives described in Section 48900.6.
(c)For a pupil who has been suspended, or for whom other means of correction have been implemented pursuant to subdivision (b), for an incident of racist bullying, harassment, or intimidation, during or outside of school hours, provided that, when engaged in outside of the campus, it is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment, local educational agencies are encouraged to have both the victim and perpetrator engage in a restorative justice practice that is found to suit the needs of both the victim and the perpetrator. Local educational agencies are encouraged to regularly check on the victim of racist bullying, harassment, or intimidation to ensure that the victim is not in danger of suffering from long-lasting mental health issues. Local educational agencies are encouraged to require perpetrators to engage in culturally sensitive programs that promote racial justice and equity and combat racism and ignorance.
SEC. 6.Section 48900.7 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.7.(a)In addition to the reasons specified in Sections 48900, 48900.2, 48900.3, and 48900.4, a pupil may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has made terroristic threats against school officials or school property, or both, during or outside of school hours, provided that, when engaged in outside of the campus, it is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.
(b)For the purposes of this section, terroristic threat shall include any statement, whether written or oral, by a person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which will result in death, great bodily injury to another person, or property damage in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000), with the specific intent that the statement is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out, which, on its face and under the circumstances in which it is made, is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to the person threatened, a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby causes that person reasonably to be in sustained fear for their own safety or for their immediate familys safety, or for the protection of school district property, or the personal property of the person threatened or their immediate family.
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 the use or possession by a pupil of the pupils 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)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.
(2)Except as provided in Section 48910, a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 5, inclusive, shall not be suspended for any of the acts specified in paragraph (1), and those acts shall not constitute grounds for a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to be recommended for expulsion.
(3)Except as provided in Section 48910, a pupil enrolled in any of grades 6 to 8, inclusive, shall not be suspended for any of the acts specified in paragraph (1). This paragraph is inoperative on July 1, 2029.
(4)Except as provided in Section 48910, commencing July 1, 2024, a pupil enrolled in any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, shall not be suspended for any of the acts specified in paragraph (1). This paragraph is inoperative on July 1, 2029.
(5)(A)A certificated or classified employee may refer a pupil to school administrators for appropriate and timely in-school interventions or supports from the list of other means of correction specified in subdivision (b) of Section 48900.5 for any of the acts enumerated in paragraph (1).
(B)A school administrator shall, within five business days, document the actions taken pursuant to subparagraph (A) and place that documentation in the pupils record to be available for access, to the extent permissible under state and federal law, pursuant to Section 49069.7. The school administrator shall, by the end of the fifth business day, also inform the referring certificated or classified employee, verbally or in writing, what actions were taken and, if none, the rationale used for not providing any appropriate or timely in-school interventions or supports.
(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, 287, 288, or 289 of, or former Section 288a 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, that 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 pupils or those pupils person or property.
(B)Causing a reasonable pupil to experience a substantially detrimental effect on the pupils physical or mental health.
(C)Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial interference with the pupils academic performance.
(D)Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial interference with the pupils ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.
(2)(A)Electronic act means the creation or transmission originated on or off the schoolsite, 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, video, or image.
(ii)A post on a social network internet website, including, but not limited to:
(I)Posting to or creating a burn page. Burn page means an internet website 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.
(iii)(I)An act of cyber sexual bullying.
(II)For purposes of this clause, cyber sexual bullying means the dissemination of, or the solicitation or incitement to disseminate, a photograph or other visual recording by a pupil to another pupil or to school personnel by means of an electronic act that has or can be reasonably predicted to have one or more of the effects described in subparagraphs (A) to (D), inclusive, of paragraph (1). A photograph or other visual recording, as described in this subclause, shall include the depiction of a nude, semi-nude, or sexually explicit photograph or other visual recording of a minor where the minor is identifiable from the photograph, visual recording, or other electronic act.
(III)For purposes of this clause, cyber sexual bullying does not include a depiction, portrayal, or image that has any serious literary, artistic, educational, political, or scientific value or that involves athletic events or school-sanctioned activities.
(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, a pupil with exceptional needs, who exercises average care, skill, and judgment in conduct for a person of that age, or for a person of that age with the pupils 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.
(5)For the acts enumerated in this section, Sections 48900.2, 48900.3, 48900.4, and 48900.7, outside Outside of school hours, provided that conduct that is speech or other communication, that, when engaged in outside of the campus, the act is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or invading the rights of either school personnel or pupils by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment. The pupil shall not be suspended or expelled solely on the basis of conduct that is speech or other communication that, when engaged in outside of the campus, is protected from governmental restriction by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or Section 2 of Article I of the California Constitution or conduct that is otherwise constitutionally protected.
(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 is encouraged to provide alternatives to suspension or expulsion, using a research-based framework with strategies that improve behavioral and academic outcomes, that are age appropriate and designed to address and correct the pupils specific misbehavior as specified in Section 48900.5.
(w)(1)A suspension or expulsion shall not be imposed against a pupil based solely on the fact that they are truant, tardy, or otherwise absent from school activities.
(2)It is the intent of the Legislature that the Multi-Tiered System of Supports, which includes restorative justice practices, trauma-informed practices, social and emotional learning, and schoolwide positive behavior interventions and support, be used to help pupils gain critical social and emotional skills, receive support to help transform trauma-related responses, understand the impact of their actions, and develop meaningful methods for repairing harm to the school community.
SEC. 2.Section 48900.2 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.2.(a)In addition to the reasons specified in Section 48900, a pupil may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has committed sexual harassment, as defined in Section 212.5, during or outside of school hours if the conditions described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (s) of Section 48900 are met. hours, provided that, when engaged in outside of the campus, it is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.
(b)For the purposes of this chapter, the conduct described in Section 212.5 must be considered by a reasonable person of the same gender as the victim to be sufficiently severe or pervasive to have a negative impact upon the individuals academic performance or to create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational environment. This section shall not apply to pupils enrolled in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive.
SEC. 3.Section 48900.3 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.3.In addition to the reasons set forth in Sections 48900 and 48900.2, a pupil in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has caused, attempted to cause, threatened to cause, or participated in an act of, hate violence, as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 233, during or outside of school hours if the conditions described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (s) of Section 48900 are met. hours, provided that, when engaged in outside of the campus, it is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.
SEC. 4.Section 48900.4 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.4.In addition to the grounds specified in Sections 48900 and 48900.2, a pupil enrolled in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has intentionally engaged in harassment, threats, or intimidation, directed against school district personnel or pupils, during or outside of school hours if the conditions described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (s) of Section 48900 are met, that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, and invading the rights of either school personnel or pupils by or creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.
SEC. 5.Section 48900.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.5.(a)Suspension, including supervised suspension as described in Section 48911.1, shall be imposed only when other means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct. A school district may document the other means of correction used and place that documentation in the pupils record, which may be accessed pursuant to Section 49069.7. However, a pupil, including an individual with exceptional needs, as defined in Section 56026, may be suspended, subject to Section 1415 of Title 20 of the United States Code, for any of the reasons enumerated in Section 48900 upon a first offense, if the principal or superintendent of schools determines that the pupil violated subdivision (a), (b), (c), (d), or (e) of Section 48900 or that the pupils presence causes a danger to persons.
