5600 - STUDENT DISCIPLINE

The School Board of Polk County

Bylaws & Policies

Unless a specific policy has been amended and the date the policy was revised is noted at the bottom of that policy, the bylaws and policies of The School Board of Polk County were adopted on November 12, 2013 and were in effect beginning November 12, 2013.

5600 - STUDENT DISCIPLINE

The School Board acknowledges that conduct is closely related to learning - an effective instructional program requires an orderly school environment and the effectiveness of the educational program is, in part, reflected in the behavior of students.

The Board believes that the best discipline is self-imposed and that students should learn to assume responsibility for their own behavior and the consequences of their actions.

All school personnel shall be informed and responsible for all Board administrative procedures concerning discipline. All school personnel shall become involved in the discipline process anywhere on campus or at school functions off campus. A good faith effort shall be made by the principal to employ parental assistance or other alternative measures prior to suspension.

Students are under the control and direction of the principal and under the immediate control and direction of the teacher or other member of the instructional staff or bus driver to whom such responsibility may be assigned by the principal:

	A.	when they are being transported to or from school at public expense;
	B.	when they are attending school;
	C.	when they are engaged in a school-sponsored activity, and on the school premises; and
	D.	during a reasonable time before and after a student is on the premises for attendance at school or for authorized participation in a school-sponsored activity, and only when on the premises. A "reasonable time" means thirty (30) minutes before or after the school day or school-sponsored activity is scheduled or actually begins or ends, whichever period is longer.

The Board shall also require each student of this District to:

	A.	conform to reasonable standards of socially-acceptable behavior;
	B.	respect the person and property of others;
	C.	preserve the degree of order necessary to the educational program in which they are engaged;
	D.	respect the rights of others.

The Board will not tolerate any form of violence, disruptive, or inappropriate behavior, nor excessive truancy which it defines as more than fifteen (15) unexcused absences within a ninety (90) calendar day period. In addition to disciplinary action specified in the parent/student handbooks, the Superintendent shall develop strategies that will help prevent students from demonstrating any of these unacceptable behaviors.

The Superintendent shall promulgate administrative procedures for student conduct which carry out the purposes of this policy and:

	A.	are not arbitrary but bear a reasonable relationship to the need to maintain a school environment conducive to learning;
	B.	do not discriminate among students;
	C.	do not demean students;
	D.	do not tend to violate any individual rights constitutionally guaranteed to students.

The Superintendent shall designate sanctions for the infractions of rules, excluding corporal punishment, which shall:

	A.	relate in kind and degree to the infraction;
	B.	help the student learn to take responsibility for his/her actions;
	C.	be directed, where possible, to reduce the effects of any harm which may have been caused by the student's misconduct.

The Superintendent shall publish to all students and their parents the rules of this District regarding student conduct and the sanctions which may be imposed for breach of those rules.

The Superintendent shall inform the Board periodically of the methods of discipline imposed by this District and the incidence of student misconduct in such degree of specificity as shall be required by the Board.

Principals shall have the authority to assign discipline to students, subject to Board policy, the administrative procedures of the Superintendent and to the student's due process right to notice, hearing, and appeal.

Teachers, school bus drivers, and other employees of this Board having authority over students shall have the authority to take such means as may be necessary to control the disorderly conduct of students in all situations and in all places where such students are within the jurisdiction of this Board and when such conduct interferes with the educational program of the schools or threatens the health and safety of others.

F.S. 1001.43, 1002.20, 1003.31, 1003.32, 1006.07, 1006.08, 1006.09, 1006.10