Charter schools: suspension and expulsion of pupils.

(1) The Charter Schools Act of 1992 permits teachers and parents to petition the governing board of a school district to approve a charter school to operate independently from the existing school district structure as a method of accomplishing, among other things, improved pupil learning. Existing law exempts charter schools from the laws governing school districts except those of the Charter Schools Act, those establishing minimum age for public school attendance, specified building code regulations, and other specified laws. Existing law requires a charter school to comply with its charter. Existing law requires a charter school petition to include a description of the procedures by which pupils can be suspended or expelled. Existing law enumerates the acts for which a pupil may be suspended or expelled from a noncharter public school and sets forth procedures a school district is required to follow in suspending or expelling a pupil. This bill would require a charter school petition to include in the description of the suspension and expulsion procedures specified information regarding those procedures, a list of acts which, if committed by a charter school pupil, would require or allow the school to suspend the pupil, and a list of acts which, if committed by a charter school pupil, would require or allow the school to expel the pupil. Existing law requires a charter school to notify the superintendent of the school district of a pupil's last known address within 30 days of a of a pupil's expulsion or within 30 days of when a pupil leaves the charter school without graduating or completing the school year for any reason and, upon request, to provide the school district with a copy of the pupil's cumulative record. This bill would impose a state-mandated local program by requiring the charter school to provide the notification described above within 10 days, to provide the cumulative record without request, and to include the reason for the pupil's departure. (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.