Pupil discipline: suspensions and expulsions.

Existing law requires the principal of a school or the principal's designee to notify the appropriate law enforcement agencies of the county or city in which the school is situated of certain unlawful acts committed by a pupil that may result in suspension, expulsion, or criminal liability of the pupil, as specified. Existing law provides that a willful failure to make a report required by these provisions is an infraction punishable by a fine of not more that $500. This bill would delete the provision making a violation of that reporting requirement an infraction. Under existing law, the principal or the superintendent of schools is required to recommend the expulsion of a pupil for certain acts committed at school or at a school activity off school grounds, unless the principal or superintendent finds that expulsion is inappropriate, due to the particular circumstance. These acts include, among others, the unlawful possession of certain controlled substances, except for the first offense for the possession of marijuana, as specified. For these acts, the governing board of the school district is authorized, but not required, to order the expulsion of the pupil. This bill would instead require the principal or superintendent of schools to make that recommendation unless he or she determines that expulsion should not be recommended under the circumstances or that an alternative means of correction would address the conduct. The bill would encourage the principal or superintendent of schools to make that determination as quickly as possible to ensure that the pupil does not lose instructional time. The bill would include the act of possessing an over-the-counter medication or medication prescribed for the pupil by a physician as an additional exception to the act of possessing a controlled substance for purposes of the expulsion provisions described above. Under existing law, the principal or superintendent of schools is required to immediately suspend, and to recommend expulsion of, a pupil that he or she determines has committed certain acts at school or at a school activity off school grounds, including, among others, the possession of a firearm, and the governing board of the school district is required to order a pupil expelled upon the finding that the pupil did commit one of these acts. This bill would specify that the act of possessing an imitation firearm, as defined, is not an offense for which suspension or expulsion is mandatory, but is an offense for which suspension or expulsion may be imposed. This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that the acts enumerated in specified provisions form the exclusive bases for the imposition of suspension or expulsion.