Opinion No. (1997)

DANIEL E. LUNGREN Attorney General GREGORY L. GONOT Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE DICK MONTEITH, MEMBER OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLY, has requested an opinion on the following question: May a school district adopt a "zero tolerance" policy mandating expulsion of a student for a first offense involving the possession of a controlled substance or alcohol? CONCLUSION A school district may not adopt a "zero tolerance" policy mandating expulsion of a student for a first offense involving the possession of a controlled substance or alcohol. Such an automatic expulsion policy would contravene state law as explicitly determined by the Legislature. ANALYSIS The Legislature has enacted a comprehensive statutory scheme (Ed. Code, §§ 48900 - 48926 ) 1 governing the suspension and expulsion of pupils from elementary and secondary schools. "Suspension" is defined as the "removal of a pupil from ongoing instruction for adjustment purposes. . . ." (§ 48925 , subd. (d)), is limited to five consecutive days (§ 48911 , subd. (a)), and may be imposed by the school principal or the district superintendent on the basis of an informal conference with the pupil (§…