(1) No child who has attained the age of six years and is under the age of twenty-one shall be suspended or expelled from or be denied admission to the public schools, except as provided by this article.

(2) In addition to the powers provided in section 22-32-110, the board of education of each district may: ...

• (d) The suspending authority shall: ...

  • (III) Provide an opportunity for a pupil to make up school work during the period of suspension for full or partial academic credit to the extent possible. The intent of this provision is to provide an opportunity for the pupil to reintegrate into the educational program of the district and to help prevent the pupil from dropping out of school because of an inability to reintegrate into the educational program following the period of suspension. The school district should take this intent into consideration when determining the amount of credit a student will receive for this makeup work.

(2) (a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection (2), upon request of a student or the student's parent or guardian, the school district shall provide, for any student who is expelled from the school district, any educational services that are deemed appropriate for the student by the school district. The educational services provided must be designed to enable the student to return to the school in which he or she was enrolled prior to expulsion, to successfully complete the high school equivalency examination, or to enroll in a nonpublic, nonparochial school or in an alternative school, including but not limited to a charter school or a pilot school established pursuant to article 38 of this title. The expelling school district shall determine the amount of credit the student must receive toward graduation for the educational services provided pursuant to this section.

The general assembly hereby finds and declares that the purpose of this article is to provide means for encouraging experimentation in the management of students suspended from public schools or facility schools and to evaluate programs that will provide continuous education, supervision, and discipline to suspended students in order to maintain the education of a suspended student and prevent the continuation of disruptive behavior, further suspension, or expulsion of the student.

(1) An eligible participant may submit a proposal to the state board for a grant for the development of a program under this article, which may involve selected grade levels within a public school or facility school.

(2) A program shall:

• (a) Provide supervision, discipline, counseling, and continuous education for a suspended student with the goal of maintaining the education of a suspended student and preventing further disruptive behavior, subsequent suspension, or expulsion;

• (b) Provide for a transitional stage from in-school or in-home suspension to regular school activities;

• (c) Include an agreement by the participating public school or facility school that a student suspended for the reasons specified in section 22-33-106 (1)(a) or (1)(b) shall be included in the program;

• (d) Include an evaluation phase based on the collection of data that shall measure effectiveness of the program; and

• (e) Include provisions for the dissemination of the results of the program to the state board; the participating facility school; the school board or governing board of the participating public school; the parents, guardians, or legal custodians with students attending the participating public school; and any other interested persons.

(3) A program may include, but need not be limited to, any of the following:

• (a) Programs that utilize new instructional, counseling, or disciplinary concepts;

• (b) Programs that utilize current public school or facility school staff or other personnel;

• (c) Programs that encourage parental participation and involvement;

• (d) Programs that employ individualized instruction, computer-assisted instruction, or other automated equipment for instruction;

• (e) Programs that provide behavioral modification or anger management techniques.

(4) Each proposal must include a breakdown of all costs that would be incurred upon approval of the program.