BP 5144.1
Students
Suspension and
Expulsion/Due Process
The Governing Board has established policies and
standards of behavior in order to promote learning and
protect the safety and well-being of all students. When these policies and standards are
violated, it may be necessary to suspend or expel a student from regular
classroom instruction. For high school
students, suspensions from
For high school students, suspension from the
student’s home high school shall also result in suspension from
Suspended or expelled students shall be denied the
privilege of participation in all extracurricular activities during the period
of suspension or expulsion.
Except where suspension for a first offense is
warranted in accordance with law, suspension shall be imposed only when other
means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct. (Education Code 48900.5)
Expulsion is an action taken by the Board for severe
or prolonged breaches of discipline by a student.
Except for single acts of a grave nature, expulsion shall be
used only when there is a history of misconduct, when other forms of
discipline, including suspension, have failed to bring about proper conduct, or
when the student's presence causes a continuing danger to self or others.
(Education Code 48915)
The grounds for suspension and expulsion and the
procedures for considering, recommending and/or implementing suspension and
expulsion shall be those specified in law and/or administrative regulation.
Zero Tolerance
The Board supports a zero tolerance approach to
serious offenses in accordance with state and federal law. This approach makes the removal of
potentially dangerous students from the classroom a top priority and
ensures the standardized treatment of all students. It ensures fair and equal treatment of
all students and requires that all offenders be punished to the fullest extent
allowed by law. Staff shall immediately
report to the Superintendent or designee any incidence of offenses specified in
law, Board policy, and administrative regulation as cause for suspension or
expulsion.
Student Due Process
The Board shall provide for the fair and equitable
treatment of students facing suspension and expulsion by affording them their due
process rights under the law. The
Superintendent or designee shall comply with procedures for notices and appeals
as specified in administrative regulation and/or law. (Education
Required Parental Attendance
The Board believes that parental involvement plays an
important role in the resolution of classroom behavior problems. The Board expects that teachers will
communicate with parents/guardians when behavior problems arise.
Whenever a student is suspended from class by a
teacher because he/she committed an obscene act, engaged in habitual profanity
or vulgarity, disrupted school activities, or otherwise willfully defied valid
staff authority, the teacher of the class from which the student was removed
may provide that the student's parent/guardian attend a portion of a school day
in the class from which the student was suspended. (Education Code 48900.1)
Before requiring parental attendance, the teacher
shall make reasonable efforts to have the parent/guardian visit the class
voluntarily. The teacher also may inform
the parent/guardian about available resources and parent education
opportunities. Teachers should reserve
the option of required parental attendance for cases in which they have
determined that it is the best strategy to promote positive interaction between
the student and the parent/guardian and to improve classroom behavior.
The teacher shall apply this policy uniformly to all
students within the classroom. This
policy shall apply only to a parent/guardian who lives with the student. (Education Code 48900.1)
When a teacher requires parental attendance, the
principal shall send a written notice to the parent/guardian stating that
his/her attendance is pursuant to law.
(Education Code 48900.1)
The notice shall specify that the attendance may be
on either the date the student is scheduled to return to class or within one
week thereafter.
A parent/guardian who has received a written notice
shall attend class as specified in the notice.
After completing the classroom visit and before leaving school premises,
the parent/guardian also shall meet with the director or designee. (Education Code 48900.1)
The director or designee shall contact a
parent/guardian who does not respond to the request to attend school. The Board recognizes that parent/guardian
compliance with this policy may be delayed, modified, or prevented for reasons
such as serious illness/injury/disability, absence from town, or inability to
get release time from work.
District regulations and school-site rules for
student discipline shall include procedures for implementing parental
attendance requirements. Parents/guardians shall be notified of this policy
prior to its implementation. (Education
Code 48900.1)
Legal Reference:
EDUCATION
CODE
212.5 Sexual harassment
1981 Enrollment of students in
community school
17292.5 Program for expelled students
32050 Hazing
35146 Closed
sessions (re suspensions)
35291 Rules
(for government and discipline of schools)
35291.5 Rules
and procedures on school discipline
48660-48667 Community day schools
48900-48927 Suspension and expulsion
48950 Speech
and other communication
49073-49079 Privacy of student records
CIVIL
CODE
47 Privileged
communication
48.8 Defamation
liability
CODE
OF CIVIL PROCEDURE
1985-1997
Subpoenas; means of production
GOVERNMENT
CODE
11455.20 Contempt
54950-54963 Ralph M. Brown Act
HEALTH
AND SAFETY CODE
11014.5 Drug
paraphernalia
11053-11058 Standards and
schedules
LABOR
CODE
230.7 Discharge
or discrimination against employee for taking time off to appear in school on
behalf of a child
PENAL
CODE
31 Principal
of a crime, defined
240 Assault
defined
241.2 Assault
fines
242
243.2
243.4 Sexual
battery
245 Assault with deadly weapon
261 Rape
defined
266c
Unlawful
sexual intercourse
286 Sodomy
defined
288 Lewd
or lascivious acts with child under age 14
288a Oral
copulation
289 Penetration
of genital or anal openings
626.2 Entry
upon campus after written notice of suspension or dismissal without permission
626.9 Gun-Free
School Zone Act of 1995
626.10 Dirks,
daggers, knives, razors or stun guns
868.5 Supporting
person; attendance during testimony of witness
WELFARE
AND INSTITUTIONS CODE
729.6 Counseling
UNITED
STATES CODE, TITLE 18
921 Definitions,
firearm
UNITED
STATES CODE, TITLE 20
7151 Gun free schools
COURT
DECISIONS
T.H.
v.
Woodbury
v. Dempsey (2003) 108
Board
of Education of
Garcia
v.
John
A. v.
ATTORNEY
GENERAL OPINIONS
84 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen 146 (2001)
80 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 91 (1997)
80 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 85 (1997)
Adopted:
Revised: