If a pupil is excluded from attendance pursuant to Section 120230 of the Health and Safety Code or Section 49451 of this code, or if a principal or his or her designee determines that the continued presence of the child would constitute a clear and present danger to the life, safety, or health of a pupil or school personnel, the governing board is not required to send prior notice of the exclusion to the parent or guardian of the pupil. The governing board shall send a notice of the exclusion as soon as is reasonably possible after the exclusion.
California School Discipline Laws & Regulations: Parental Notification
California School Discipline Laws & Regulations: Parental Notification
Category: Monitoring and Accountability
Subcategory: Parental Notification
State: California
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LAWS
EDC 48213.
EDC 48240.
(a) The governing board of each school district and each county superintendent of schools shall appoint a supervisor of attendance and any assistant supervisors of attendance as may be necessary to supervise the attendance of pupils in the school district or county. The governing board of the school district or county superintendent of schools shall prescribe the duties of the supervisor of attendance and assistant supervisors of attendance to include, among other duties that may be required, those specific duties related to compulsory full-time education, truancy, work permits, compulsory continuation education, and opportunity schools, classes, and programs, now required of the attendance supervisors by this chapter and Article 4 (commencing with Section 48450) of Chapter 3 and Article 2 (commencing with Section 48640) of Chapter 4.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that in performing his or her duties, the supervisor of attendance promote a culture of attendance and establish a system to accurately track pupil attendance in order to achieve all of the following:
(1) Raise the awareness of school personnel, parents, guardians, caregivers, community partners, and local businesses of the effects of chronic absenteeism and truancy and other challenges associated with poor attendance.
(2) Identify and respond to grade level or pupil subgroup patterns of chronic absenteeism or truancy.
(3) Identify and address factors contributing to chronic absenteeism and habitual truancy, including suspension and expulsion.
(4) Ensure that pupils with attendance problems are identified as early as possible to provide applicable support services and interventions.
(5) Evaluate the effectiveness of strategies implemented to reduce chronic absenteeism rates and truancy rates.
(c) When a pupil with a temporary disability, as defined in Section 48206.3, is receiving individual instruction in the home or a hospital or other residential health facility, the supervisor of attendance shall ensure that absences from the pupil's regular school program are excused until the pupil is able to return to the regular school program.
(d) The supervisor of attendance may provide support services and interventions, which may include, but are not limited to, any or all of the following:
(1) A conference between school personnel, the pupil's parent or guardian, and the pupil.
(2) Promoting cocurricular and extracurricular activities that increase pupil connectedness to school, such as tutoring, mentoring, the arts, service learning, or athletics.
(3) Recognizing pupils who achieve excellent attendance or demonstrate significant improvement in attendance.
(4) Referral to a school nurse, school counselor, school psychologist, school social worker, and other pupil support personnel for case management and counseling.
(5) Collaboration with child welfare services, law enforcement, courts, public health care agencies, or government agencies, or medical, mental health, and oral health care providers to receive necessary services.
(6) Collaborating with school study teams, guidance teams, school attendance review teams, or other intervention-related teams to assess the attendance or behavior problem in partnership with the pupil and his or her parents, guardians, or caregivers.
(7) In schools with significantly higher rates of chronic absenteeism, identify barriers to attendance that may require schoolwide strategies rather than case management.
(8) Referral for a comprehensive psychosocial or psychoeducational assessment, including for purposes of creating an individualized education program for an individual with exceptional needs, as that term is defined in Section 56026, or plan adopted for a qualified handicapped person, as that term is defined in regulations promulgated by the United States Department of Education pursuant to Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 794).
(9) Referral to a school attendance review board established by the county or by a school district pursuant to Section 48321 or to the probation department pursuant to Section 48263.
(10) Referral to a truancy mediation program operated by the county's district attorney or probation officer pursuant to Section 48260.6.
EDC 48260.5.
Upon a pupil's initial classification as a truant, the school district shall notify the pupil's parent or guardian using the most cost-effective method possible, which may include electronic mail or a telephone call:
(a) That the pupil is truant.
(b) That the parent or guardian is obligated to compel the attendance of the pupil at school.
(c) That parents or guardians who fail to meet this obligation may be guilty of an infraction and subject to prosecution pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 48290).
(d) That alternative educational programs are available in the school district.
(e) That the parent or guardian has the right to meet with appropriate school personnel to discuss solutions to the pupil's truancy.
(f) That the pupil may be subject to prosecution under Section 48264.
