To ensure that every child is given the opportunity to get a
public school education, school districts in the county have spent
this school year updating the Countywide Plan for Expelled
Students.
Although a student gives up their privilege to a guaranteed
public education by being expelled, they are still offered places
to continue their education, said Jean Burns Slater, superintendent
of the San Benito High School District. This comes in the form of
Pinnacles Community School and Santa Ana Opportunity School
– depending on the student’s age – and both are run by the
County Office of Education.
To ensure that every child is given the opportunity to get a public school education, school districts in the county have spent this school year updating the Countywide Plan for Expelled Students.
Although a student gives up their privilege to a guaranteed public education by being expelled, they are still offered places to continue their education, said Jean Burns Slater, superintendent of the San Benito High School District. This comes in the form of Pinnacles Community School and Santa Ana Opportunity School – depending on the student’s age – and both are run by the County Office of Education.
“An expulsion is a very serious consequence, but we don’t give up on them,” said County Superintendent Tim Foley. “We want to offer flexibility.”
Santa Ana is for students who are not thriving in a regular school at the middle school level, while Pinnacles puts students under the protection and authority of the juvenile justice system, Foley said.
The Countywide Plan for Expelled Students has to be updated every three years. It outlines what options expelled students are offered at school districts and also at the County Office of Education.
Under the plan, school districts must offer: expulsion with enforcement suspended so the students remains at the school on contract, usually under a behavior contract; expulsion with enforcement suspended with the student assigned to another site within the school district; expulsion with enforcement suspended with the student assigned to an independent study program; expulsion with the student enrolled in another district; and expulsion with referral to the County Alternative Screening Committee for appropriate placement in county programs.
“We don’t drop kids out of school if they are expelled. ‘What are you going to do with them?’ (is what the plan asks educators),” Foley said.
The requirement of a countywide plan is fairly new – from the 1980s, Slater said. When educators and policy-makers were concentrating on safe schools and campuses, mandated expulsions were developed. With these required expulsions came the need to provide a plan for expelled youth, Slater said.
The plan requires that the County Office of Education provide: a standards-based curriculum at school sites; special education services to expelled students identified as students with disabilities; and independent study at Pinnacles for “those students unable to handle a classroom situation.”
Looking at the countywide plan every three years allows superintendents from all the county school districts to discuss the various services for expelled youth in the county, Slater said. It also cuts down on misunderstandings.
“Some people were looking at San Andreas (Continuation High School) as a place for expelled youth,” Slater said. “It’s a continuation school for kids who don’t fit into a regular program.”
