(a) A county board of education in a class 1 or class 2 county may have a hearing officer pursuant to Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 27720) of Part 3 of Title 3 of the Government Code, or an impartial administrative panel of three or more certificated persons appointed by the county board of education, hear appeals filed pursuant to Section 48919. The members of the impartial administrative panel shall not be members of the governing board of the school district nor employees of the school district, from which the pupil filing the appeal was expelled. Neither the hearing officer, nor any member of the administrative panel, hearing a pupil’s appeal shall have been the hearing officer or a member of the administrative panel that conducted the pupil’s expulsion hearing.

(b) A hearing conducted pursuant to this section shall not issue a final order of the county board. The hearing officer or impartial administrative panel shall prepare a recommended decision, including any findings or conclusions required for that decision, and shall submit that recommendation and the record to the county board of education within three schooldays of hearing the appeal.

(c) Sections 48919, 48920, 48921, 48922, 48923, and 48925 are applicable to a hearing conducted pursuant to this section.

(d) Within 10 schooldays of receiving the recommended decision and record from the hearing officer or the impartial administrative panel, the county board of education shall review the recommended decision and record and render a final order of the board.

(e) For purposes of this article, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) “Countywide ADA” means the aggregate number of annual units of regular average daily attendance for the fiscal year in all school districts within the county.

(2) “Class 1 county” means a county with 1994/95 countywide ADA of more than 500,000.

(3) “Class 2 county” means a county with 1994/95 countywide ADA of at least 180,000 but less than 500,000.

(Added by Stats. 1997, Ch. 417, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 1998.)