(b)Other means of correction include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1)A conference between school personnel, the pupils parent or guardian, and the pupil.
(2)Referrals to the school counselor, psychologist, social worker, child welfare attendance personnel, or other school support service personnel for case management and counseling.
(3)Study teams, guidance teams, resource panel teams, or other intervention-related teams that assess the behavior, and develop and implement individualized plans to address the behavior in partnership with the pupil and the pupils parents.
(4)Referral for a comprehensive psychosocial or psychoeducational assessment, including for purposes of creating an individualized education program, or a plan adopted pursuant to Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 794(a)).
(5)Enrollment in a program for teaching prosocial behavior or anger management.
(6)Participation in a restorative justice program.
(7)A positive behavior support approach with tiered interventions that occur during the schoolday on campus.
(8)After school programs that address specific behavioral issues or expose pupils to positive activities and behaviors, including, but not limited to, those operated in collaboration with local parent and community groups.
(9)Any of the alternatives described in Section 48900.6.
(c)For a pupil who has been suspended, or for whom other means of correction have been implemented pursuant to subdivision (b), for an incident of racist bullying, harassment, or intimidation, during or outside of school hours if the conditions described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (s) of Section 48900 are met, hours, provided that, when engaged in outside of the campus, it is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment, local educational agencies are encouraged to have both the victim and perpetrator engage in a restorative justice practice that is found to suit the needs of both the victim and the perpetrator. Local educational agencies are encouraged to regularly check on the victim of racist bullying, harassment, or intimidation to ensure that the victim is not in danger of suffering from long-lasting mental health issues. Local educational agencies are encouraged to require perpetrators to engage in culturally sensitive programs that promote racial justice and equity and combat racism and ignorance.
SEC. 6.Section 48900.7 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.7.(a)In addition to the reasons specified in Sections 48900, 48900.2, 48900.3, and 48900.4, a pupil may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has made terroristic threats against school officials or school property, or both, during or outside of school hours if the conditions described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (s) of Section 48900 are met. hours, provided that, when engaged in outside of the campus, it is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.
(b)For the purposes of this section, terroristic threat shall include any statement, whether written or oral, by a person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which will result in death, great bodily injury to another person, or property damage in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000), with the specific intent that the statement is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out, which, on its face and under the circumstances in which it is made, is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to the person threatened, a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby causes that person reasonably to be in sustained fear for their own safety or for their immediate familys safety, or for the protection of school district property, or the personal property of the person threatened or their immediate family.
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 the use or possession by a pupil of the pupils 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)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.
(2)Except as provided in Section 48910, a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 5, inclusive, shall not be suspended for any of the acts specified in paragraph (1), and those acts shall not constitute grounds for a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to be recommended for expulsion.
(3)Except as provided in Section 48910, a pupil enrolled in any of grades 6 to 8, inclusive, shall not be suspended for any of the acts specified in paragraph (1). This paragraph is inoperative on July 1, 2029.
(4)Except as provided in Section 48910, commencing July 1, 2024, a pupil enrolled in any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, shall not be suspended for any of the acts specified in paragraph (1). This paragraph is inoperative on July 1, 2029.
(5)(A)A certificated or classified employee may refer a pupil to school administrators for appropriate and timely in-school interventions or supports from the list of other means of correction specified in subdivision (b) of Section 48900.5 for any of the acts enumerated in paragraph (1).
(B)A school administrator shall, within five business days, document the actions taken pursuant to subparagraph (A) and place that documentation in the pupils record to be available for access, to the extent permissible under state and federal law, pursuant to Section 49069.7. The school administrator shall, by the end of the fifth business day, also inform the referring certificated or classified employee, verbally or in writing, what actions were taken and, if none, the rationale used for not providing any appropriate or timely in-school interventions or supports.
(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, 287, 288, or 289 of, or former Section 288a 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, that 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 pupils or those pupils person or property.
(B)Causing a reasonable pupil to experience a substantially detrimental effect on the pupils physical or mental health.
(C)Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial interference with the pupils academic performance.
(D)Causing a reasonable pupil to experience substantial interference with the pupils ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.
(2)(A)Electronic act means the creation or transmission originated on or off the schoolsite, 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, video, or image.
(ii)A post on a social network internet website, including, but not limited to:
(I)Posting to or creating a burn page. Burn page means an internet website 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.
(iii)(I)An act of cyber sexual bullying.
(II)For purposes of this clause, cyber sexual bullying means the dissemination of, or the solicitation or incitement to disseminate, a photograph or other visual recording by a pupil to another pupil or to school personnel by means of an electronic act that has or can be reasonably predicted to have one or more of the effects described in subparagraphs (A) to (D), inclusive, of paragraph (1). A photograph or other visual recording, as described in this subclause, shall include the depiction of a nude, semi-nude, or sexually explicit photograph or other visual recording of a minor where the minor is identifiable from the photograph, visual recording, or other electronic act.
(III)For purposes of this clause, cyber sexual bullying does not include a depiction, portrayal, or image that has any serious literary, artistic, educational, political, or scientific value or that involves athletic events or school-sanctioned activities.
(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, a pupil with exceptional needs, who exercises average care, skill, and judgment in conduct for a person of that age, or for a person of that age with the pupils 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.
(5)For the acts enumerated in this section, Sections 48900.2, 48900.3, 48900.4, and 48900.7, outside of school hours, provided that conduct that is speech or other communication, when engaged in outside of the campus, is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or invading the rights of either school personnel or pupils by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment. The pupil shall not be suspended or expelled solely on the basis of conduct that is speech or other communication that, when engaged in outside of the campus, is protected from governmental restriction by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or Section 2 of Article I of the California Constitution or conduct that is otherwise constitutionally protected.
(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 is encouraged to provide alternatives to suspension or expulsion, using a research-based framework with strategies that improve behavioral and academic outcomes, that are age appropriate and designed to address and correct the pupils specific misbehavior as specified in Section 48900.5.
(w)(1)A suspension or expulsion shall not be imposed against a pupil based solely on the fact that they are truant, tardy, or otherwise absent from school activities.
(2)It is the intent of the Legislature that the Multi-Tiered System of Supports, which includes restorative justice practices, trauma-informed practices, social and emotional learning, and schoolwide positive behavior interventions and support, be used to help pupils gain critical social and emotional skills, receive support to help transform trauma-related responses, understand the impact of their actions, and develop meaningful methods for repairing harm to the school community.
SEC. 2.Section 48900.2 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.2.(a)In addition to the reasons specified in Section 48900, a pupil may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has committed sexual harassment harassment, as defined in Section 212.5. 212.5, during or outside of school hours if the conditions described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (s) of Section 48900 are met.
(b)For the purposes of this chapter, the conduct described in Section 212.5 must be considered by a reasonable person of the same gender as the victim to be sufficiently severe or pervasive to have a negative impact upon the individuals academic performance or to create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational environment. This section shall not apply to pupils enrolled in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive.
SEC. 3.Section 48900.3 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.3.In addition to the reasons set forth in Sections 48900 and 48900.2, a pupil in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has caused, attempted to cause, threatened to cause, or participated in an act of, hate violence, as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 233. 233, during or outside of school hours if the conditions described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (s) of Section 48900 are met.
