BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 969


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          Date of Hearing:  May 6, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                                 Jimmy Gomez, Chair


          AB  
          969 (Williams) - As Amended April 23, 2015


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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  YesReimbursable:   
          No


          SUMMARY:


          This bill expands the circumstances under which a community  
          college district (CCD) may suspend or expel a student for  
          specified offenses or deny admission to a student for such  








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          offenses. Specifically, this bill:


          1)Stipulates that a community college student may be removed,  
            suspended or expelled if conduct for which the student is  
            being disciplined is conduct whether on or off campus, that  
            threatens the safety of students and the public.


          2)Expands the circumstances under which the governing board of a  
            CCD, following a hearing, may deny enrollment or permit  
            conditional enrollment, to an applicant expelled from another  
            CCD for specified offenses, to include an applicant currently  
            suspended from the other district, and expands the offenses  
            for which this procedure applies to include violation of  
            district policies regarding the offenses of sexual violence,  
            domestic violence, dating violence or stalking.





          3)Authorizes a CCD to require a student previously expelled or  
            suspended from another CCD for the offenses of sexual  
            violence, domestic violence, dating violence or stalking to  
            inform the district of such, and provides that failure to do  
            so may be considered by the district in determining whether to  
            grant admission.



          FISCAL EFFECT:


          Minor nonreimbursable costs for legal services to districts who,  
          in electing to consider whether to deny enrollment or permit  
          conditional enrollment to an individual, conduct the required  
          hearings and establish the required appeals process and conduct  
          appeals upon request. Assuming up to $5,000 per hearing, annual  








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          costs statewide would probably not exceed $50,000 to $100,000. 


          COMMENTS:


          1)Purpose.  On November 12, 2014, the author organized a  
            roundtable of the Assembly Committee on Higher Education at UC  
            Santa Barbara (UCSB) to review the university's handling of  
            sexual assault complaints.  Roundtable attendees included  
            representatives of UCSB and Santa Barbara Community College  
            (SBCC).  According to testimony provided by SBCC  
            representatives, current law (Education Code Section 76034)  
            has been interpreted to prohibit a CCD from taking action to  
            suspend or expel a student found to have violated a campus  
            misconduct policy, even in cases of rape, unless the  
            misconduct occurred on the college campus.


            According to the author, about 70% of rape and sexual assault  
            victimizations occur either at the victim's home or the home  
            of another known person, meaning that most sexual assault  
            cases do not occur on campus or during campus related events.  
            This bill clarifies a district's ability to impose discipline  
            for misconduct occurring off-campus that the district  
            determines represents a threat to the campus community and  
            expands the circumstances under which a student may be denied  
            admission to a CCD based on disciplinary action taken against  
            that student by another CCD.


          2)Prior Legislation. AB 2171 (Fong), Chapter 702, Statutes of  
            2012, established the conditions for denying enrollment,  
            following a hearing process, which are being expanded by this  
            bill.


          Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081








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