District Corrective Actions or Discipliine 

"Discipline" constitutes all other forms of corrective action or punishment, including brief exclusions from a class for not more than the remainder of the class period, including exclusion from any other type of activity conducted by or for the district. Discipline shall not adversely affect specific academic grade, subject, or graduation requirements, so long as all required work is performed.

 All students shall submit to the reasonable rules of the district. Refusal to comply with written rules and regulations established for the governing of the school shall constitute sufficient cause for discipline, suspension or expulsion. Corrective action and/or discipline for misconduct must reflect good faith effort on the part of the staff. For the purposes of the district's policies relating to corrective action or punishment:

 1. "Expulsion" is the exclusion from school or individual classes for an extended or indefinite period for certain egregious acts.

 2. "Suspension" is the exclusion from school, or individual classes for a specific period of time, after which the student has a right to return.

     A. A suspension is "short term" if it is for a period of 5 consecutive school days or less. Separate short-term suspensions shall not total more than 10 school days in a semester for any student in grades K-4. Separate short-term suspensions shall not total more than 15 days in a semester for a student in any other grade. Students' grades shall not be affected substantially as a result of a short-term suspension.

     B. Suspensions which exceed 10 consecutive school days are long-term suspensions.

 As a general rule, no student shall be suspended for a short or long term unless other forms of corrective action or punishment reasonably calculated to modify his/her conduct have previously been imposed upon the student as a consequence of misconduct of the same nature. However, a student may be suspended for exceptional misconduct, other than absenteeism, when such misconduct is of frequent occurrence or is serious in nature and/or is disruptive to the operation of the school or of the learning of other students.  Suspensions or expulsions shall be used only for instances of serious student misconduct.

 Prior to the imposition of a corrective action or punishment upon a special education student, the school principal and special education staff who have knowledge of the student's handicapping condition will determine if there is a causal relationship between the handicapping condition and the misconduct giving rise to the corrective action or punishment. When a relationship is found to exist, special education programming procedures shall be employed.

 Once a student is expelled in compliance with district policy, the expulsion shall be brought to the attention of appropriate local and state authorities, including, but not limited to, the local juvenile authorities acting pursuant to the statutes dealing with the Basic Juvenile Court Act, in order that such authorities may address the student's educational needs.

The superintendent or principal shall have the authority to discipline, suspend or expel students. The superintendent or principal shall identify the conditions under which a teacher may exclude a student for all or any portion of a school day and shall also designate which staff have the authority to initiate or to impose discipline, suspensions or expulsions.

DISCIPLINE-REFERRAL PROCEDURE Direct (Immediate) Referral - -                                                                                      

 Flagrant violations of district and/or school regulations should be referred directly to the administration. Such violations will result in immediate discipline in the form of detention, exclusion from class, suspension or expulsion, to be determined by the principal or designee. Some examples of such violations include:                                                                                                   ♦ Use of abusive language, gestures to staff, or disrespectful comments;                                                                                                                                                                    ♦ Threatening or verbal abuse, fighting or fighting words, all forms of harassment or for situations where administrative staff feel there is a threat to staff or students;                                        ♦ Smoking of possession of tobacco;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        ♦Using, possessing, transferring, or being under the influence of alcohol;                                                                                                                                                                                     ♦ Use, possession, transferring, or being under the influence of drugs (either legal or illegal);                                                                                                                                                      ♦ Fighting on or near school premises;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            ♦ Truancy from class;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          ♦ Insubordination;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               ♦Damage to school or personal property;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       ♦ Harassment of any kind (sexual, racial, bullying, etc.);                                                                                                                                                                                                                ♦ Possession of any weapon, manufactured or handmade.                                                                                                                                                                                                            ♦ Threats or use of language referring to intent of violence (even jokingly)

PROGRESSIVE REFERRAL - - Progressive referrals are used when a continued lack of personal responsibility is demonstrated by the student. Prior to initiating the referral, teacher contact is initiated and documented with the parent. Other types of discipline will have been attempted and documented. These might include student conferences, sending progress reports, detention, and/or one day exclusions from class. The bulk of this type of referral will likely stem from problems initiating in the classroom.

The following may serve as some examples:

♦ Disruption of class;

♦ Lack of cooperation;

♦Threatening or verbal abuse, fighting or fighting words, all forms of harassment or for situations where administrative staff feel there is a threat to staff or students; 

♦ Inappropriate remarks;

♦ Inconsistencies in following instruction/class procedure;

♦ Continued lack of preparation or academic progress;

♦ Lack of materials or equipment;

♦ Incomplete assignments;

♦ Absenteeism;

♦ Persistent tardiness;

♦ Relationships with peers.

The intent and purpose of the progressive referral is to:

♦ Provide a cumulative record of behavioral incidents;

♦ Provide a progression of steps for dealing with behavioral problems;

♦ Provide counseling help to meet the needs of students;

♦ Provide disciplinary action when other means have not modified behavior and/or performance.