SEC. 4.Section 48900.4 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.4.In addition to the grounds specified in Sections 48900 and 48900.2, a pupil enrolled in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has intentionally engaged in harassment, threats, or intimidation, directed against school district personnel or pupils, during or outside of school hours if the conditions described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (s) of Section 48900 are met, that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, and invading the rights of either school personnel or pupils by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.
SEC. 5.Section 48900.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.5.(a)Suspension, including supervised suspension as described in Section 48911.1, shall be imposed only when other means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct. A school district may document the other means of correction used and place that documentation in the pupils record, which may be accessed pursuant to Section 49069.7. However, a pupil, including an individual with exceptional needs, as defined in Section 56026, may be suspended, subject to Section 1415 of Title 20 of the United States Code, for any of the reasons enumerated in Section 48900 upon a first offense, if the principal or superintendent of schools determines that the pupil violated subdivision (a), (b), (c), (d), or (e) of Section 48900 or that the pupils presence causes a danger to persons.
(b)Other means of correction include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1)A conference between school personnel, the pupils parent or guardian, and the pupil.
(2)Referrals to the school counselor, psychologist, social worker, child welfare attendance personnel, or other school support service personnel for case management and counseling.
(3)Study teams, guidance teams, resource panel teams, or other intervention-related teams that assess the behavior, and develop and implement individualized plans to address the behavior in partnership with the pupil and the pupils parents.
(4)Referral for a comprehensive psychosocial or psychoeducational assessment, including for purposes of creating an individualized education program, or a plan adopted pursuant to Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 794(a)).
(5)Enrollment in a program for teaching prosocial behavior or anger management.
(6)Participation in a restorative justice program.
(7)A positive behavior support approach with tiered interventions that occur during the schoolday on campus.
(8)After school programs that address specific behavioral issues or expose pupils to positive activities and behaviors, including, but not limited to, those operated in collaboration with local parent and community groups.
(9)Any of the alternatives described in Section 48900.6.
(c)For a pupil who has been suspended, or for whom other means of correction have been implemented pursuant to subdivision (b), for an incident of racist bullying, harassment, or intimidation, during or outside of school hours if the conditions described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (s) of Section 48900 are met, local educational agencies are encouraged to have both the victim and perpetrator engage in a restorative justice practice that is found to suit the needs of both the victim and the perpetrator. Local educational agencies are encouraged to regularly check on the victim of racist bullying, harassment, or intimidation to ensure that the victim is not in danger of suffering from long-lasting mental health issues. Local educational agencies are encouraged to require perpetrators to engage in culturally sensitive programs that promote racial justice and equity and combat racism and ignorance.
SEC. 6.Section 48900.7 of the Education Code is amended to read:48900.7.(a)In addition to the reasons specified in Sections 48900, 48900.2, 48900.3, and 48900.4, a pupil may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has made terroristic threats against school officials or school property, or both. both, during or outside of school hours if the conditions described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (s) of Section 48900 are met.
(b)For the purposes of this section, terroristic threat shall include any statement, whether written or oral, by a person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which will result in death, great bodily injury to another person, or property damage in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000), with the specific intent that the statement is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out, which, on its face and under the circumstances in which it is made, is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to the person threatened, a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby causes that person reasonably to be in sustained fear for his or her their own safety or for his or her their immediate familys safety, or for the protection of school district property, or the personal property of the person threatened or his or her their immediate family.
|
Date
|
Status
|
|---|---|
| May 15, 2024 | In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. |
| May 6, 2024 | Re-referred to Com. on APPR. pursuant to Joint Rule 10.5. |
| May 6, 2024 | Read second time. Ordered to third reading. |
| May 2, 2024 | Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. |
| May 1, 2024 | From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (April 30). |
| Apr 23, 2024 | Re-referred to Com. on JUD. |
| Apr 22, 2024 | From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on JUD. Read second time and amended. |
| Apr 9, 2024 | Re-referred to Com. on JUD. |
| Apr 8, 2024 | Read second time and amended. |
| Apr 4, 2024 | From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (April 3). |
| Feb 26, 2024 | Referred to Coms. on ED. and JUD. |
| Feb 13, 2024 | From printer. May be heard in committee March 14. |
| Feb 12, 2024 | Read first time. To print. |
|
Date
|
Description
|
Location
|
Votes
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 30, 2024 | Do pass as amended. | Assembly Standing Committee on Judiciary |
Passed |
|
| Apr 3, 2024 | Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary] | Assembly Standing Committee on Education |
Passed |
This list shows positions taken on this bill by organizations on the date displayed, which is linked to the original source.
Positions by individuals are not included.
|
Organization
|
Position
|
Date
|
|---|---|---|
| Aclu California Action | * Against | Apr 30, 2024 |
| Alliance for Boys and Men of Color | ** Against | |
| Alliance for Children's Rights | ** Against | |
| Arts for Healing and Justice Network | ** Against | |
| Black Parallel School board | * Against | Apr 30, 2024 |
| Californians for Justice | ** Against | |
| Cancel the Contract Antelope Valley | * Against | Apr 3, 2024 |
| Cancel the Contract Antelope Valley | ** Against | |
| Center for Leadership Equity and Research | * Against | Apr 3, 2024 |
| Center for Leadership, Equity, and Research | ** Against | |
| Children's Rights Clinic - Southwestern Law School | * Against | Apr 3, 2024 |
| Children's Rights Clinic At Southwestern Law School | ** Against | |
| Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth | ** Against | |
| Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth | * Against | Apr 3, 2024 |
| Collective for Liberatory Lawyering | * Against | Apr 30, 2024 |
| Collective for Liberatory Lawyering | * Against | Apr 3, 2024 |
| Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice | ** Against | |
| Community Asset Development Redefining Education | ** Against | |
| Concrete Development, INC. | ** Against | |
| Disability Rights California | * Against | Apr 30, 2024 |
| Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund | ** Against | |
| Dolores Huerta Foundation | * Against | Apr 30, 2024 |
| East Bay Community Law Center | * Against | Apr 30, 2024 |
| Electronic Frontier Foundation | * Against | Apr 30, 2024 |
| Empowering Marginalized Asian Communities | ** Against | |
| Equal Justice Society | ** Against | |
| Freedom 4 Youth | ** Against | |
| Kern County Superintendent Of Schools | ** Support | |
| Long Beach PTA | * Support | Apr 3, 2024 |
| Pacific Juvenile Defender Center | ** Against | |
| Public Advocates | ** Against | |
| Public Counsel | ** Against | |
| Southwestern Law School | ** Against | |
| Starting Over, Inc. | ** Against | |
| The Amelia Ann Adams Whole Life Center | ** Against | |
| The Collective for Liberatory Lawyering | ** Against | |
| Washington Unified School District | * Support | Apr 30, 2024 |
| Youth Alliance | ** Against | |
| Youth Justice Education Clinic - Loyola Law School | * Against | Apr 3, 2024 |
| Youth Justice Education Clinic, Center for Juvenile Law and Policy, Loyola Law School | ** Against | |
| Youth Law Center | ** Against |
Date of Hearing: April 30, 2024
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Ash Kalra, Chair
ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2351
Author:(Lowenthal) – As Amended Ver:April 22, 2024
As Proposed to be Amended
SUBJECT: Suspensions and expulsions: acts occurring outside of school hours
KEY ISSUE: should a school district be permitted to suspend students for conduct that occurs outside of school hours if the conduct creates an intimidating or hostile educational environment, but only after alternative means of discipline have failed to address the conduct?
