Chapter 6: PROCEDURES FOR TAKING ACTION ON SUBSTANTIATED INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIORS

Section 2. Guidelines for Specific Responses to Inappropriate Behavior

Suspension: The purpose of suspension is to protect the student body, school personnel and property, the educational environment, and the orderly process of the school. Suspension is considered a temporary solution to inappropriate behavior until the problem that caused the suspension is corrected. The length of a suspension should be short, usually one to three school days, but may extend to ten school days.

Chapter 4 PROCEDURES FOR TAKING ACTION ON SUBSTANTIATED INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIORS Section 2. Guidelines for Specific Responses to Inappropriate Behavior A student is entitled to an informal hearing when faced with an out-of-school suspension of 10 days or less. At this hearing, the principal must explain why the student is being suspended, and the student must be given the opportunity to present reasons why she/he should not be suspended. However, a student whose conduct is detrimental to the safety of the school may be suspended immediately and a hearing held as soon as practical after the suspension. Other procedures the school must follow when dealing with out-of-school suspensions are outlined in W. Va. Code § 18A-5-1 and § 18A-5-1a and include: • parent or guardian must be notified promptly in all cases of suspension; • county superintendent or designee must be notified, preferably in writing, of the time and conditions pertaining to the suspension; • student may not participate in any school-sponsored activities and is not permitted on school grounds during the period of suspension; or • student may not be suspended from school solely for not attending class. An out-of-school suspension of more than 10 days requires a formal hearing before the county board of education. The school and county must adhere to the following procedures as outlined in W. Va. Code § 18A-5-1 and § 18A-5-1a when dealing with suspensions of more than 10 days: • parents or guardian must be informed in writing of the charges against their child, including a summary of the evidence upon which the charges are based; • upon the student's parent or guardian's request, a formal hearing must be scheduled before the county board of education; • students are entitled to be represented or advised during the proceedings by a person or persons of their choosing, including legal counsel; and • students are entitled to be given reasonable time to prepare for the hearing. Expulsion. The county superintendent, upon recommendation by the principal, may recommend that a county board of education expel a student from school if the student's conduct is judged to be detrimental to the progress and general conduct of the school. In all cases involving expulsion, the student is entitled to formal due process procedures. These procedures are outlined in W. Va. Code § 18A-5-1 and § 18A-5-1a. W. Va. Code § 18A-5-1 and § 18A-5-1a requires mandatory out-of-school suspension by the principal and mandatory expulsion for a period of not less than twelve consecutive months by the county board of education for: possession of a deadly weapon, battery of a school employee, or sale of a narcotic drug. Procedures that must be followed when dealing with an expulsion include: • the student and parent or guardian must be given a written statement of the specific charges against the student; • the county board of education must hold a hearing regarding the recommended expulsion; • the student and parent or guardian must be given a written notice of the time and place of the county board of education hearing at which the expulsion will be considered. This notice must be given far enough in advance for the student to have time to prepare an adequate defense against the charges; • the student and parent or guardian have the right to be present at the county board of education hearing and to defend against the charges; • the student has the right to be represented by an attorney at the hearing at his/her own expense; • the student has the right to present witnesses on his/her behalf, to hear the testimony of witnesses against him/her, and to question the witnesses against him/her; • if the board of education decides that the charges against a student do not warrant his/her expulsion from school, the student may remain in school or return to school without being subjected to punishment or harassment; • in all expulsion hearings, facts shall be found by a preponderance of the evidence; • expulsion by the board of education is final. However, if a student or parent or guardian believes that the student was not given procedural due process, he/she may appeal to the State Superintendent of Schools. If the State Superintendent of Schools finds that the board's decision to expel the student was properly made, then the expulsion will stand unless overturned by a court.

Chapter 6: PROCEDURES FOR TAKING ACTION ON SUBSTANTIATED INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIORS

Section 2. Guidelines for Specific Responses to Inappropriate Behavior

Suspension: The purpose of suspension is to protect the student body, school personnel and property, the educational environment, and the orderly process of the school. Suspension is considered a temporary solution to inappropriate behavior until the problem that caused the suspension is corrected. The length of a suspension should be short, usually one to three school days, but may extend to ten school days.