(g) That it is recommended that the parent or guardian accompany the pupil to school and attend classes with the pupil for one day.
EDC 48262.
Any pupil is deemed an habitual truant who has been reported as a truant three or more times per school year, provided that no pupil shall be deemed an habitual truant unless an appropriate district officer or employee has made a conscientious effort to hold at least one conference with a parent or guardian of the pupil and the pupil himself, after the filing of either of the reports required by Section 48260 or Section 48261. For purposes of this section, a conscientious effort means attempting to communicate with the parents of the pupil at least once using the most cost-effective method possible, which may include electronic mail or a telephone call.
EDC 48263.
(a) If a minor pupil in a school district of a county is a habitual truant, or is a chronic absentee, as defined in Section 60901, or is habitually insubordinate or disorderly during attendance at school, the pupil may be referred to a school attendance review board, or to the probation department for services if the probation department has elected to receive these referrals. The school district supervisor of attendance, or any other persons the governing board of the school district or county may designate, making the referral shall provide documentation of the interventions undertaken at the school to the pupil, the pupil's parents or guardians, and the school attendance review board or probation department and shall notify the pupil and parents or guardians of the pupil, in writing, of the name and address of the school attendance review board or probation department to which the matter has been referred and of the reason for the referral. The notice shall indicate that the pupil and parents or guardians of the pupil will be required, along with the referring person, to meet with the school attendance review board or probation officer to consider a proper disposition of the referral.
(b)(1) If the school attendance review board or probation officer determines that available community services can resolve the problem of the truant or insubordinate pupil, then the school attendance review board or probation officer shall direct the pupil or the pupil's parents or guardians, or both, to make use of those community services. The school attendance review board or probation officer may require, at any time that it determines proper, the pupil or parents or guardians of the pupil, or both, to furnish satisfactory evidence of participation in the available community services.
(2) If the school attendance review board or probation officer determines that available community services cannot resolve the problem of the truant or insubordinate pupil or if the pupil or the parents or guardians of the pupil, or both, have failed to respond to directives of the school attendance review board or probation officer or to services provided, the school attendance review board may, pursuant to Section 48263.5, notify the district attorney or the probation officer, or both, of the county in which the school district is located, or the probation officer may, pursuant to Section 48263.5, notify the district attorney, if the district attorney or the probation officer has elected to participate in the truancy mediation program described in that section.
(c) In any county that has not established a school attendance review board, if the school district determines that available community resources cannot resolve the problem of the truant or insubordinate pupil, or if the pupil or the pupil's parents or guardians, or both, have failed to respond to the directives of the school district or the services provided, the school district, pursuant to Section 48260.6, may notify the district attorney or the probation officer, or both, of the county in which the school district is located, if the district attorney or the probation officer has elected to participate in the truancy mediation program described in Section 48260.6.
EDC 48263.5.
(a) In any county which has established a county school attendance review board pursuant to Section 48321, the school attendance review board may notify the district attorney or the probation officer, or both, of the county in which the school district is located, or the probation officer may notify the district attorney, by first-class mail or other reasonable means, of the following if the district attorney or the probation officer has elected to participate in the truancy mediation program described in subdivision (b):
(1) The name of each pupil who has been classified as a truant and concerning whom the school attendance review board or the probation officer has determined:
(A) That available community services cannot resolve the truancy or insubordination problem.
(B) That the pupil or the parents or guardians of the pupil, or both, have failed to respond to directives of the school attendance review board or probation officer or to services provided.
(2) The name and address of the parent or guardian of each pupil described in paragraph (1).
(b) Upon receipt of notification provided pursuant to subdivision (a), the district attorney or the probation officer may notify the parents or guardians of each pupil concerning whom notification has been received, by first-class mail or other reasonable means, that they may be subject to prosecution pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 48290) of Chapter 2 of Part 27 for failure to compel the attendance of the pupil at school. The district attorney or the probation officer may also request the parents or guardians and the child to attend a meeting in the district attorney's office or at the probation department pursuant to Section 601.3 of the Welfare and Institutions Code to discuss the possible legal consequences of the child's truancy. Notice of the meeting shall be given pursuant to Section 601.3 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
EDC 48266.
Any person taking action pursuant to Sections 48264 and 48265 shall report the matter, and the disposition made by him of the minor to the school authorities of the city, or city and county, or school district and to the minor's parent or guardian.
EDC 48900.1.