SYNOPSIS
Existing law authorizes a principal or a superintendent of schools to suspend or expel students for certain kinds of serious misconduct, but overall state law and policy prefer that suspension and expulsion only be used as a last resort. Moreover, in the last decade or more the Legislature has considered, and often enacted, laws that either limit the grounds for which a student may be suspended or require the use of alternative forms of discipline. In part, these efforts reflect an emerging view that suspension is not very effective. This trend against suspension also reflects a growing concern over observed racial disparities in suspension patterns. This bill recognizes that despite the Legislature’s effort to lessen the use of suspensions as a disciplinary tool, some troubling student conduct may necessitate moving in the opposition direction by permitting the suspension of students for a new category of conduct: acts that occur outside of school hours if it disrupts the classroom or creates an intimidating or hostile educational environment.
This bill passed out of the Assembly Education Committee on a 5-1, with one member not voting. It is supported by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools. It is opposed by several groups representing the rights of children, civil rights, and civil liberties, including ACLU California Action, Public Advocates, Public Counsel, Disability Rights California, and the Alliance for Children’s Rights, among many others. The author will takes amendments in this Committee, which are reflected in the bill summary below and detailed in the analysis. The amendments do not appear to address the concerns of the opposition, however.
SUMMARY: Authorizes a student to be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion on the basis of specified acts taking place outside of school hours, if certain conditions are met. Specifically, this bill:
- Authorizes a principal or a superintendent of a school district to suspend or expel students for specified conduct committed outside of school hours, provided that, when engaged in outside of campus, the act is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment. Covered outside of school hours conduct includes:
- Causing, attempting to cause, or threatening to cause physical injury to another person;
- Committing an obscene act or engaging in habitual profanity or vulgarity;
- Possessing an imitation firearm;
- Committing or attempting to commit sexual assault, as defined;
- Harassing, threatening, or intimidating a student who is a witness in a school disciplinary proceeding, as specified;
- Engaging in, or attempting to engage in, hazing, as defined; and
- Engaging in an act of bullying, as defined, including an act of “electronic” or “cyber” bullying, as described.
- Specifies that existing grounds for suspension and expulsion, including sexual harassment, racist bullying, hate violence, harassment, threats, intimidation, and making terroristic threats, are grounds for suspension or expulsion when engaged in outside of campus if it is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual or reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.
- Specifies, consistent with existing law, that a student cannot be suspended or expelled under the provisions of this bill unless other means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct. Other means of correction include, but are not limited to, the following:
- A conference between school personnel, the student's parent or guardian, and the student;
- Referrals to the school counselor, psychologist, social worker, child welfare attendance personnel, or other school support personnel for case management and counseling;
- Study teams, guidance teams, resource panel teams, or other intervention-related teams that assess the behavior, develop and implement individualized plans to address the behavior in partnership with the student and his or her parents;
- Referral for a comprehensive psychosocial or psychoeducational assessment;
- Enrollment in a program for teaching prosocial behavior or anger management;
- Participation in a restorative justice program;
- A positive behavior support approach with tiered interventions that occur during the school day on campus and
- After school programs that address specific behavioral issues or expose students to positive activities and behaviors.
- Requires a school district, when reporting suspensions and expulsions to the California Department of Education to indicate whether the suspension or expulsion was a result of conduct that occurred outside of campus, as specified.
- Provides that the changes made by this bill shall sunset on January 1, 2028, unless the sunset is removed or extended before that date.
EXISTING LAW:
- Prohibits a student from being suspended from school or recommended for expulsion, unless the superintendent of the school district, or the principal of the school, determines that the student has committed specified offenses, while on school grounds, while going to or coming from school, during the lunch period whether on or off the campus, or during or while going to or coming from a school sponsored activity. (Education Code Sections 48900, 48900.2, 48900.3, 48900.4, 48900.7. Subsequent section numbers reference this code unless otherwise indicated.)
- Includes the prohibition on suspension and expulsions for specified offenses to apply to students in charter schools. (Section 48901.1.)
- Requires the principal or superintendent of schools to recommend the expulsion of a student for any of the following acts committed at school or at a school activity off school grounds, unless it is determined that the expulsion should not be recommended under the circumstances or that an alternative means of correction would address the conduct:
- Causing serious physical injury to another person, except in self-defense.
- Possession of any knife or other dangerous object of no reasonable use to the student.
- Unlawful possession of any controlled substance, as specified.
- Robbery or extortion.
- Assault or battery, as defined, upon any school employee. (Section 48915.)
- Requires that a suspension only be imposed when other means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct. Specifies that other means of correction may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- A conference between school personnel, the student's parent or guardian, and the student.
- Referrals to the school counselor, psychologist, social worker, child welfare attendance personnel, or other school support personnel for case management and counseling.
- Study teams, guidance teams, resource panel teams, or other intervention-related teams that assess the behavior, develop and implement individualized plans to address the behavior in partnership with the student and his or her parents.
- Referral for a comprehensive psychosocial or psychoeducational assessment.
- Enrollment in a program for teaching prosocial behavior or anger management.
- Participation in a restorative justice program.
- A positive behavior support approach with tiered interventions that occur during the school day on campus.
- After school programs that address specific behavioral issues or expose students to positive activities and behaviors. (Section 48900.5.)
- Provides that for purposes of reporting expulsion or suspension offenses to the California Department of Education, each school district shall specifically identify, by offense committed, in all appropriate official records of a pupil each suspension or expulsion of that pupil for the commission of any of the offenses. (Section 48900.8.)
FISCAL EFFECT: As currently in print this bill is keyed non-fiscal.
COMMENTS: According to the author:
Acts of bullying, harassment, and intimidation between pupils are now taking place 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. A pupil who is being bullied at school can no longer simply go home to escape their oppressor. In fact, the bully is now empowered to continue their harassment and intimidation via social media platforms, text messages, and email, circulating harmful, humiliating, harassing, and intimidating content to not only the pupil they are bullying, but to a much wider audience of the pupil’s peers. These circumstances create an undeniably hostile educational environment for the pupils who are experiencing this type of harassment and intimidation. Students who are engaging in harassment and intimidation of their fellow pupils should be held accountable for their actions, regardless of whether the act takes place on campus or during regular school hours, and it is essential that superintendents and principals are empowered with the appropriate tools to address these issues when they do arise, as well as a full understanding of their jurisdiction over activities that have an impact on pupils in their schools.
AB 2351 is designed to ensure that superintendents and principals have clear-cut authority in statute to take the action they deem appropriate for behavior and actions that, when engaged in outside of the campus, are sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or invading the rights of either school personnel or pupils by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment. The bill does not require a superintendent or principal to suspend or expel a pupil for these activities, but clarifies a superintendent’s or principal’s authority to do so regardless of whether these activities take place during or after school hours or while on or off of school grounds.
