Suspension and Expulsion

Suspension/Expulsion Definition

Students may be suspended or expelled from this charter school for non-compliance with the terms of the parent-student contract, or any material violation of any of the conditions, standards or procedures set forth in the charter school charter, the school handbook or of the school’s policies and procedures. The Special Education Director will be involved in the suspension/expulsion process for all identified pupils with disabilities. Students, who fail to demonstrate adequate and appropriate progress toward the student standards, as determined by the professional judgment of the certificated Education Specialist assigned to that student, will be subject to expulsion.

 
This charter school will suspend a student from participation in any school events outside of the student’s home if the student is found to have committed any act listed in CA Education Code 48900 that occurs during, or while going to or coming from, a school sponsored class, a school site, an assessment session, or  any other school activity. If the student violates their written requirement to be at home during school hours and not at any location where the school is holding educational events, the student is subject to expulsion from the school.

CA Education Code 48900 
“(a) (1) Caused, attempted to cause, or threatened to cause physical injury to another person. (2) Willfully used force or violence upon the person of another, except in self-defense.
(b) Possessed, sold, or otherwise furnished any firearm, knife, explosive, or other dangerous object, unless, in the case of possession of any object of this type, the pupil had obtained written permission to possess the item from a certificated school employee, which is concurred in by the principal or the designee of the principal.
(c) Unlawfully possessed, used, sold, or otherwise furnished, or been under the influence of, any controlled substance listed in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11053) of Division 10 of the Health and Safety Code, an alcoholic beverage, or an intoxicant of any kind.
(d) Unlawfully offered, arranged, or negotiated to sell any controlled substance listed in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11053) of Division 10 of the Health and Safety Code, an alcoholic beverage, or an intoxicant of any kind, and either sold, delivered, or otherwise furnished to any person another liquid, substance, or material and represented the liquid, substance, or material as a controlled substance, alcoholic beverage, or intoxicant.
(e) Committed or attempted to commit robbery or extortion.
(f) Caused or attempted to cause damage to school property or private property.
(g) Stolen or attempted to steal school property or private property.
(h) Possessed or used tobacco, or any products containing tobacco or nicotine products, including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars, miniature cigars, clove cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, snuff, chew packets, and betel. However, this section does not prohibit use or possession by a pupil of his or her own prescription products.
(i) Committed an obscene act or engaged in habitual profanity or vulgarity.
(j) Unlawfully possessed or unlawfully offered, arranged, or negotiated to sell any drug paraphernalia, as defined in Section 11014.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
(k) Disrupted school activities or otherwise willfully defied the valid authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials, or other school personnel engaged in the performance of their duties.
(l) Knowingly received stolen school property or private property.
(m) Possessed an imitation firearm. As used in this section, "imitation firearm" means a replica of a firearm that is so substantially similar in physical properties to an existing firearm as to lead a reasonable person to conclude that the replica is a firearm.
(n) Committed or attempted to commit a sexual assault as defined in Section 261, 266c, 286, 288, 288a, or 289 of the Penal Code or committed a sexual battery as defined in Section 243.4 of the Penal Code.
(o) Harassed, threatened, or intimidated a pupil who is a complaining witness or a witness in a school disciplinary proceeding for the purpose of either preventing that pupil from being a witness or retaliating against that pupil for being a witness, or both.
(p) Unlawfully offered, arranged to sell, negotiated to sell, or sold the prescription drug Soma.
(q) Engaged in, or attempted to engage in, hazing as defined in Section 32050.”
 

Expulsion/Suspension Procedure

Expulsions or suspensions will be made by the Charter School Administration based on information provided by the assigned Education Specialist or course instructor according to school policy. A written notice of the suspension or expulsion will be sent to the parent. As required by Education Code 48902, a school administrator will notify the appropriate law enforcement authorities of the county or city in which the school is situated, of any acts of the pupil that may violate Section 245 of the Penal Code.

Expulsion Hearing

The parents of a student who has received an expulsion notice from the school Administration may request a hearing where the parent/student shall be given an opportunity to participate and present facts relevant to the issues set forth in the expulsion notice. In the event of any such request, the school administration shall appoint a Hearing Committee composed of five (5) members of the School Parent Council which shall conduct an expulsion hearing. An expulsion hearing, if requested, shall be conducted in accordance with the due process requirements established in Education Code 48915-48918. After an expulsion hearing, the Hearing Committee shall send its recommendation to the school Administration for a final decision. The school Administration will make all final decisions concerning suspension, expulsion, or reinstatement of suspended or expelled students.

