Document detailing discipline regulations.

Any public school district in North Dakota may apply to the superintendent of public instruction for establishment of an alternative education program for students from the ages of sixteen to twenty-one who have dropped out of school. The alternative programming shall be under the administration of a public school district.

The department of public instruction will monitor alternative programs by reviewing annual documentation including fall reports and completion rate data:

• 1. Certificate of compliance.
• 2. School calendar.
• 3. MIS03 certified personnel record.
• 4. Pupil membership report.

School districts may develop cooperative programs with other school districts to provide access to courses for as many students as possible. Tuition agreements must be completed and approved by the districts involved in the cooperative alternative program. No written agreement is necessary if the nonresident student is enrolled in an approved alternative education program for which no tuition is charged.

2. The policy must prohibit the possession of a weapon or a firearm by a student on school property and at school functions and provide for the punishment of any student found to be in violation. Punishment must include immediate suspension from school and expulsion. A student who possesses a firearm in violation of this section must be expelled for at least one year. The school district firearms policy must authorize the school district superintendent or the school principal, if the school district does not have a superintendent, to modify an expulsion for firearms possession under this section on a case-by-case basis in accordance with criteria established by the board. Before expelling a student, a school board or its designated hearing officer, within ten days of the student’s suspension, shall provide the student with a hearing at which time the school board or its designated hearing officer shall take testimony and consider evidence, including the existence of mitigating circumstances. If a designated hearing officer orders that a student be expelled, the student may seek a review of the decision by the school board, based on the record of the expulsion hearing.

3. If a school district expels a student under this section, the district may authorize the provision of educational services to the student in an alternative setting.