Conflicting trends and values. Existing law authorizes a principal or a superintendent of schools to suspend or expel students for certain kinds of serious misconduct, but overall state law and policy require that suspension and expulsion only be used as a last resort. In the last decade the Legislature has considered, and often enacted, laws that either limit the grounds for which a student may be suspended or require the use of alternative forms of discipline. In part, these efforts reflect a growing view that suspension is not very effective. The trend against suspension also reflects, however, a growing concern over observed racial disparities in suspension patterns. For example, the opponents of this measure cite studies and data published by the California Department of Education that while African Americans account for only about 6.5% of the student population, they account for 18% of suspensions in the state. Studies also show that suspensions are largely ineffective and have long-term adverse effects for the suspended students, including an increased likelihood of failing their classes, dropping out school, and becoming entangled in the juvenile justice system. (See e.g. Rumberger and Losen, The Hidden Costs of California’s Harsh School Discipline. California Dropout Research Project & Center for Civil Rights Remedies, 2017.)
This bill arguably deviates from recent legislation by permitting the suspension of students for conduct that occurs outside of school hours if it disrupts the classroom or creates an intimidating or hostile educational environment. Together, this bill and recent legislation limiting suspensions reflect two competing trends and values that have animated much recent legislation. On the one hand, the bill, like others recently or presently before the Legislature, seeks to address what many see as a growing problem: young people using social media for the purpose of harassment, bullying, and espousing hate. On the other hand, the recent and pending legislation that seek to limit the disciplinary authority of schools have done so because of racial disparities in school punishment that reflect, and perhaps contribute to, racial disparities in society at large.
Alternatives to suspension and expulsion. It should be noted that while this bill creates a new category of conduct subject to suspension and expulsion, it is also subject to current limitations on suspension and expulsion. Specifically, existing law already provides that suspension can only be imposed “only when other means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct.” These other means of correction include, but are not limited to, conferences between students, parents, and school personnel; referrals to counseling; resource teams that assess behavior and develop individualized plans; enrollment in an anger management program; participation in a restorative justice program; or other programs that address specific behaviors in a less punitive manner. (Education Code Section 48900.5.) As recently amended, the bill expressly references this section to clarify that the suspensions authorized by this bill can only be imposed if these alternatives have been tried but failed to address the conduct.
The bill does not apply to all forms of conduct subject to suspension when engaged in on campus during the school hours. Existing provisions of the Education Code list nearly 20 categories of conduct subject to suspension, albeit only when engaged in while on school grounds, while going or coming to school, during the lunch period, whether on or off campus, or during a school-sponsored activity. While this bill expands suspension and expulsion authority to conduct engaged in outside of school hours, it only extends to a few categories of offenses. For example, while a student may be suspended for drug possession or committing certain crimes while on campus, the commission of general crimes off campus is not grounds of suspension under this bill. Rather, the bill only applies to those forms of conduct that, though committed off campus and outside of school hours, could carry over to affect the school environment, such as forms of harassment, intimidation, threats, and bullying directed at other students or school staff.
Reporting requirements and sunset. As proposed to be amended in Committee today, this bill will also require school districts to report suspension information to the California Department of Education. Existing law already requires school districts to identify the specific offense for which a student was suspended for purposes of reporting suspensions and expulsions to the California Department of Education. This bill will require the reports to the Department of Education to also indicate those suspensions which were for conduct engaged in outside of school hours and, therefore, authorized by the changes made by this bill. The bill will sunset on January 1, 2028. It is hoped that the required reports will help legislators decide whether the sunset should be removed or extended, or if the changes made by this bill should be allowed to expire.
Proposed author amendments. The author wishes to take the following amendments in this Committee:
- At the end of the bill insert:
Section 48900.8 is amended to read as follows:
(a) For purposes of notification to parents, and for the reporting of expulsion or suspension offenses to the department, each school district shall specifically identify, by offense committed, in all appropriate official records of a pupil each suspension or expulsion of that pupil for the commission of any of the offenses set forth in Section 48900, 48900.2, 48900.3, 48900.4, 48900.7, or 48915.
(b) For purposes of the reporting of expulsion to the department, the school district shall indicate whether the suspension or expulsion was a result of conduct engaged in outside of campus as described in Section 48900.
- Add to the end of the bill a new section providing that the changes made by this bill will remain in effect of until January 1, 2028, unless this date is extended or deleted.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The Kern County Superintendent of Schools (Superintendent) supports this bill because existing law only permits suspension or expulsion for student misconduct that occurs on school grounds; while going to or coming from school; during the lunch period whether on or off the campus; and during, or while going to or coming from, a school-sponsored activity. The Superintendent believes that this bill usefully extends the school’s authority to address conduct that occurs outside of school hours but which nonetheless creates an intimidating or hostile educational environment. The Superintendent writes that it is “our collective responsibility to provide a safe learning environment, free from threats and distractions for all students so they can thrive socially, emotionally, and academically. AB 2351 (Lowenthal) takes a necessary step towards ensuring that all students feel safe and welcome at school.”
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: A large number of groups advocating on behalf of children’s rights, civil rights, and civil liberties strongly oppose this bill. A coalition letter including ACLU California, Disability Rights California, the Alliance of Children’s Rights, and the Alliance of Boys and Men of Color, among others, oppose this bill. They fear that “AB 2351 will return us to 2011 and set back well over a decade of progress on education equity by authorizing schools to suspend students for acts outside school hours and off campus that might be construed by an educator as creating an ‘intimidating or hostile educational environment.’” They note recent legislative efforts to “eradicate the stark disparate impacts of school discipline and their contribution to the school-to-prison pipeline. . . Our state has recognized that these punishments are ineffective in resolving behavioral issues and can have long-lasting adverse consequences for students. Instead, our state has focused on establishment of, and investment in, effective alternative supports that address the root causes of behavior.”
The opposition cite research that “has consistently shown that, although Black and white students have similar rates of misbehavior in school, Black students are more likely than white students to be referred for disciplinary action for subjective infractions, like ‘defiance’ or ‘disruption’ and more likely to receive harsher consequences.” The opposition also cites research showing that students who are suspended are far more likely to fail, drop out, or have contact with the juvenile justice system. As written, the opposition contends, “AB 2351 places a huge onus on individual districts to examine and investigate a wide range of incidents occurring outside of school which [under this bill] now come under the purview of school districts. This means that even a fight that occurs after school, off campus and with no connection to school would become an incident that school administrators would need to investigate and take appropriate disciplinary action against students leading to additional suspensions and expulsions for situations about which the schools may not even be able to get full information.”
Finally, the opponents note that there is “no data-driven need for this bill to so broadly expand school districts' discretion in the Education Code. . . Proponents of this bill have stated that because social media allows students to communicate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, this section of the Education Code needs updating. But students have always been able to interact off-campus and outside of school hours – in-person and via phone – and these acts were rarely considered to be in the school’s jurisdiction.”
