CA AB420

Eliminates authority to suspend pupils in kindergarten through grade 3 for disrupting school activities or willfully defying school personnel authority.

Prohibits recommending pupils in kindergarten through grade 12 for expulsion based on disrupting school activities or willfully defying school personnel authority.

These restrictions on suspension and expulsion for willful defiance become inoperative on July 1, 2018, unless extended by later legislation.

Preserves all other suspension and expulsion grounds enumerated in Education Code Section 48900, including violent conduct, weapons possession, drug offenses, theft, and bullying.

Encourages use of age-appropriate alternatives to suspension or expulsion for addressing pupil misbehavior and requires alternatives for pupils who are truant, tardy, or absent from school activities.