Bill Text: CA AB1984 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Pupil discipline: transfer reporting.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2024-09-22 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 368, Statutes of 2024. [AB1984 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB1984-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Senate  August 15, 2024

Amended  IN  Senate  June 24, 2024

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 15, 2024

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 01, 2024

Amended  IN  Assembly  March 21, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1984

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Introduced by Assembly Member Weber

January 30, 2024

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An act to add Section 48439 52064.6 to the Education Code, relating to pupil discipline.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1984, as amended, Weber. Transfer reporting for alternative schools, county community schools, community day schools, and continuation schools. California School Dashboard: transfer reporting.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education, in collaboration with, and subject to the approval of, the executive director of the State Board of Education, to develop and maintain the California School Dashboard, a web-based system for publicly reporting performance data on the state and local indicators included in the evaluation rubrics.

Existing law authorizes a county board of education to establish and maintain one or more county community schools, and authorizes the governing board of a school district to establish one or more community day schools, to enroll specified categories of pupils, including expelled pupils, among others, as specified. Existing law authorizes the governing board of any school district to maintain one or more alternative schools, as defined, and requires the governing board of each high school district and each unified school district to establish and maintain within its boundaries special continuation education classes.

Existing law requires enrollment in an alternative school to be voluntary, and authorizes both the voluntary and involuntary transfers of pupils to county community schools and to continuation schools, as specified. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district that establishes a community day school to adopt policies that provide procedures for the involuntary transfer of pupils to a community day school.

This bill would require, commencing with the 2025–26 2026–27 school year, the State Department of Education to collect and publish on its DataQuest internet website, the California School Dashboard, and school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to provide to the department, data on pupil transfers, disaggregated by those initiated by the pupil or their parent or guardian and those initiated by the local educational agency, including involuntary transfers, to alternative schools, continuation schools or classes, community day schools, or county community schools. including the reason for the transfer, whether the pupil transferred due to disciplinary reasons and was referred by a judge, and whether the pupil transferred to an alternative school based on a referral by the school. The bill would require the department to systematically review suspension and expulsion data and that transfer data, and include reducing the use of those transfers in any guidance to local educational agencies relating to ending the disproportionate discipline transfer of pupil subgroups, including the subgroups with the highest rate of suspensions or expulsions, as defined. subgroups. To the extent this bill would impose additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.Section 48439 is added to the Education Code, immediately following Section 48438, to read:

48439.

(a)Commencing with the 2025–26 school year, the department shall collect and publish on its DataQuest internet website, and local educational agencies shall provide to the department, data on pupil transfers, disaggregated by those initiated by the pupil or their parent or guardian and those initiated by the local educational agency, including involuntary transfers pursuant to Sections 47605, 47605.6, and 48432.5, to alternative schools established pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 58500) of Part 31, to continuation schools or classes established pursuant to this article, to community day schools established pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 48660), or to county community schools established pursuant to Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 1980) of Part 2 of Division 1 of Title 1.

(b)The department shall systematically review suspension and expulsion data and the data collected pursuant to subdivision (a), and shall include reducing the use of the transfers identified in subdivision (a) in any guidance to local educational agencies relating to ending the disproportionate discipline of pupil subgroups, including the subgroups with the highest rate of suspensions or expulsions.

(c)For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1)“Local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school.

(2)“Subgroups with the highest rate of suspensions or expulsions” means the three numerically significant pupil subgroups, as described in Section 52052, with the highest rates of suspensions or expulsions statewide based on the latest statewide DataQuest report for annual K–12 public school suspension rate and expulsion rate published by the department.

SECTION 1.

 Section 52064.6 is added to the Education Code, to read:

52064.6.

 (a) Commencing with the 2026–27 school year, the department shall collect and publish on the California School Dashboard, and local educational agencies shall provide to the department, data on pupil transfers, including all of the following:

(1) The reason for the transfer.

(2) Whether the pupil transferred due to disciplinary reasons and was referred by a judge.

(3) Whether the pupil transferred to an alternative school based on a referral by the school.

(b) The department shall systematically review the transfer data collected pursuant to subdivision (a), and shall include reducing the use of the transfers identified in subdivision (a) in any guidance to local educational agencies relating to ending the disproportionate transfer of pupil subgroups.

(c) For purposes of this section, “local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school.

SEC. 2.

 If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.