(a) The governing board of each school district may adopt a policy authorizing teachers to require the parent or guardian of a pupil who has been suspended by a teacher pursuant to Section 48910 for reasons specified in subdivision (i) or (k) of Section 48900, to attend a portion of a schoolday in the classroom of his or her child or ward. The policy shall take into account reasonable factors that may prevent compliance with a notice to attend. The attendance of the parent or guardian shall be limited to the class from which the pupil was suspended.
(b) The policy shall be adopted pursuant to the procedures set forth in Sections 35291 and 35291.5. Parents and guardians shall be notified of this policy prior to its implementation. A teacher shall apply any policy adopted pursuant to this section uniformly to all pupils within the classroom.
The adopted policy shall include the procedures that the district will follow to accomplish the following:
(1) Ensure that parents or guardians who attend school for the purposes of this section meet with the school administrator or his or her designee after completing the classroom visitation and before leaving the schoolsite.
(2) Contact parents or guardians who do not respond to the request to attend school pursuant to this section.
(c) If a teacher imposes the procedure pursuant to subdivision (a), the principal shall send a written notice to the parent or guardian stating that attendance by the parent or guardian is pursuant to law. This section shall apply only to a parent or guardian who is actually living with the pupil.
(d) A parent or guardian who has received a written notice pursuant to subdivision (c) shall attend class as specified in the written notice. The notice may specify that the attendance of the parent or guardian be on the day the pupil is scheduled to return to class, or within a reasonable period of time thereafter, as established by the policy of the board adopted pursuant to subdivision (a).
EDC 48904.
(a)(1) Notwithstanding Section 1714.1 of the Civil Code, the parent or guardian of any minor whose willful misconduct results in injury or death to any pupil or any person employed by, or performing volunteer services for, a school district or private school or who willfully cuts, defaces, or otherwise injures in any way any property, real or personal, belonging to a school district or private school, or personal property of any school employee, shall be liable for all damages so caused by the minor. The liability of the parent or guardian shall not exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000), adjusted annually for inflation. The parent or guardian shall be liable also for the amount of any reward not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), adjusted annually for inflation, paid pursuant to Section 53069.5 of the Government Code. The parent or guardian of a minor shall be liable to a school district or private school for all property belonging to the school district or private school loaned to the minor and not returned upon demand of an employee of the school district or private school authorized to make the demand.
(2) The Superintendent annually shall compute an adjustment of the liability limits prescribed by this subdivision to reflect the percentage change in the average annual value of the Implicit Price Deflator for State and Local Government Purchases of Goods and Services for the United States, as published by the United States Department of Commerce for the 12-month period ending in the prior fiscal year. The annual adjustment shall be rounded to the nearest one hundred dollars ($100).
(b)(1) Any school district or private school whose real or personal property has been willfully cut, defaced, or otherwise injured, or whose property is loaned to a pupil and willfully not returned upon demand of an employee of the school district or private school authorized to make the demand may, after affording the pupil his or her due process rights, withhold the grades, diploma, and transcripts of the pupil responsible for the damage until the pupil or the pupil's parent or guardian has paid for the damages thereto, as provided in subdivision (a).
(2) The school district or private school shall notify the parent or guardian of the pupil in writing of the pupil's alleged misconduct before withholding the pupil's grades, diploma, or transcripts pursuant to this subdivision. When the minor and parent are unable to pay for the damages, or to return the property, the school district or private school shall provide a program of voluntary work for the minor in lieu of the payment of monetary damages. Upon completion of the voluntary work, the grades, diploma, and transcripts of the pupil shall be released.
(3) The governing board of each school district or governing body of each private school shall establish rules and regulations governing procedures for the implementation of this subdivision. The procedures shall conform to, but are not necessarily limited to, those procedures established in this code for the expulsion of pupils.
EDC 48906.
When a principal or other school official releases a minor pupil to a peace officer for the purpose of removing the minor from the school premises, the school official shall take immediate steps to notify the parent, guardian, or responsible relative of the minor regarding the release of the minor to the officer, and regarding the place to which the minor is reportedly being taken, except when a minor has been taken into custody as a victim of suspected child abuse, as defined in Section 11165.6 of the Penal Code, or pursuant to Section 305 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. In those cases, the school official shall provide the peace officer with the address and telephone number of the minor's parent or guardian. The peace officer shall take immediate steps to notify the parent, guardian, or responsible relative of the minor that the minor is in custody and the place where he or she is being held. If the officer has a reasonable belief that the minor would be endangered by a disclosure of the place where the minor is being held, or that the disclosure would cause the custody of the minor to be disturbed, the officer may refuse to disclose the place where the minor is being held for a period not to exceed 24 hours. The officer shall, however, inform the parent, guardian, or responsible relative whether the child requires and is receiving medical or other treatment. The juvenile court shall review any decision not to disclose the place where the minor is being held at a subsequent detention hearing.