Expulsion Procedure

Whenever a pupil is expelled from this charter school, the school shall notify the pupil and the pupil’s parents/guardians in writing of the pupil’s duty to attend the school district in which the residency of either the parent/legal guardian is located.

The charter school will notify the student’s district of residence of the student’s expulsion.

Education Code 48918.

 48918. The governing board of each school district shall establish rules and regulations governing procedures for the expulsion of pupils. These procedures shall include, but are not necessarily limited to, all of the following:
 (a) The pupil shall be entitled to a hearing to determine whether the pupil should be expelled. An expulsion hearing shall be held within 30 school days after the date the principal or the superintendent of schools determines that the pupil has committed any of the acts enumerated in Section 48900, unless the pupil requests, in writing, that the hearing be postponed. The adopted rules and regulations shall specify that the pupil is entitled to at least one postponement of an expulsion hearing, for a period of not more than 30 calendar days. Any additional postponement may be granted at the discretion of the governing board. Within 10 schooldays after the conclusion of the hearing, the governing board shall decide whether to expel the pupil, unless the pupil requests in writing that the decision be postponed. If the
hearing is held by a hearing officer or an administrative panel, or if the district governing board does not meet on a weekly basis, the governing board shall decide whether to expel the pupil within 40 schooldays after the date of the pupil's removal from his or her school of attendance for the incident for which the recommendation for expulsion is made by the principal or the superintendent, unless the pupil requests in writing that the decision be postponed. If compliance by the governing board with the time requirements for the conducting of an expulsion hearing under this subdivision is impracticable during the regular school year, the superintendent of schools or the superintendent's designee may, for good cause, extend the time period for the holding of the expulsion hearing for an additional five schooldays. If compliance by the governing board with the time requirements for the conducting of an expulsion hearing under this subdivision is impractical due to a summer recess of governing board meetings of more than two weeks, the days during the recess period shall not be counted as schooldays in meeting the time requirements. The days not counted as schooldays in meeting the time requirements for an expulsion hearing because of a summer recess of governing board meetings shall not exceed 20 schooldays, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 48925, and unless the pupil requests in writing that the expulsion hearing be postponed, the hearing shall be held not later than 20 calendar days prior to the first day of school for the school year. Reasons for the extension of the time for the hearing shall be included as a part of the record at the time the expulsion hearing is conducted. Upon the commencement of the hearing, all matters shall be pursued and conducted with reasonable diligence and shall be concluded without any unnecessary delay.
 (b) Written notice of the hearing shall be forwarded to the pupil at least 10 calendar days prior to the date of the hearing. The notice shall include all of the following:
 (1) The date and place of the hearing.
 (2) A statement of the specific facts and charges upon which the proposed expulsion is based.
 (3) A copy of the disciplinary rules of the district that relate to the alleged violation.
  (4) A notice of the parent, guardian, or pupil's obligation pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 48915.1.
 (5) Notice of the opportunity for the pupil or the pupil's parent or guardian to appear in person or to be represented by legal counsel or by a nonattorney adviser, to inspect and obtain copies of alldocuments to be used at the hearing, to confront and question all witnesses who testify at the hearing, to question all other evidence presented, and to present oral and documentary evidence on the pupil's behalf, including witnesses. In a hearing in which a pupil is alleged to have committed or attempted to commit a sexual assault as specified in subdivision (n) of Section 48900 or committing a sexual battery as defined in subdivision (n) of Section 48900, a complaining witness shall be given five days' notice before being called to testify, and shall be entitled to have up to two adult support persons, including, but not limited to, a parent, guardian, or legal counsel, present during their testimony. Before a complaining witness testifies, support persons shall be admonished that the hearing is confidential. Nothing in this subdivision shall preclude the person presiding over an expulsion hearing from removing a support person whom the presiding person finds is disrupting the
hearing. If one or both of the support persons is also a witness, the provisions of Section 868.5 of the Penal Code shall be followedfor the hearing. This section does not require a pupil or the pupil's parent or guardian to be represented by legal counsel or by a nonattorney adviser at the hearing.
 (A) For purposes of this section, "legal counsel" means an attorney or lawyer who is admitted to the practice of law in
California and is an active member of the State Bar of California.
 (B) For purposes of this section, "nonattorney advisor" means an individual who is not an attorney or lawyer, but who is familiar with the facts of the case, and has been selected by the pupil or pupil's parent or guardian to provide assistance at the hearing.
 (c) Notwithstanding Section 54593 of the Government Code and Section 35145, the governing board shall conduct a hearing to consider the expulsion of a pupil in a session closed to the public, unless the pupil requests, in writing, at least five days before the date of the hearing, that the hearing be conducted at a public meeting. Regardless of whether the expulsion hearing is conducted in a closed or public session, the governing board may meet in closed session for the purpose of deliberating and determining whether the pupil should be expelled. If the governing board or the hearing officer or administrative panel appointed under subdivision (d) to conduct the hearing admits any other person to a closed deliberation session, the parent or guardian of the pupil, the pupil, and the counsel of the pupil also shall be allowed to attend the closed deliberations. If the hearing is to be conducted at a public meeting, and there is a charge of committing or attempting to commit a sexual assault as defined in subdivision (n) of Section 48900 or committing a sexual battery as defined in subdivision (n) of Section 48900, a complaining witness shall have the right to have his or her testimony heard in a session closed to the public when testifying at a public meeting would threaten serious psychological harm to the complaining witness and there are no alternative procedures to avoid the threatened harm,
including, but not limited to, videotaped deposition or contemporaneous examination in another place communicated to the hearing room by means of closed-circuit television.
 (d) Instead of conducting an expulsion hearing itself, the governing board may contract with the county hearing officer, or with the Office of Administrative Hearings of the State of California pursuant to Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 27720) of Part 3 of Division 2 of Title 3 of the Government Code and Section 35207, for a hearing officer to conduct the hearing. The governing board may also appoint an impartial administrative panel of three or more