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Kern County Superintendent of Schools
Opposition
Alliance for Boys and Men of Color
Alliance for Children's Rights
American Civil Liberties Union California Action
Arts for Healing and Justice Network
Black Parallel School Board
Californians for Justice
Cancel the Contract Antelope Valley
Center for Leadership, Equity, and Research (CLEAR)
Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth
Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ)
Community Asset Development Re-defining Education
Concrete Development, INC.
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF)
Dolores Huerta Foundation
East Bay Community Law Center
Empowering Marginalized Asian Communities (EMAC)
Equal Justice Society
Freedom 4 Youth
Pacific Juvenile Defender Center
Public Advocates
Public Counsel
Southwestern Law School
Starting Over, INC.
The Amelia Ann Adams Whole Life Center
The Collective for Liberatory Lawyering
Youth Alliance
Youth Justice Education Clinic, Center for Juvenile Law and Policy, Loyola Law School
Youth Law Center
Analysis Prepared by: Tom Clark / JUD. / (916) 319-2334
Date of Hearing: April 3, 2024
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Al Muratsuchi, Chair
ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2351 (
Author:Lowenthal) – As Introduced Ver:February 12, 2024
[This bill is double referred to the Assembly Judiciary Committee and will be heard by that Committee as it relates to issues under its jurisdiction.]
SUBJECT: Suspensions and expulsions: acts occurring outside of school hours
SUMMARY: Authorizes a student to be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion on the basis of specified acts taking place outside of school hours, if specified conditions are met. Specifically, this bill:
- Authorizes a student to be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion on the basis of specified acts taking place outside of school hours, provided that conduct that is speech or other communication, when engaged in outside of the campus, is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or invading the rights of either school personnel or pupils by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment, and specifies these acts include:
- Causing, attempting to cause, or threatening to cause physical injury to another person, or willfully using force or violence upon another person, except in self-defense;
- Possessing, selling, or otherwise furnishing a firearm, knife, explosive, or other dangerous object, unless the student had obtained prior written permission to possess the item;
- Unlawfully possessing, using, selling, or otherwise furnishing a controlled substance;
- Unlawfully offering, arranging, or negotiating to sell a controlled substance, alcoholic beverage, or an intoxicant of any kind;
- Committing or attempting to commit robbery or extortion;
- Causing or attempting to cause damage to school property or private property;
- Stealing or attempting to steal school property or private property;
- Possessing or using tobacco, or products containing tobacco or nicotine products;
- Committing an obscene act or engaging in habitual profanity or vulgarity;
- Unlawfully possessing or unlawfully offering, arranging, or negotiating to sell drug paraphernalia;
- Disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully defying the authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties. This subdivision does not apply to a student enrolled in kindergarten through grade 5; or to a student enrolled in grades 6 to 12 until July 1, 2029; and does not allow a student enrolled in grades kindergarten through 12th grade to be recommended for expulsion on this basis.
- Knowingly receiving stolen school property or private property;
- Possessing an imitation firearm;
- Committing or attempting to commit a sexual assault or sexual battery;
- Harassing, threatening, or intimidating a student who is a complaining witness or a witness in a school disciplinary proceeding in order to prevent the student from being a witness or retaliating against that student for being a witness, or both;
- Unlawfully offering, arranging to sell, or negotiating to sell the prescription drug Soma;
- Engaging in or attempting to engage in hazing;
- Engaging in the act of bullying, including bullying committed by means of an electronic act and defines “electronic act” as the “creation or transmission originated on or off the schoolsite, by means of an electronic device, including but not limited to, a telephone, wireless telephone, or other wireless communication device, computer, or pager, including but not limited to any of the following: a message, text, sound, video, or image; a post on a social network website, including, but not limited to any of the following: posting or creating a burn page; creating a credible impersonation of another actual pupil; creating a false profile; and an act of cyber sexual bullying.”
- Committing sexual harassment (grades 4 through 12 only);
- Causing or attempting to cause, threatening to cause, or participating in, an act of hate violence (grades 4 through 12 only);
- Engaging in harassment, threats, or intimidation against school district personnel or students that have the effect of disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, and invading the rights of either school personnel or students by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment (grades 4 through 12 only); and,
- Making a terroristic threat against school officials, school property, or both.
- Prohibits a student from being suspended or expelled solely on the basis of conduct that is speech or other communication that, when engaged in outside of the campus, is protected from governmental restriction by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or Section 2 of Article I of the California Constitution or conduct that is otherwise constitutionally protected.
EXISTING LAW:
- Declares that all students have the right to participate fully in the educational process, free from discrimination and harassment, and that harassment on school grounds directed at an individual on the basis of personal characteristics or status creates a hostile environment and jeopardizes equal educational opportunity as guaranteed by the California Constitution and the United States Constitution. Also expresses the intent of the Legislature that each public school undertake educational activities to counter discriminatory incidents on school grounds and, within constitutional bounds, to minimize and eliminate a hostile environment on school grounds that impairs the access of pupils to equal educational opportunity. (Education Code (EC) 201)
- Prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic that is contained in the definition of hate crimes set forth in Section 422.55 of the Penal Code, including immigration status, in any program or activity conducted by an educational institution that receives, or benefits from, state financial assistance, or enrolls pupils who receive state student financial aid. (EC 220)
- Declares that every person may freely speak, write, and publish his or her sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of this right, and that a law may not restrain or abridge liberty of speech or press. (California Constitution, Article 2, Section 2)
- States the policy of the State of California to ensure that all local educational agencies (LEAs) continue to work to reduce discrimination, harassment, violence, intimidation, and bullying. It is further the policy of the state to improve pupil safety at schools and the connections between pupils and supportive adults, schools, and communities. (EC 234)
- Requires LEAs to adopt policies and procedures for preventing acts of bullying, including cyberbullying by December 31, 2019. (EC 234.4)
- Requires LEAs to ensure that specified information is readily accessible in a prominent location on the LEA’s website, including the LEA’s anti-cyberbullying procedures. (EC 234.6)
- Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to display current information, and periodically update information, on curricula and other resources that specifically address bias-related discrimination, harassment, intimidation, cyber sexual bullying, and bullying on its website. (EC 234.2)
- Requires the CDE to develop, and post on its website, a model handout describing the policies addressing bias-related discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying in schools. (EC 234.3)
- Requires school districts and county offices of education (COEs) to develop a comprehensive school safety plan for its schools, and encourages all plans, to the extent that resources are available, to include policies and procedures aimed at the prevention of bullying, including cyberbullying. (EC 32282)
- Requires a charter school to include in its petition to establish the charter school the procedures that the charter school will follow to ensure the safety of students and staff (EC 47605 and 47605.6).
