FOA(LEGAL) - STUDENT DISCIPLINE: REMOVAL BY TEACHER OR BUS DRIVER

Mandatory Removal by a Teacher

A teacher shall remove from class and send to the principal for placement in a disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP) or expulsion, as appropriate, a student who engages in conduct described in Education Code 37.006 (removal) or 37.007 (expulsion). [See FOC and FOD] Education Code 37.002(d)

Routine Referral

A teacher may send a student to the campus behavior coordinator's (CBC) office to maintain effective discipline in the classroom. The CBC shall respond by employing appropriate discipline management techniques, consistent with the Student Code of Conduct that can reasonably be expected to improve the student's behavior before returning the student to the classroom. If the student's behavior does not improve, the CBC shall employ alternative discipline management techniques, including any progressive interventions designated as the responsibility of the CBC in the Student Code of Conduct. Education Code 37.002(a) [See FO]

Discretionary Removal

A teacher may remove from class a student:

  1. Who has been documented by the teacher to repeatedly interfere with the teacher's ability to communicate effectively with the students in the class or with the ability of the student's classmates to learn; or
  2. Whose behavior the teacher determines is so unruly, disruptive, or abusive that it seriously interferes with the teacher's ability to communicate effectively with the students in the class or with the ability of the student's classmates to learn.

Education Code 37.002(b)

Reporting Classroom Removals

A student who is sent to the campus behavior coordinator's or other administrator's office under a routine referral or a discretionary removal, as described above, is not considered to have been removed from the classroom for the purposes of reporting data through the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) or other similar reports required by state or federal law. Education Code 37.002(e)

[See DNA for information about teacher evaluations and disciplinary referrals.]

Placement of Student

If a teacher removes a student from class under the provisions above, the principal may place the student in another appropriate classroom, in-school suspension, or DAEP [see FOC]. Education Code 37.002(c)

Conference by Third Day Required

Not later than the third class day after the day on which a student is removed from class by the teacher under the above provision or by the school principal or other appropriate administrator under the Student Code of Conduct, the campus behavior coordinator or other appropriate administrator shall schedule a conference among the campus behavior coordinator or other appropriate administrator, a parent or guardian of the student, the teacher removing the student from class, if any, and the student. At the conference, the student is entitled to written or oral notice of the reasons for the removal, an explanation of the basis for the removal, and an opportunity to respond to the reasons for the removal. The student may not be returned to the regular classroom pending the conference. Following the conference, and whether or not each requested person is in attendance after valid attempts to require the person's attendance, the campus behavior coordinator, after consideration of the mitigating factors (see below), shall order the placement of the student for a period consistent with the Student Code of Conduct.

Appeals

If district policy allows a student to appeal to the board or the board's designee, a decision of the campus behavior coordinator or other appropriate administrator, other than an expulsion under Section 37.007, the decision of the board or the board's designee is final and may not be appealed.

Placement Length

The period of the placement may not exceed one year unless, after a review, the district determines that the student is a threat to the safety of other students or to district employees. The student may not be returned to the regular class pending the required conference.

Education Code 37.009(a)

Mitigating Factors

The CBC must consider whether the student acted in self-defense, the intent or lack of intent at the time the student engaged in the conduct, the student's disciplinary history, and whether the student has a disability that substantially impairs the student's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's conduct. Education Code 37.009(a)

[See Student Code of Conduct, item 4, at FO(LEGAL) for mitigating factors.]

Prohibitions on Activities

The terms of the removal may prohibit the student from attending or participating in school-sponsored or school-related activities. Education Code 37.002(c)

Note: A power granted to a campus principal under Education Code Chapter 37, Subchapter A may be exercised by the CBC.

Return to Class

The principal may not return the student to the class of the teacher who removed the student without the teacher's consent, unless the placement review committee determines that such placement is the best or only alternative available.

If the teacher removed the student from class because the student engaged in the elements of an offense listed in Education Code 37.006(a)(2)(B) or 37.007(a)(2)(A) or (b)(2)(C) (assault, sexual assault, assault against a district employee or volunteer) against the teacher, the student may not be returned to the teacher's class without the teacher's consent. The teacher may not be coerced to consent.

Education Code 37.002(c), (d)

Placement Review Committee

Each school shall establish a three-member committee to determine the placement of a student when a teacher refuses the return of a student to the teacher's class. The committee shall make recommendations to the district regarding readmission of expelled students.

Composition

Committee members shall be appointed as follows:

  1. Campus faculty shall choose two teachers to serve as members and one teacher to serve as an alternate member; and
  2. The principal shall choose one member from the professional staff of a campus.

The teacher refusing to readmit the student may not serve on the committee.

Education Code 37.003

Removal by School Bus Driver

The driver of a school bus transporting students to or from school or a school-sponsored or school-related activity may send a student to the principal's office to maintain effective discipline on the school bus.

The principal shall respond by employing appropriate discipline management techniques consistent with the Student Code of Conduct.

Education Code 37.0022

Note: See FOF for provisions concerning students with disabilities.

Cross Plains ISD

FOA(LEGAL)-P

UPDATE 114

DATE ISSUED: 10/11/2019