certificated persons, none of whom is a member of the board or employed on the staff of the school in which the pupil is enrolled. The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with all of the procedures established under this section.
 (e) Within three schooldays after the hearing, the hearing officer or administrative panel shall determine whether to recommend the expulsion of the pupil to the governing board. If the hearing officer or administrative panel decides not to recommend expulsion, the expulsion proceedings shall be terminated and the pupil immediately shall be reinstated and permitted to return to a classroom instructional program, any other instructional program, a rehabilitation program, or any combination of these programs. Placement in one or more of these programs shall be made by the superintendent of schools or the superintendent's designee after consultation with school district personnel, including the pupil's
teachers, and the pupil's parent or guardian. The decision not to recommend expulsion shall be final.
 (f) If the hearing officer or administrative panel recommends expulsion, findings of fact in support of the recommendation shall be prepared and submitted to the governing board. All findings of fact and recommendations shall be based solely on the evidence adduced at the hearing. If the governing board accepts the recommendation
calling for expulsion, acceptance shall be based either upon a review of the findings of fact and recommendations submitted by the hearing officer or panel or upon the results of any supplementary hearing conducted pursuant to this section that the governing board may order. The decision of the governing board to expel a pupil shall be based upon substantial evidence relevant to the charges adduced at the expulsion hearing or hearings. Except as provided in this
section, no evidence to expel shall be based solely upon hearsay evidence. The governing board or the hearing officer or
administrative panel may, upon a finding that good cause exists, determine that the disclosure of either the identity of a witness or the testimony of that witness at the hearing, or both, would subject the witness to an unreasonable risk of psychological or physical harm. Upon this determination, the testimony of the witness may be presented at the hearing in the form of sworn declarations which shall be examined only by the governing board or the hearing officer or administrative panel. Copies of these sworn declarations, edited to delete the name and identity of the witness, shall be made available to the pupil.
 (g) A record of the hearing shall be made. The record may be maintained by any means, including electronic recording, so long as a reasonably accurate and complete written transcription of the proceedings can be made.
 (h) Technical rules of evidence shall not apply to the hearing, but relevant evidence may be admitted and given probative effect only if it is the kind of evidence upon which reasonable persons are accustomed to rely in the conduct of serious affairs. A decision of the governing board to expel shall be supported by substantial evidence showing that the pupil committed any of the acts enumerated in Section 48900.
In hearings which include an allegation of committing or attempting to commit a sexual assault as defined in subdivision (n) of Section 48900 or committing a sexual battery as defined in subdivision (n) of Section 48900, evidence of specific instances, of a complaining witness' prior sexual conduct is to be presumed inadmissible and shall not be heard absent a determination by the person conducting the hearing that extraordinary circumstances exist requiring the evidence be heard. Before the person conducting the hearing makes the determination on whether extraordinary circumstances exist requiring that specific instances of a complaining witness' prior sexual conduct be heard, the complaining
witness shall be provided notice and an opportunity to present opposition to the introduction of the evidence. In the hearing on the admissibility of the evidence, the complaining witness shall be entitled to be represented by a parent, guardian, legal counsel, or other support person. Reputation or opinion evidence regarding the sexual behavior of the complaining witness is not admissible for any purpose.
 (i) (1) Before the hearing has commenced, the governing board may issue subpoenas at the request of either the superintendent of schools or the superintendent's designee or the pupil, for the personal appearance of percipient witnesses at the hearing. After the hearing has commenced, the governing board or the hearing officer or administrative panel may, upon request of either the county superintendent of schools or the superintendent's designee or the pupil, issue subpoenas. All subpoenas shall be issued in accordance with Sections 1985, 1985.1, and 1985.2 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Enforcement of subpoenas shall be done in accordance with Section 11455.20 of the Government Code.
 (2) Any objection raised by the superintendent of schools or the superintendent's designee or the pupil to the issuance of subpoenas may be considered by the governing board in closed session, or in open session, if so requested by the pupil before the meeting. Any decision by the governing board in response to an objection to the issuance of subpoenas shall be final and binding.
 (3) If the governing board, hearing officer, or administrative panel determines, in accordance with subdivision (f), that a percipient witness would be subject to an unreasonable risk of harm by testifying at the hearing, a subpoena shall not be issued to compel the personal attendance of that witness at the hearing. However, that witness may be compelled to testify by means of a sworn declaration as provided for in subdivision (f).
 (4) Service of process shall be extended to all parts of the state and shall be served in accordance with Section 1987 of the Code of Civil Procedure. All witnesses appearing pursuant to subpoena, other than the parties or officers or employees of the state or any political subdivision thereof, shall receive fees, and all witnesses appearing pursuant to subpoena, except the parties, shall receive mileage in the same amount and under the same circumstances as
prescribed for witnesses in civil actions in a superior court. Fees and mileage shall be paid by the party at whose request the witness is subpoenaed.
 (j) Whether an expulsion hearing is conducted by the governing board or before a hearing officer or administrative panel, final action to expel a pupil shall be taken only by the governing board in a public session. Written notice of any decision to expel or to suspend the enforcement of an expulsion order during a period of probation shall be sent by the superintendent of schools or his or her designee to the pupil or the pupil's parent or guardian and shall be accompanied by all of the following:
 (1) Notice of the right to appeal the expulsion to the countyboard of education.
 (2) Notice of the education alternative placement to be provided to the pupil during the time of expulsion.
 (3) Notice of the obligation of the parent, guardian, or pupil under subdivision (b) of Section 48915.1, upon the pupil's enrollment in a new school district, to inform that district of the pupil's expulsion.
 (k) The governing board shall maintain a record of each expulsion, including the cause therefor. Records of expulsions shall be anonprivileged, disclosable public record.
 The expulsion order and the causes therefore shall be recorded in the pupil's mandatory interim record and shall be forwarded to any school in which the pupil subsequently enrolls upon receipt of a request from the admitting school for the pupil's school records.
 
