Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary education in this state. Under this system, local educational agencies throughout the state provide instruction in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, at the schoolsites operated by these agencies. Existing law requires teachers in the public schools to hold pupils to a strict account for their conduct on the way to and from school, on the playgrounds, or during recess. Existing law provides that teachers, vice principals, principals, and other certificated employees of a school district are not subject to criminal prosecution or criminal penalties for the exercise, during the performance of their duties, of the same degree of physical control over a pupil that a parent would be legally privileged to exercise, as specified.
This bill, notwithstanding that provision, would
prohibit school employees from compelling pupils to sign documents that are intended to bind or otherwise affect the behavior, disciplinary status, or treatment of that pupil. The bill would also prohibit school employees from imposing any discipline or restriction on a pupil because of that pupil’s refusal to sign such a document.