EDC 48909.
When a petition is requested in juvenile court or a complaint is filed in any court alleging that a minor of compulsory school attendance age or any pupil currently enrolled in a public school in a grade to and including grade 12 is a person who (a) has used, sold, or possessed narcotics or other hallucinogenic drugs or substances; (b) has inhaled or breathed the fumes of, or ingested any poison classified as such in Section 4160 of the Business and Professions Code; or (c) has committed felonious assault, homicide, or rape the district attorney may, within 48 hours, provide written notice to the superintendent of the school district of attendance, notwithstanding the provisions of Section 827 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, and to the pupil's parent or guardian.
EDC 48910.
(a) A teacher may suspend any pupil from class, for any of the acts enumerated in Section 48900, for the day of the suspension and the day following. The teacher shall immediately report the suspension to the principal of the school and send the pupil to the principal or the designee of the principal for appropriate action. If that action requires the continued presence of the pupil at the schoolsite, the pupil shall be under appropriate supervision, as defined in policies and related regulations adopted by the governing board of the school district. As soon as possible, the teacher shall ask the parent or guardian of the pupil to attend a parent-teacher conference regarding the suspension. If practicable, a school counselor or a school psychologist may attend the conference. A school administrator shall attend the conference if the teacher or the parent or guardian so requests. The pupil shall not be returned to the class from which he or she was suspended, during the period of the suspension, without the concurrence of the teacher of the class and the principal.
(b) A pupil suspended from a class shall not be placed in another regular class during the period of suspension. However, if the pupil is assigned to more than one class per day this subdivision shall apply only to other regular classes scheduled at the same time as the class from which the pupil was suspended.
(c) A teacher may also refer a pupil, for any of the acts enumerated in Section 48900, to the principal or the designee of the principal for consideration of a suspension from the school.
EDC 48911.
(a) The principal of the school, the principal's designee, or the district superintendent of schools may suspend a pupil from the school for any of the reasons enumerated in Section 48900, and pursuant to Section 48900.5, for no more than five consecutive schooldays.
(b) Suspension by the principal, the principal's designee, or the district superintendent of schools shall be preceded by an informal conference conducted by the principal, the principal's designee, or the district superintendent of schools between the pupil and, whenever practicable, the teacher, supervisor, or school employee who referred the pupil to the principal, the principal's designee, or the district superintendent of schools. At the conference, the pupil shall be informed of the reason for the disciplinary action, including the other means of correction that were attempted before the suspension as required under Section 48900.5, and the evidence against the pupil, and shall be given the opportunity to present the pupil's version and evidence in the pupil's defense.
(c) A principal, the principal's designee, or the district superintendent of schools may suspend a pupil without affording the pupil an opportunity for a conference only if the principal, the principal's designee, or the district superintendent of schools determines that an emergency situation exists. "Emergency situation," as used in this article, means a situation determined by the principal, the principal's designee, or the district superintendent of schools to constitute a clear and present danger to the life, safety, or health of pupils or school personnel. If a pupil is suspended without a conference before suspension, both the parent or guardian, or, if the pupil is a foster child, the foster child's educational rights holder, attorney and county social worker, or, if the pupil county social worker, or, if the pupil is an Indian child, as defined in Section 224.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, the Indian child's tribal social worker and, if applicable, county social worker shall be notified of the pupil's right to a conference and the pupil's right to return to school for the purpose of a conference. The conference shall be held within two schooldays, unless the pupil waives this right or is physically unable to attend for any reason, including, but not limited to, incarceration or hospitalization. The conference shall then be held as soon as the pupil is physically able to return to school for the conference.
(d) At the time of suspension, a school employee shall make a reasonable effort to contact the pupil's parent or guardian or, if applicable, the foster child's educational rights holder, attorney, and county social worker, or, if applicable, the Indian child's tribal social worker and, if applicable, county social worker in person, by email or by telephone. If a pupil is suspended from school, the parent or guardian or, if applicable, the foster child's educational rights holder, attorney, and county social worker, or, if applicable, the Indian child's tribal social worker and, if applicable, county social worker shall be notified in writing of the suspension.
