501 Student Code of Conduct – Central Decatur CSD

District

Student Code of Conduct

The Board believes inappropriate student conduct causes material and substantial disruption to the school environment, interferes with the rights of others, and/or presents a threat to the health and safety of students, employees, and visitors on school premises.

Students should conduct themselves in a manner fitting to their age and maturity and with respect and consideration for the rights of others while on school district property or on property within the jurisdiction of the school district; while on school owned and/or operated school or chartered buses; while attending or engaged in school activities; and while away from school grounds if misconduct will directly affect the good order, efficient management, and welfare of the school district.

Students who fail to abide by this and other school district policies, rules, and administrative regulations supporting the school district policies may be disciplined for any of the following:

Conduct which disrupts or interferes with the educational program;
Conduct which disrupts the orderly and efficient operation of the school district or school activity;
Conduct which disrupts the rights of other students to obtain their education or participation in educational activities;
Conduct that is violent or destructive; or
Conduct which interrupts the maintenance of a disciplined atmosphere.

Teachers and/or others who are in charge of a classroom must be the administrators of classroom discipline. Therefore, minor disciplinary offenses are the responsibility and obligation of the classroom teacher. When a situation arises wherein the educational process is substantially interfered with, it then becomes the responsibility of the administration to assist in the disposition of the discipline problem.

Impermissible Conduct

Students may be disciplined for conduct that violates commonly held notions of unacceptable, immoral or inappropriate behavior that includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Open and/or persistent defiance of authority, school rules, and regulations (including extracurricular rules);
Assault or threatened assault on another person;
Extortion, intimidation or coercion;
Inciting others to violate the law or school rules;
Vandalism;
Gambling;
Theft or possession of stolen goods/property;
Sale, manufacture or distribution of illegal drugs, controlled substances, imitation controlled substances or drug paraphernalia;
Possession, use or being under the influence of illegal drugs, controlled substances, imitation controlled substances or drug paraphernalia.
Possession, use or threatening to use any instrument that is generally considered a weapon, an instrument that is normally not considered a weapon as a weapon, an imitation weapon or an explosive;
Possession, use or being under the influence of alcoholic beverages;
Use, possession, and/or transmission of nicotine or imitation substances;
Profanity;
Possession of pornographic/obscene literature, items or materials;
Student dress which is suggestive, condones illegal activity or in some way disrupts the educational process;
Failure to abide by corrective measures for previous acts of misconduct;
Harassment in any form of another person;
Conduct which discriminates against others based upon an individual’s sex, race, national origin, religion or disability;
Destruction, damage, unauthorized use, inappropriate use, and/or manipulation of hardware, software or any aspect or component of the school’s electronic information system including the internet; or
Inappropriate sexual conduct including harassment, indecent exposure, and visible display of affection.

A student who commits an assault against an employee on school district property or on property within the jurisdiction of the school district; while on school owned or school operated transportation; while attending or engaged in school district activities shall be suspended by the principal. Notice of the suspension shall be sent to the board president. The board shall review the suspension to determine whether to impose further sanctions against the student which may include expulsion. Assault for purposes of this section of this policy is defined as:

Any act which is intended to cause pain or injury to, or which is intended to result in physical contact which will be insulting or offensive to another, coupled with the apparent ability to execute the act;
Any act which is intended to place another in fear of immediate physical contact which will be painful, injurious, insulting or offensive, coupled with the apparent ability to execute the act; or
Intentionally points any firearm toward another or displays in a threatening manner any dangerous weapon toward another.

The District may impose a range of disciplinary measures for acts of misconduct. Disciplinary measures include, but are not limited to, removal from the classroom, detention, suspension, probation, and expulsion. Discipline will be administered depending on the severity and frequency of the acts of misconduct. The imposition of discipline will be within the discretion of the individual responsible for imposing the discipline. In instances where there has been a violation of the law, as well as school rules, appropriate law enforcement officials will be contacted and may become involved in the District’s administration of discipline. The school reserves the right to seek restitution from the parents/guardians of a student or the student for damage caused by the student.

Sanctions for Student Misconduct

Removal from the classroom means a student is sent to the building principal’s office. It shall be within the discretion of the person in charge of the classroom to remove the student.

Detention means the student’s presence is required during non-school hours for disciplinary purposes. The student can be required to appear prior to the beginning of the school day or after school has been dismissed for the day. The imposition of a detention and the length of the detention shall be within the discretion of the employee disciplining the student or the building principal.

Suspension means either an in-school suspension or an out-of-school suspension. An in-school suspension means the student will attend school but will be temporarily isolated from one or more classes while under supervision. An in-school suspension will not exceed ten consecutive school days. An out-of-school suspension means the student is removed from the school environment, which includes school classes and activities. An out-of-school suspension will not exceed ten school days.

Probation means a student is given a conditional suspension of a penalty for a definite period of time in addition to being reprimanded. The conditional suspension shall mean the student must meet the conditions and terms for the suspension of the penalty. Failure of the student to meet these conditions and terms shall result in immediate reinstatement of the penalty.

Expulsion means an action by the Board to remove a student from the school environment, which includes, but is not limited to classes and activities, for a period of time set by the Board but no longer than one school year.

Following the suspension of a special education student, an informal evaluation of the student’s placement shall take place. The student’s Individual Education Program (I.E.P.) shall be evaluated to determine whether it needs to be changed or modified in response to the behavior that led to the suspension. If a special education student’s suspensions, either in-school or out-of-school, equal ten days on a cumulative basis, a staffing team shall meet to determine whether the student’s I.E.P. is appropriate.

501.1 Student Code of Conduct – Student Suspension

Students may be suspended for conduct that violates school rules. Suspensions may take the form of probation, an in-school suspension or an out-of-school suspension.

Probation

Probation is the conditional suspension of the imposition of discipline for student misconduct for a set period of time. Probation may be imposed for infractions of school rules which do not warrant the necessity of removal from school.

The building principal shall conduct an informal investigation of the allegations against the student prior to imposition of probation. The investigation shall include, but not be limited to, written or oral notice to the student of the allegations against the student and an opportunity to respond. Written notice of probation and the reasons therefore shall be sent to the student and the student’s parents.

In-School Suspension

In-school suspension is the temporary isolation of a student from one or more classes while under administrative supervision. In-school suspensions may be imposed by the building principal for infractions of school rules which are serious but which do not warrant the necessity of removal from school.

The building principal shall conduct an informal investigation of the allegations against the student prior to the imposition of an in-school suspension which shall include notifying the student of the allegations against the student and the basis for the allegations and giving a student the opportunity to respond to the allegations. An in-school suspension shall not be imposed for a period longer than ten school days. Written notice of the in-school suspension and the reasons therefore shall be sent to the student and the student’s parents.

Out-of-School Suspension

Out-of-school suspension is the removal of a student from the school environment for periods of short duration. Suspension is to be employed when other available school resources are unable to constructively remedy student misconduct.

A student may be suspended for up to ten school days by a building principal for a commission of gross or repeated infractions of school rules or when the presence of the student will cause interference with the maintenance of the educational environment or the operation of the school. The building principal may suspend a student after conducting an investigation of the charges against the student which shall include giving the student: (1) oral or written notice of the allegations against the student; (2) the basis in fact for the charges; and (3) the opportunity to respond to the charges.

Written notice of the suspension shall be mailed to the student and the student’s parents no later than two school days following the imposition of the suspension. Written notice of the suspension shall also be given to the superintendent. A reasonable effort shall be made to notify the student’s parents of the suspension by telephone or in person and such effort shall be documented by the person making or attempting to make the contact. Written notice shall include the circumstances which led to the suspension and a copy of the Board policy and rules pertaining to the suspension.

Suspension of Special Education Students

501.2 Student Code of Conduct – Student Expulsion

Students may be expelled for conduct which violates school rules. The long-term removal of a student from the school environment, including classes and activities, is an expulsion from school. It shall be within the discretion of the superintendent to recommend to the Board the expulsion of a student for disciplinary purposes. Only the Board may take action to expel a student and to readmit a student who has been expelled. A student may be expelled by the Board for a commission of gross or repeated infractions of school rules or when the presence of the student will cause interference with the maintenance of the educational environment or the operation of the school. It shall be within the discretion of the Board to discipline a student through expulsion depending on the nature of the student’s offense and the circumstances surrounding the offense. The building principal shall keep records of expulsions, in addition to the Board’s records.

When a student is recommended for expulsion by the superintendent, the student shall be provided with:

Notice of the reasons for the proposed expulsion written with sufficient specificity to enable the student to prepare a defense;
Notice of the date, time, and place of the expulsion hearing sufficiently in advance of the hearing to enable the student to obtain the assistance of counsel and to prepare a defense;
Notice that the student is entitled to a closed hearing unless an open hearing is specifically requested;
The names of the witnesses the superintendent will present, if available, and a statement of the facts to which each witness will testify;
Notice that the student will be given an opportunity to present a defense against the charges; to provide either oral testimony or written affidavits of witnesses; to present documents; to be given copies of documents which will be introduced by the administration, and to cross-examine adverse witnesses, if available, and
Notice that the student has the right to be represented by counsel.

At the hearing, the student will have all of the rights given in the notice and may give an opening and closing statement in addition to calling witnesses and cross-examining adverse witnesses. The Board hearing the expulsion matter must be impartial (i.e. have no prior involvement in the situation, have no stake in the outcome, and have no personal bias or prejudice).

After the Board has heard the expulsion matter, it shall go into deliberations. No one who advocated a position at the hearing of the matter should be present during the Board’s deliberations unless the other party or parties are also permitted to attend deliberations. The student has a right to a decision based solely on the evidence presented at hearing. There must be an adequate factual basis for the Board’s decision. A preponderance of the evidence standard is sufficient to find the student violated the rule or policy at issue. Following the Board’s deliberations, the Board shall reconvene in open session and render its decision on the superintendent’ recommendation for expulsion. The student is entitled to a written decision setting out the Board’s findings and conclusions as to the charges and the penalty.

In addition to these procedures, a special education student will be provided with the following procedures:

A determination shall be made whether the student has participated in the misconduct;
A staffing team shall determine whether the student’s behavior is a manifestation of the student’s disability and whether the student’s conduct is the result of an inappropriate placement. Discussions and conclusions of this meeting should be recorded.
If the special education student’s conduct is found to not be a manifestation of the student’s disability, the student may be suspended or expelled pursuant to the District’s Student Suspension and Student Expulsion policies.
If the special education student’s conduct is found to be a manifestation of the student’s disability and a change in placement is recommended, the change shall be made pursuant to District policies and the law. If a change in placement is not recommended, a determination shall be made within the student’s I.E.P. and the law as to how to manage the student’s behavior to prevent the student’s possible future misconduct.

In some cases, information concerning a student’s violation of the Code of Conduct will be gained from students who the District may want to remain anonymous. The District believes that it is critically important, in certain circumstances, to protect the anonymity of students who report serious violations of the Code of Conduct to insure that violations are reported and those who report them will not be subjected to ostracism and physical reprisals. If an expulsion is based upon evidence obtained from a student who the District believes needs to remain anonymous because they may be subjected to ostracism or physical reprisals, the administration shall undertake reasonable efforts to determine the veracity of the student’s report and the student’s credibility.