Code of Student Conduct
standards for student conduct
VII. Standards for Student Conduct
A. Attendance
1. Regular attendance and punctuality
are expected of students from the first day of school. Children should
understand that
regular school attendance is
essential to their educational development and well-being. With some
exceptions, every child
enrolled in school is expected to be
present. State law specifies that certain legal absences are permitted,
of which personal
illness is most common.
2. Absences, tardiness and early
departures (ATED) from class or school are excused if they are due to
personal illness, illness
or death in the family, impassable
roads or weather, religious observance, quarantine or medical
appointments. All other ATEDs
are considered unexcused absences.
3. All ATEDs must be accounted for.
It is the parent's responsibility to notify the school office on the day
of the ATED and to
provide a written excuse upon the
student's return to school.
4. Upon returning to school after an
absence, each student must present to his/her homeroom teacher a written
excuse that
includes the date of excuse or dates
of absence, reason for absence and parent signature. The school must
have this
information in order to comply with
legal requirements. Please do not write one excuse to cover more than
one child.
5. Unexcused ATEDs will result in
disciplinary action consistent with the code of conduct. Students may
also be denied the
privilege of participating in or
attending extracurricular events. In addition, the building principal or
designee will contact the
student's parents and the student’s
school counselor. The building principal shall remind parents of the
attendance policy,
explain the ramifications of
unexcused ATEDs, stress the importance of class attendance and discuss
appropriate intervention
strategies to correct the situation.
6. In grades 6-12, students may lose
the opportunity to take further exams and quizzes in a course if the
total number of
excused and unexcused absences in
that course exceeds 30, for a full-year course, and 15, for a semester
course.
B. Student Inquiry and Expression
1. Students are entitled to express
their personal opinions verbally or in writing or by symbolic speech.
The expression of such
opinions, however, shall not
interfere with the freedom of others to express themselves. Libel,
slander, the use of obscenity
and comments that disparage an
individual’s race, color, gender, religion, ethnic origin, economic
status, sexual orientation or
disability are prohibited.
2. All persons are prohibited from
distributing any printed or written materials on school property or in
the immediate vicinity
without the prior permission of the
building principal. To obtain such permission, the person wishing to
distribute the material
shall provide a copy to the building
principal with a written request that the building principal give
permission for its
distribution. This written request
shall contain a brief statement of when, where and how the material is
to be distributed.
3. Student publications, whether or
not they are officially recognized, should observe the normal rules of
responsible
journalism and must comply with
Paragraph 1 above. Within these limits, students are free to report the
news and to
editorialize. Student publications
should reflect the policy and judgment of the student editors. The
district has no
responsibility to assist in the
production of student publications, other than those that have been
officially recognized.
Students may be held responsible for
libelous or obscene materials contained in student publications. Student
publications
may be distributed only after
permission is granted pursuant to Paragraph 2 above.
C. Search and Seizure
1. Student lockers and desks are
purchased and maintained by the school district and remain the property
of the school
district. However, the school
district is not responsible for books, clothing or valuables left in
lockers or in desks. A student
shall not place, keep or maintain in
a school-owned locker or desk any article or material of a non-school
nature that may
cause or tend to cause the disruption
of the lawful mission of the school.
2. The following rules shall apply to
the search of any student, student property or school property and the
seizure of any
illegal items found therein.
a. School
district officials have the right and responsibility to search student
lockers and/or desks at any time.
b. In
addition, the Board authorizes the superintendent, building principals
and their designees to conduct searches of
students,
their belongings and their automobiles that are parked on the school
campus if the authorized school official has
reasonable
suspicion to believe that the search will result in evidence that the
student violated the law or the code of
conduct.
c. Items that
are prohibited on school property or are used to disrupt or interfere
with the educational process may be
removed from
student lockers, desks and/or automobile or other personal property by
school authorities.
d. School
district officials are committed to cooperating with police officials
and other law enforcement authorities to
maintain a
safe school environment. Police officials, however, have limited
authority to interview or search students in
schools or at
school functions or to use school facilities in connection with police
work. Police officials may enter school
property or a
school function to question or search a student or to conduct a formal
investigation involving students only if
they have:
1) A search or arrest warrant; or
2) Probable cause to believe a crime has been committed on school
property or at a school function; or
3) Been invited by school district officials.
e. The
principal or designee will be present during any police questioning or
search of a student on school property or at a
school
function. Students who are questioned by police officials on school
property or at a school function will be afforded
the same
rights they have outside the school.