NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT

 

A student code of conduct, developed under the leadership of the district administration, and in cooperation with staff, will be made available and distributed to parents and students outlining student conduct expectations and possible disciplinary actions, including consequences for disorderly conduct, as required by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA).  In addition, each school may publish a student/parent handbook detailing additional rules specific to that school. [All rules applying to student conduct shall be posted in a prominent place in each school building.]

 

Students in violation of Board policy, administrative regulation and/or code of conduct provisions will be subject to discipline up to and including expulsion.  Students may be denied participation in extracurricular activities.  Titles and/or privileges available to or granted to students may also be denied and/or revoked (e.g., valedictorian, salutatorian, student body, class or club office positions, senior trip, prom, etc.).  A referral to law enforcement may also be made.

 

The superintendent shall establish and the board shall adopt a code of student conduct that shall be provided to all teachers, school personnel, students and parents, legal guardians or custodians at the beginning of each school year.  The superintendent shall develop the code of conduct in consultation with principals, teachers, school personnel, students and parents, legal guardians or custodians. 

 

The code of conduct shall be based upon but not limited to the rules of student conduct including policies JCA, JCBD, JCBE and JCBF and the rules of discipline including policies JD, JDA, JDB, JDC, JDD, and JDE and any and all related policies adopted subsequent hereto.  The code shall be made available in the student handbook or other similar publication.  The code of conduct shall include, but not be limited to the following items:

 

1.   Specific grounds for disciplinary action under the school district’s discipline plan;

 

2.   Procedures to be followed for acts requiring discipline, including suspensions and expulsion, which comply with due process requirements; and

 

3.   Explanations of the rights and responsibilities of students with regard to:

 

!          Attendance;

!          Respect for persons and property;

!          Knowledge and observation of rules of conduct;

!          Free speech and student publications;

!          Assembly;

!          Privacy; and

!          Participation in school programs and activities.

 

4.   The School Safety Act of 2001 provides a procedure for disciplining students whose behavior, as determined by the principal or designated administrator of each school, seriously interferes with the school environment as defined by the Act.  The Superintendent is authorized to more fully develop and implement the following procedures in the school district. These provisions of the School Safety Act of 2001 are cumulative and in addition to existing school district discipline procedures.

 

!          The teacher is the authority is the classroom and, as such, is charged with classroom management.  The administration will continue to support the teacher in decisions made in compliance with the written discipline code of conduct, school policies and procedures.

 

!          Teachers continue to have the authority to remove students from their classrooms under existing policies and statutes for certain behaviors and/or actions, and such behavior would not necessarily constitute  disruptive behavior as defined in the School Safety Act of 2001 (AAct@).  In accordance with the Act and the Attorney General opinion dated June 25, 2001, this District designates the building principal  of each school to make the determination as to whether a student’s behavior seriously interferes with the school environment.  Every removal from the classroom does not constitute an instance of disruptive behavior as defined by the Act.

 

!          Disruptive Behavior means conduct of a student that is so unruly, disruptive or abusive that it seriously interferes with a school teacher’s or school administrator’s ability to communicate with the students in a classroom, with a student’s ability to learn, or with the operation of a school or a school-related activity, and which is not covered by other laws related to violence or possession of weapons or controlled substances on school property, school vehicles or at school-related activities.  Such behaviors include, but are not limited to:  foul, profane, obscene, threatening, defiant or abusive language or action toward teachers or other school employees; defiance, ridicule or verbal attack of a teacher; and willful, deliberate and overt acts of disobedience of the directions of a teacher.

 

!          Habitually disruptive refers to such actions of a student which cause disruption in a classroom, on school property or vehicles or at a school-related activity on more than two (2) occasions during a school year, and to disruptive behavior that was initiated, willful and overt on the part of the student and which required the attention of school personnel to deal with the disruption.  No student shall be considered to be habitually disruptive before the development of a behavior modification plan in accordance with the code of student conduct and discipline plans of the school district.

 

!          Should a student be removed from the classroom by a teacher because a teacher, in his or her professional judgment, has determined that the student is disrupting the learning environment under this Act, the teacher should describe the student’s behavior in the information provided to the principal. If the principal disagrees with the teacher’s decision to remove the student, the principal may return the student to the classroom.  The teacher may request that the principal provide justification for returning the student to the classroom.  A student does not have to be engaged in disruptive behavior as defined by Mississippi Code Ann.  § 37-11-54 (or the Act) to be removed from the classroom.  A student may be removed from the classroom for other qualifying behavior under the school district’s discipline plan.

 

!          Should the principal determine that the student’s conduct does rise to the level of disruptive behavior required in the Act or in accordance with existing procedures addressing the removal of the students from class, the parent/guardian will be contacted and a conference held with the parent/guardian by the most effective and/or efficient means available, including but not limited to, telephone, e-mail, written notice  via mail or delivery.  After the conference and application of the appropriate discipline under the school discipline plan, the student may return to class. 

 

!          After the second incident of disruptive behavior as determined by the principal, the principal, the student’s parent or guardian and the reporting teacher or teachers shall develop a behavior modification plan.  The conference to develop the plan may be held in person or via telephone.  If the parent/guardian does not respond or refuses to participate, the teacher(s) and the principal shall prepare the plan and mail a copy to the parent/guardian. 

 

!          Behavior modification plans written to address habitually disruptive behavior must be developed by utilizing evidence-based practices and positive behavioral intervention supports.  The plan must be implemented no later than two (2) weeks after the occurrence of the disruptive behavior.

 

!          Once determination has been made by the principal  that the student has not complied with the behavior modification plan, the principal  shall follow the procedure for disciplining the student according to the student code of conduct and discipline plan, which may include expulsion to the alternative school for applicable offenses.   The Act limits the expulsion remedy to students age 13 and above.  However, under board policy and other discipline procedures, expulsion may also apply to students under age 13. 

 

!          If a student under age 13 has two instances of behavior that the principal classifies as disruptive behavior, the District will appoint trained personnel to evaluate the child’s behavior through an appropriate behavioral assessment.  The assessment will not be one such that it is in conflict with federal laws requiring parental notification of certain types of evaluations.