- Requires the CDE to develop and post on its website an online training module to assist all school staff, administrators, parents, students, and community members in increasing their knowledge of the dynamics of bullying and cyberbullying. (EC 32283.5)
- Prohibits a student from being suspended from school or recommended for expulsion, unless the superintendent of the school district, or the principal of the school, determines that the student has committed specified offenses, while on school grounds, while going to or coming from school, during the lunch period whether on or off the campus, or during or while going to or coming from a school sponsored activity. (EC 48900, 48900.2, 48900.3, 48900.4, 48900.7)
- Includes the prohibition on suspension and expulsions for specified offenses to apply to students in charter schools. (EC 48901.1)
- Requires the principal or superintendent of schools to recommend the expulsion of a student for any of the following acts committed at school or at a school activity off school grounds, unless it is determined that the expulsion should not be recommended under the circumstances or that an alternative means of correction would address the conduct:
- Causing serious physical injury to another person, except in self-defense;
- Possession of any knife or other dangerous object of no reasonable use to the student;
- Unlawful possession of any controlled substance, as specified;
- Robbery or extortion; and
- Assault or battery, as defined, upon any school employee. (EC 48915)
- Requires that a suspension only be imposed when other means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct. Specifies that other means of correction may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- A conference between school personnel, the student's parent or guardian, and the student;
- Referrals to the school counselor, psychologist, social worker, child welfare attendance personnel, or other school support personnel for case management and counseling;
- Study teams, guidance teams, resource panel teams, or other intervention-related teams that assess the behavior, develop and implement individualized plans to address the behavior in partnership with the student and his or her parents;
- Referral for a comprehensive psychosocial or psychoeducational assessment;
- Enrollment in a program for teaching prosocial behavior or anger management;
- Participation in a restorative justice program;
- A positive behavior support approach with tiered interventions that occur during the schoolday on campus; and,
- After school programs that address specific behavioral issues or expose students to positive activities and behaviors. (EC 48900.5)
- Community service including but not limited to, work performed in the community or on school grounds in the areas of outdoor beautification, community or campus betterment, and teacher, peer, or youth assistance programs. (EC 48900.6)
- Requires that a student who has been determined to have been the victim of bullying be given priority for an inter-district transfer. (EC 46600)
FISCAL EFFECT: This bill has been keyed non-fiscal by the Office of Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
Need for the bill. According to the author, “Acts of bullying, harassment, and intimidation between pupils are now taking place 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. A pupil who is being bullied at school can no longer simply go home to escape their oppressor. In fact, the bully is now empowered to continue their harassment and intimidation via social media platforms, text messages, and email, circulating harmful, humiliating, harassing, and intimidating content to not only the pupil they are bullying, but to a much wider audience of the pupil’s peers. These circumstances create an undeniably hostile educational environment for the pupils who are experiencing this type of harassment and intimidation. Students who are engaging in harassment and intimidation of their fellow pupils should be held accountable for their actions, regardless of whether the act takes place on campus or during regular school hours, and it is essential that superintendents and principals are empowered with the appropriate tools to address these issues when they do arise, as well as a full understanding of their jurisdiction over activities that have an impact on pupils in their schools.
AB 2351 is designed to ensure that superintendents and principals have clear-cut authority in statute to take the action they deem appropriate for behavior and actions that, when engaged in outside of the campus, are sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or invading the rights of either school personnel or pupils by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment. The bill does not require a superintendent or principal to suspend or expel a pupil for these activities, but clarifies a superintendent’s or principal’s authority to do so regardless of whether these activities take place during or after school hours or while on or off of school grounds.”
Current law authorizes school officials to address bullying. California law authorizes administrators to suspend, or recommend for expulsion, a student who has engaged in bullying at school or during school activities. This includes bullying by an electronic act originating on or off the schoolsite. This would suggest that school administrators have the authority to address cyberbullying actions regardless of whether the actions take place on the schoolsite or not. This bill would extend the authorization to suspend or expel a student for certain acts which have taken place outside of school hours under specified conditions.
What is electronic bullying? Electronic bullying, or cyberbullying is defined as “bullying that takes place over digital devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets. Cyberbullying can occur through SMS, Text, and apps, or online in social media, forums, or gaming where people can view, participate in, or share content. Cyberbullying includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. It can include sharing personal or private information about someone else causing embarrassment or humiliation. Some cyberbullying crosses the line into unlawful or criminal behavior.” (Stopbullying.gov)
In 2021, 16% of U.S. high school students were electronically bullied, including through texting, Instagram, Facebook, or other social media, during the past year. Female students were more likely than male students to be electronically bullied. American Indian or Alaska Native and White students were more likely than students from most other racial and ethnic groups to be electronically bullied. Nearly one-quarter of LGBQ+ students were bullied at school and nearly 30% were electronically bullied. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2023)
Research identifies adverse impacts of suspensions and expulsions. The trend in recent years, in California as well as nationally, has been to reduce the rates of suspension and expulsion. A large body of research has identified adverse impacts of suspensions and expulsions, including the following.
- Students who experience out-of-school suspensions and expulsions are 10 times more likely to ultimately drop out of high school;
- Students who are suspended or expelled are much more likely to become involved in the juvenile justice system;
- Students who are excluded from classes lose instructional time;
- A student’s suspension or expulsion can have harmful effects on the family, including loss of wages or employment for the parent, particularly for single parents; and
- Students who are suspended or expelled are often less likely to have supervision at home and are subject to the risk of further behavioral problems.
Impacts of exclusionary discipline policies. Research suggests that harsh discipline practices and the over-policing of students of color that occurs in many schools have undermined the creation of safe and inclusive learning environments. Disproportionalities in suspension and expulsion rates between students of color and their white peers appear as early as preschool and continue through the K-12th grades. Black youth often receive harsher punishments for minor offenses and are more than twice as likely as white students to receive a referral to law enforcement or be subject to a school-related arrest. (Learning Policy Institute (LPI), March 2021).
One study, Educational and Criminal Justice Outcomes 12 Years After School Suspension, (Rosenbaum, 2018) notes that “school suspensions aim to obtain better behavior from the punished student and maintain school norms by removing students. Suspension removes disruptive students from schools temporarily and may improve school climate by reducing peer influences to engage in deviant behavior.” The study goes on to note that a body of research has found that suspended students are more likely to:
- Engage in antisocial behavior;
- Have involvement with the criminal justice system;
- Be arrested both during the month of suspension and within a year of suspension; and
- Use marijuana and tobacco.
The study also cites various longitudinal research findings, including:
- Youth suspended in ninth grade were less likely to graduate high school, graduate on time, and enroll in postsecondary education; and
- Twelve years after suspension, suspended youth were less likely to have earned degrees or high school diplomas and were more likely to have been arrested or on probation.
Some researchers conclude that “suspensions may act more as a reinforcer than a punisher for inappropriate behavior. Other research raises doubts as to whether harsh school discipline has a deterrent value. Frequent use of suspension alone has no measureable positive deterrent or academic benefit to either the students who are suspended or to non-suspended students.” (Losen, 2011). The American Academy of Pediatrics states, “Without the services of trained professionals, such as pediatricians, mental health professionals, and school counselors, and without a parent at home during the day, students with out-of-school suspensions and expulsions are far more likely to commit crimes.”
Researchers have pointed out that “many suspended students find school to be challenging and experience suspension from school as a reward. Suspensions may be reinforcing and even incentivizing the very behavior they are meant to correct.” (Rumberger, 2017)
According to the U.S. Department of Education: “Teachers and students deserve school environments that are safe, supportive, and conducive to teaching and learning. Creating a supportive school climate—and decreasing suspensions and expulsions—requires close attention to the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of all students. Evidence does not show that discipline practices that remove students from instruction—such as suspensions and expulsions—help to improve either student behavior or school climate.”
