Pupil discipline: expulsions: procedures.

Assembly Member Bonta’s proposal reconfigures expulsions by placing rehabilitation at the center of the process, pairing a tailored plan of rehabilitation with a mandatory readmission review to occur about 45 days before the end of the expulsion term. The plan must be individualized, address the behavior that led to the expulsion, and may include academic supports, tutoring, counseling, job training, or community service; the governing board must also assist the pupil in locating opportunities necessary to complete the plan and document whether the pupil had access to the required resources. The pupil and family cannot be charged for services the district determines are necessary, and readmission is required unless the board finds the pupil has not substantially met the plan despite access to resources and viable opportunities, or continues to demonstrate expellable behaviors or commits new acts during the expulsion term. If readmission is denied, the expulsion term may be extended one semester at a time with reassessment.

The measure also tightens the procedural and programmatic framework surrounding expulsion periods. It requires an educational program to be provided during the expulsion, with initial enrollment referrals completed within three days after expulsion and options presented to the pupil and family before finalizing the expulsion. Educational programs may be operated by a district, a county superintendent, or a district consortium, but must not be situated on the grounds of the expelling school. For expulsions from kindergarten through grade 6, the program cannot be merged with programs for grades 7 through 12. Districts must maintain specified outcome data—such as the number of pupils recommended for expulsion, grounds for expulsion, whether expulsion occurred, whether it was suspended, the type of post-expulsion referral, and the disposition after the end of expulsion, including rehabilitation or readmission—and the average length of expulsion terms, with potential reporting through coordinated compliance reviews. Implementation is contingent on funds appropriated in the annual Budget Act or other legislation.

At the county level, the bill requires counties with community schools to develop a plan for expelled pupils that enumerates existing alternatives, identifies gaps and strategies to fill them, outlines multiple programs and services, and details a timely readmission process and steps to support a pupil’s transition upon readmission. The plan must also identify alternative placements for pupils in district community day schools who fail to substantially meet rehabilitation terms, and it must be adopted by both district governing boards and the county board of education, with updates on a triannual cadence. A drafting anomaly in the text references an outmoded submission date, which may require clarification to align with current statutory timelines. The measure also frames a state-mandated-local-program reimbursement pathway if the state Commission on Mandates determines costs are mandated by the act, directing reimbursement under existing Government Code procedures.