Draft
1/29/96

San Joaquin County

Plan for Expelled Youth:

General Details

Education Code §48926

Each county superintendent of schools in counties that operate community schools pursuant to Section 1980, in conjunction with superintendents of the school districts within the county, shall develop a plan for providing education services to all expelled pupils in that county.

Education Code §48916.1

a) At the time an expulsion of a pupil is ordered, the governing board of the school district shall ensure that an educational program is provided to the pupil who is subject to the expulsion order for the period of the expulsion, but only to the extent funds are appropriated for this purpose in the annual Budget Act or other legislation, or both.

Overview

The San Joaquin County Office of Education (SJCOE) will continue to provide an educational option for expelled students. This program is one that fits in the continuum of educational care as outlined in the attached charts. The philosophy of each individual school district dictates how the San Joaquin County Office of Education Court and Community School/Day Center program will meet the needs of that particular school district. Some school districts use the San Joaquin County Office of Education program as an educational option for those students expelled under a district "no-tolerance" policy, while others use the program as a student assistance alternative. The Court and Community School/Day Center program is a permissive educational program that provides the local school districts with another educational option for their expelled youth.

Existing Educational Alternatives for Expelled Youth

The San Joaquin County Office of Education Court and Community School/Day Center program offers the following options for expelled youth:

1) Court Schools
2) Day Centers
3) Community Schools
4) Community Schools for Homeless Youth

Gaps in Educational Services

There are six major gaps that exist in respect to providing educational services to expelled pupils:

1) A student could be expelled from the District under Education Code §48915 and referred to either a Community Day School, or Court and Community School program. This student could then commit another violation of Education Code §48915, or simply not attend, and ultimately be referred back to the original District.

2) small school districts within San Joaquin County generally expel very few students during the course of a school year; so few students are expelled that having a special class or program for such students, located in each district, is not financially or geographically possible;

3) students, who are expelled by individual small school districts, and by the combined small school districts within San Joaquin County, vary as to age, grade level, and expulsion offenses. The wide range of age, grade- level, and seriousness of offense make it difficult to provide appropriate programs for these districts;

4) there are significant geographical distances between local small districts, thus county operated classroom sites/programs for small school districts would require either extensive busing, which is not financially feasible for the county, or parent provided transportation, which is often impossible for the parents;

5) younger students are being expelled by the larger school districts. These younger students cannot attend the programs designed for middle and high school students. The numbers of these elementary school expelled youth are growing, but generally are not enough to develop an elementary school classroom or program;

6) the Community Day School option for expelled students, as described in current California Education Code, is difficult for the local districts to develop due to the following reasons:

a) the six (6) hour, or 360 minute day exceeds the required hours for a minimum school day (240 minutes), the required hours for a continuation school day (15 hours per week), and the required hours for students enrolled in the various elementary school programs, and the current 300 minutes used by the SJCOE Court and Community School/Day Center program;

b) access to the additional funding is restricted by having the student complete six hours of hour-by-hour attendance accounting in order for the district to receive the additional funding, and requiring additional attendance bookkeeping and record keeping,

c) the Community Day School program limits the available instructional strategies which can be used, such as contracted study, which limits the program flexibility required for success,

d) the separation of students in grades K-6 from students in grades 7-8 also creates boundaries that will be financially and/or geographically difficult.

Strategies for Addressing Identified Gaps in Service

The strategies for addressing the identified gaps in educational service for expelled youth are:

1) The San Joaquin County Office of Education will continue to provide educational services to those eligible students to the Court and Community School/Day Center program.

2) (NOTE: Need to expand)

District Community Day School Alternative Placements/Rehabilitation Plans

Districts who have chosen to develop a Community Day School, will provide the following educational options for those expelled students who have not met the objectives of their rehabilitation plan: district on-campus programs, district off-campus programs, San Joaquin County Office of Education Court and Community School/Day Center.

The School District of residence continues to maintain responsibility for developing a rehabilitation plan for the student, referring the student to an appropriate educational setting, and ensuring that an educational program is provided to the expelled pupil. A plan for that student may consist of both District and county Staff, as well as the students and his/her parent/guardian.

Expelled students who are referred to a San Joaquin County Office of Education Court and Community School/Day Center Program develop an Individual Learning Plan with staff. Part of this plan may include return to the school district of residence. Alternative placement
and alternative strategies are developed, with the Court and Community School/Day Center staff, for those students who have difficulty meeting the terms and conditions of their District designed rehabilitation plan.