(a) The teacher shall stand in the place of the parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) in exercising authority over the school and has control of all students enrolled in the school from the time they reach the school until they have returned to their respective homes, except that where transportation of students is provided, the driver in charge of the school bus or other mode of transportation shall exercise such authority and control over the students while they are in transit to and from the school. (b) Subject to the rules of the State Board of Education, the teacher shall exclude from the school any student known to have or suspected of having any infectious disease, or any student who has been exposed to any infectious disease, and shall immediately notify the proper health officer or medical inspector of the exclusion. Any student so excluded may not be readmitted to the school until he or she has complied with all the requirements of the rules governing those cases or has presented a certificate of health signed by the medical inspector or other proper health officer. (c) The teacher may exclude from his or her classroom or school bus any student who is guilty of disorderly conduct; who in any manner interferes with an orderly educational process; who threatens, abuses or otherwise intimidates or attempts to intimidate a school employee or a student; who willfully disobeys a school employee; or who uses abusive or profane language directed at a school employee. Any student excluded shall be placed under the control of the principal of the school or a designee. The excluded student may be admitted to the classroom or school bus only when the principal, or a designee, provides written certification to the teacher that the student may be readmitted and specifies the specific type of disciplinary action, if any, that was taken. If the principal finds that disciplinary action is warranted, he or she shall provide written and, if possible, telephonic notice of the action to the parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s). When a student is excluded from a classroom or a school bus two times in one semester, and after exhausting all reasonable methods of classroom discipline provided in the school discipline plan, the student may be readmitted to the classroom or the school bus only after the principal, teacher and, if possible, the parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) of the student have held a conference to discuss the student's disruptive behavior patterns, and the teacher and the principal agree on a course of discipline for the student and inform the parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) of the course of action. Thereafter, if the student's disruptive behavior persists, upon the teacher's request, the principal may, to the extent feasible, transfer the student to another setting. The Legislature finds that isolating students or placing them in alternative learning centers may be the best setting for chronically disruptive students. The county board shall create more alternative learning centers or expand its capacity for alternative placements, subject to funding, to correct these students' behaviors so they can return to a regular classroom without engaging in further disruptive behavior. (d) The Legislature finds that suspension from school is not appropriate solely for a student's failure to attend class. Therefore, a student may not be suspended from school solely for not attending class. Other methods of discipline may be used for the student which may include, but are not limited to, detention, extra class time or alternative class settings. (e) Corporal punishment of any student by a school employee is prohibited. (f) Each county board is solely responsible for the administration of proper discipline in the public schools of the county and shall adopt policies consistent with the provisions of this section to govern disciplinary actions. These policies shall encourage the use of alternatives to corporal punishment, providing for the training of school personnel in alternatives to corporal punishment and for the involvement of parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) in the maintenance of school discipline. The county boards shall provide for the immediate incorporation and implementation in the schools of a preventive discipline program which may include the responsible student program and a student involvement program which may include the peer mediation program, devised by the West Virginia Board of Education. Each county board may modify those programs to meet the particular needs of the county. The county boards shall provide in-service training for teachers and principals relating to assertive discipline procedures and conflict resolution. The county boards also may establish cooperatives with private entities to provide middle educational programs which may include programs focusing on developing individual coping skills, conflict resolution, anger control, self-esteem issues, stress management and decision making for students and any other program related to preventive discipline. (g) For the purpose of this section: (1) “Student” includes any child, youth or adult who is enrolled in any instructional program or activity conducted under board authorization and within the facilities of or in connection with any program under public school direction: Provided, That, in the case of adults, the student-teacher relationship shall terminate when the student leaves the school or other place of instruction or activity; (2) “Teacher” means all professional educators as defined in section one [§ 18A-1-1], article one of this chapter and includes the driver of a school bus or other mode of transportation; and (3) “Principal” means the principal, assistant principal, vice principal or the administrative head of the school or a professional personnel designee of the principal or the administrative head of the school. (h) Teachers shall exercise other authority and perform other duties prescribed for them by law or by the rules of the State Board not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter and chapter eighteen [§§ 18-1-1 et seq.] of this code.

• (d) ...The principal shall report any suspension the same day it has been decided upon, in writing, to the parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) of the student by regular United States mail. The suspension also shall be reported to the county superintendent and to the faculty senate of the school at the next meeting after the suspension.
• (e)  Prior to a hearing before the county board, the county board shall cause a written notice which states the charges and the recommended disposition to be served upon the student and his or her parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s), as the case may be. The notice shall state clearly whether the board will attempt at hearing to establish the student as a dangerous student, as defined by section one [§18A-1-1], article one of this chapter. The notice also shall include any evidence upon which the board will rely in asserting its claim that the student is a dangerous student. The notice shall set forth a date and time at which the hearing shall be held, which date shall be within the ten-day period of suspension imposed by the principal.
• (f)  The county board shall hold the scheduled hearing to determine if the student should be reinstated or should, under the provisions of this section, must be expelled from school. If the county board determines that the student should or must be expelled from school, it also may determine whether the student is a dangerous student pursuant to subsection (g) of this section. At this, or any hearing before a county board conducted pursuant to this section, the student may be represented by counsel, may call his or her own witnesses to verify his or her version of the incident and may confront and cross examine witnesses supporting the charge against him or her. The hearing shall be recorded by mechanical means unless recorded by a certified court reporter. The hearing may be postponed for good cause shown by the student but he or she shall remain under suspension until after the hearing. The state board may adopt other supplementary rules of procedure to be followed in these hearings. At the conclusion of the hearing the county board shall either: (1) Order the student reinstated immediately at the end of his or her initial suspension; (2) suspend the student for a further designated number of days; or (3) expel the student from the public schools of the county.
• (g)  A county board that did not intend prior to a hearing to assert a dangerous student claim, that did not notify the student prior to the hearing that a dangerous student determination would be considered and that determines through the course of the hearing that the student may be a dangerous student shall schedule a second hearing within ten days to decide the issue. The hearing may be postponed for good cause shown by the student, but he or she remains under suspension until after the hearing.
• A county board that expels a student, and finds that the student is a dangerous student, may refuse to provide alternative education. However, after a hearing conducted pursuant to this section for determining whether a student is a dangerous student, when the student is found to be a dangerous student, is expelled and is denied alternative education, a hearing shall be conducted within three months after the refusal by the board to provide alternative education to reexamine whether or not the student remains a dangerous student and whether the student shall be provided alternative education. Thereafter, a hearing for the purpose of reexamining whether or not the student remains a dangerous student and whether the student shall be provided alternative education shall be conducted every three months for so long as the student remains a dangerous student and is denied alternative education. During the initial hearing, or in any subsequent hearing, the board may consider the history of the student’s conduct as well as any improvements made subsequent to the expulsion. If it is determined during any of the hearings that the student is no longer a dangerous student or should be provided alternative education, the student shall be provided alternative education during the remainder of the expulsion period.