Rates of suspension/expulsion have dropped dramatically. According to CDE data on discipline in California public schools, over the ten-year period from 2011-12 to 2021-22:
- Total suspensions for all offenses dropped 58%, from 709,702 to 292,423; and
- Total expulsions for all offenses dropped 57%, from 9,758 to 4,191.
California has invested in alternatives to suspension and expulsion to improve school climate and culture. In recent years, the Legislature has allocated significant resources specifically designed to improve school climate and reduce exclusionary disciplinary practices. These include significant investments in Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) to encourage LEAs to establish and align school wide, data-driven systems of academic and behavioral supports to more effectively meet the needs of California’s diverse learners in the most inclusive environment.
The state has also invested significant funding for the establishment and expansion of community schools. A community school is a public school that serves prekindergarten through grade twelve and has community partnerships that support improved academic outcomes, whole-child engagement, and family development. Community school partnership strategies include integrated support services, extended learning time, and collaborative leadership and practices for educators and administrators. Community schools can increase equitable student learning outcomes by addressing the conditions for teaching and learning. Community schools support the needs of the whole child by strengthening family and community foundations with approaches that sustain mental and behavioral health through healing-centered practices, social–emotional learning, and restorative justice. The Committee may wish to consider whether expanding the scope of an administrator’s ability to suspend or expel students on the basis of acts taking place outside of school hours is counter to recent efforts to reduce the number of suspensions and expulsions. Further, the Committee may wish to consider the capacity of school administrators to take on the added burden of monitoring or investigating acts occurring outside of school hours.
Recommended Committee Amendments. Staff recommends that the bill be amended as follows:
- Remove references to free speech and communications protected by the First Amendment.
- Restate the conditions by which an administrator would be authorized to suspend or recommend for expulsion a student having committed specified acts outside of school hours as follows: “outside of school hours when the act is sufficiently severe or pervasive to have the actual and reasonably expected effect of materially disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder, or creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment.”
- Other technical and conforming changes.
Arguments in support. The Office of the Kern County Superintendent of Schools writes, “It is our collective responsibility to provide a safe learning environment, free from threats and
distractions for all students so they can thrive socially, emotionally, and academically. AB 2351 takes a necessary step towards ensuring that all students feel safe and welcome at school.”
Arguments in opposition. A large group of advocacy organizations, including ACLU and Public Counsel, among others, writes:
This bill perpetuates ineffective responses to student behavior, reverses precedent around the scope of schools’ authority, presents First Amendment concerns, threatens students’ access to justice, and will reintroduce a level of subjectivity to the Education Code that will inevitably increase the disproportionate suspension and expulsion of Black, Brown, and disabled students.
AB 2351’s approach conflicts with California school discipline reform efforts of the past ten years. Educators nationwide, statewide, and the California Legislature have steadily moved away from relying on suspension and expulsion as a response to student behavior seen as defiant or disruptive, recognizing that these punishments are ineffective in resolving behavioral issues and can have long-lasting consequences on students. Instead, our state has focused on the establishment and investment in effective alternative supports that address the root causes of behavior.
An overwhelming body of research confirms that suspending students at any age greatly increases the likelihood that the student will fail, be pushed out of school, and/or have contact with the juvenile justice system. Furthermore, suspended or expelled students are 5 times more likely to drop out of school and to fall into the school-to-prison pipeline, costing the state an estimated $2.7 billion a year.
As written, AB 2351 places a huge onus on individual districts to examine and investigate a wide range of incidents occurring outside of school and covered under Education Code 48900. Incidents occurring off campus and after school hours would now come under the purview of school districts. This means that even a fight that occurs after school, off campus and with no connection to school would become an incident that school administrators would need to investigate and take appropriate disciplinary action against students leading to additional suspensions on expulsions for situations about which the schools may not even be able to get full information.
Related legislation. SB 274 (Skinner) Chapter 597, Statutes of 2023, prohibits the suspension or expulsion of a student enrolled in 6th through 12th grade in a public school on the basis of willful defiance until July 1, 2029, authorizes employees to refer students to school administrators for in-school interventions or supports, and requires that administrators document the actions taken in the student’s record and inform the referring employee of those actions.
AB 1165 (McCarty) Chapter 22, Statutes of 2023, encourages LEAs to refer both the victim and perpetrator of an incident of racist bullying, harassment, or intimidation to a restorative justice program that suits the needs of both the victim and the perpetrator.
SB 419 (Skinner), Chapter 279, Statutes of 2019, commencing July 1, 2020, extends the permanent prohibition against suspending a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 3 for disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully defied the valid authority of school staff to include grades 4 and 5 permanently; and to include grades 6 to 8, inclusive, until July 1, 2025; and applies these prohibitions to charter schools.
AB 34 (Ramos) Chapter 282, Statutes of 2019, requires LEAs, commencing with the 2020-21 school year, to provide specified bullying and harassment prevention information in a prominent location on their existing websites.
AB 1808 (Committee on Budget) Chapter 32, Statutes of 2018, removed the sunset on the prohibition on suspending a student in kindergarten through third grade, or recommending a student in kindergarten through 12th grade for expulsion, on the basis of willful defiance, making these prohibitions permanent.
AB 667 (Reyes) Chapter 445, Statutes of 2017, requires that, at the informal conference required before a student is suspended from school, the pupil be informed of other means of correction that were attempted before the suspension was imposed.
AB 2845 (Williams) Chapter 621, Statutes of 2016, requires the CDE to assess whether LEAs have provided information to staff serving students in grades 7 through 12 on resources related to bullying due to religious affiliation, and requires the CDE to post on its website a list of resources that support students who have been subject to school-based discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived religious affiliation, nationality, race, or ethnicity.
AB 420 (Dickinson), Chapter 660, Statutes of 2014, eliminated the authority to suspend a pupil enrolled in kindergarten through 3rd grade, and the authority to recommend for expulsion a pupil enrolled in grades kindergarten through 12th grade, for disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully defying the valid authority of school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties. These requirements sunset on July 1, 2018.
AB 1729 (Ammiano), Chapter 425, Statutes of 2012, reaffirmed that superintendents and school principals have the discretion to implement alternatives to suspension and expulsion and expanded the list of other means of correction that must be implemented prior to suspension or expulsion to address most student misbehavior.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office
Opposition
ACLU California Action
Alliance for Boys & Men of Color
Alliance for Children's Rights
Black Parallel School Board
Cancel the Contract Antelope Valley
Center for Leadership, Equity, and Research
Children's Rights Clinic At Southwestern Law School
Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth
Disability Rights California
Dolores Huerta Foundation
East Bay Community Law Center
Empowering Marginalized Asian Communities
Equal Justice Society
Pacific Juvenile Defender Center
Public Advocates
Public Counsel
The Collective for Liberatory Lawyering
Youth Justice Education Clinic, Center for Juvenile Law and Policy, Loyola Law School
Analysis Prepared by: Debbie Look / ED. / (916) 319-2087
Discussed in Hearing
49MIN
Assembly Standing Committee on Judiciary
57MIN
Assembly Standing Committee on Education
Bill Author
Bill Co-Author(s):