Outline of the state of California
State
California
Monitoring required

Category
Equitable Discipline Practices

Category
Equitable Discipline Practices

State law requires districts to monitor disproportionality in discipline practices within general education populations.

5 California Code of Regulations 702. Guidelines for Reporting and Required Documentation.

Site or program administrators and school district and county office of education superintendents shall use (1) crime and hate motivated incident classifications based on existing statutes, as specified above in Section 700(b) and (d), (2) reporting guidelines as specified in subsection (a) below, and (3) guidelines for required documentation as specified in subsection (b) below to complete the reporting procedures as specified above in Section 701.

(a) Reporting guidelines The site or program administrator or designee shall report a crime or hate motivated incident when it has been determined that a reportable crime or hate motivated incident, as specified above in Section 700(b) and (d), has been committed on a school location, as specified above in Section 700(f). If more than one crime or hate motivated incident is committed during an occurrence, the most serious crime or incident in the judgment of the site or program administrator or designee shall be reported. The suspect(s) need not be apprehended for a crime or hate motivated incident to be reportable. The site or program administrator or designee may consult with local law enforcement to confirm that the occurrences reported on the forms are crimes or hate motivated incidents as defined in statute.

(b) Required documentation The school district or county office of education superintendent responsible for reporting school crime and hate motivated incident data shall make available, for not less than three years from the date the report was submitted, supporting data which verifies information contained on the California Safe Schools Assessment School Crime and Incident Reporting Form (July 1, 2001). Such data shall include, but not be limited to, reports to local law enforcement officers and suspension and expulsion reports which have been reported to the respective local governing board, for the crime classifications specified in Education Code section 48915(a) through (d); and insurance claims, maintenance records, and other documents to verify economic loss, if applicable. In addition, staff should be available to participate in interviews during site visits from the California Department of Education.

Policy Type
Regulation

California Education Code 48432.3 Continuation Classes

(a)  If the governing board of a school district chooses to voluntarily enroll high school pupils in a continuation school, the governing board of the school district shall establish and adopt policies and procedures governing the identification, placement, and intake procedures for these pupils. These policies and procedures shall ensure that there is a clear criterion for determining which pupils may voluntarily transfer or be recommended for a transfer to a continuation school and that this criterion is not applied arbitrarily, but is consistently applied on a districtwide basis. Approval for the voluntary transfer of a pupil to a continuation school shall be based on a finding that the voluntary placement will promote the educational interests of the pupil.

(b)  The policies and procedures adopted under this section shall also ensure all of the following:

  • (1)  That voluntary placement in a continuation school shall not be used as an alternative to expulsion unless alternative means of correction have been attempted pursuant to Section 48900.5.
  • (2)  Shall strive to ensure that no specific group of pupils, including a group based on race, ethnicity, language status, or special needs, is disproportionately enrolled in continuation schools within the school district.
  • (3)  If the governing board of a school district chooses to permit pupils to voluntarily transfer to a continuation school, a copy of the policies and procedures adopted under this section shall be provided to a pupil whose voluntary transfer to a continuation school is under consideration, and to the parent or legal guardian of that pupil.
  • (4)  That the transfer is voluntary and the pupil has a right to return to his or her previous school.
  • (5)  Upon a parent or legal guardian’s request and before a pupil is transferred, the parent or legal guardian may meet with a counselor, principal, or administrator from both the transferor school and the continuation school to determine if transferring is the best option for the pupil.
  • (6)  To the extent possible, voluntary transfer to a continuation school occurs within the first four weeks of each semester.
Policy Type
Statute

California Education Code 48900.8 Suspension or Expulsion

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.

Policy Type
Statute