48918.5. In expulsion hearings involving allegations brought pursuant to subdivision (n) of Section 48900, the governing board of each school district shall establish rules and regulations governing procedures. The procedures shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
 (a) At the time that the expulsion hearing is recommended, the complaining witness shall be provided with a copy of the applicable disciplinary rules and advised of his or her right to: (1) receive five days' notice of the complaining witness's scheduled testimony at the hearing, (2) have up to two adult support persons of his or her
choosing, present in the hearing at the time he or she testifies; and (3) to have the hearing closed during the time they testify pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 48918.
 (b) An expulsion hearing may be postponed for one schoolday in order to accommodate the special physical, mental, or emotional needs of a pupil who is the complaining witness where the allegations arise under subdivision (n) of Section 48900.
 (c) The district shall provide a nonthreatening environment for a complaining witness in order to better enable them to speak freely and accurately of the experiences that are the subject of the expulsion hearing, and to prevent discouragement of complaints. Each school district shall provide a room separate from the hearing room
for the use of the complaining witness prior to and during breaks in testimony. In the discretion of the person conducting the hearing, the complaining witness shall be allowed reasonable periods of relief from examination and cross-examination during which he or she may leave the hearing room. The person conducting the hearing may
arrange the seating within the hearing room of those present in order to facilitate a less intimidating environment for the complaining witness. The person conducting the hearing may limit the time for taking the testimony of a complaining witness to the hours he or she is normally in school, if there is no good cause to take the testimony during other hours. The person conducting the hearing may permit one of the complaining witness's support persons to accompany
him or her to the witness stand.
 (d) Whenever any allegation is made of conduct violative of subdivision (n) of Section 48900, complaining witnesses and accused pupils are to be advised immediately to refrain from personal or telephonic contact with each other during the pendency of any expulsion process.