(e) A school employee shall report the suspension of the pupil, including the cause for the suspension, to the governing board of the school district or to the district superintendent of schools in accordance with the regulations of the governing board of the school district.
(f)(1) The parent or guardian of a pupil or, if applicable, the foster child's educational rights holder, attorney, and county social worker, or, if applicable, the Indian child's tribal social worker and, if applicable, county social worker shall respond without delay to a request from school officials to attend a conference regarding the child's behavior.
(2) Penalties shall not be imposed on a pupil for failure of the pupil's parent or guardian to attend a conference with school officials. Reinstatement of the suspended pupil shall not be contingent upon attendance by the pupil's parent or guardian or, if applicable, the foster child's educational rights holder, attorney, and county social worker, or, if applicable, the Indian child's tribal social worker and, if applicable, county social worker at the conference.
(g) In a case where expulsion from a school or suspension for the balance of the semester from continuation school is being processed by the governing board of the school district, the district superintendent of schools or other person designated by the district superintendent of schools in writing may extend the suspension until the governing board of the school district has rendered a decision in the action. However, an extension may be granted only if the district superintendent of schools or the district superintendent's designee has determined, following a meeting in which the pupil and the pupil's parent or guardian are invited to participate, that the presence of the pupil at the school or in an alternative school placement would cause a danger to persons or property or a threat of disrupting the instructional process. If the pupil is a foster child, as defined in Section 48853.5, the district superintendent of schools or the district superintendent's designee, including, but not limited to, the educational liaison for the school district, shall also invite the pupil's educational rights holder, attorney and the county social worker to participate in the meeting. If the pupil is an Indian child, as defined in Section 224.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, the district superintendent of schools or the district superintendent's designee, including, but not limited to, the educational liaison for the school district, shall also invite the pupil's tribal social worker and, if applicable, county social worker to participate in the meeting. If the pupil or the pupil's parent or guardian, or, if applicable, the foster child's educational rights holder, attorney, or county social worker, or, if applicable, the Indian child's tribal social worker or, if applicable, county social worker has requested a meeting to challenge the original suspension pursuant to Section 48914, the purpose of the meeting shall be to decide upon the extension of the suspension order under this section and may be held in conjunction with the initial meeting on the merits of the suspension.
EDC 48911.1.
(a) A pupil suspended from a school for any of the reasons enumerated in Sections 48900 and 48900.2 may be assigned, by the principal or the principal's designee, to a supervised suspension classroom for the entire period of suspension if the pupil poses no imminent danger or threat to the campus, pupils, or staff, or if an action to expel the pupil has not been initiated.
(b) Pupils assigned to a supervised suspension classroom shall be separated from other pupils at the schoolsite for the period of suspension in a separate classroom, building, or site for pupils under suspension.
(c) School districts may continue to claim apportionments for each pupil assigned to and attending a supervised suspension classroom provided as follows:
(1) The supervised suspension classroom is staffed as otherwise provided by law.
(2) Each pupil has access to appropriate counseling services.
(3) The supervised suspension classroom promotes completion of schoolwork and tests missed by the pupil during the suspension.
(4) Each pupil is responsible for contacting the pupil's teacher or teachers to receive assignments to be completed while the pupil is assigned to the supervised suspension classroom. The teacher shall provide all assignments and tests that the pupil will miss while suspended. If no classroom work is assigned, the person supervising the suspension classroom shall assign schoolwork.
(d) At the time a pupil is assigned to a supervised suspension classroom, a school employee shall notify, in person, by email, or by telephone, the pupil's parent or guardian or, if the pupil is a foster child, the foster child's educational rights holder, attorney, and county social worker, or, if the pupil is an Indian child, as defined in Section 224.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, the Indian child's tribal social worker and, if applicable, county social worker. If a pupil is assigned to a supervised suspension classroom for longer than one class period, a school employee shall notify, in writing, the pupil's parent or guardian or, if applicable, the foster child's educational rights holder, attorney, and county social worker, or, if applicable, the Indian child's tribal social worker and, if applicable, county social worker.
(e) This section does not place any limitation on a school district's ability to transfer a pupil to an opportunity school or class or a continuation education school or class.
(f) Apportionments claimed by a school district for pupils assigned to supervised suspension shall be used specifically to mitigate the cost of implementing this section.