(2) Safe school plan. In order to provide a learning environment that is safe, conducive to the learning process, and free from unnecessary disruption, each school district board of education or institute charter school board for a charter school authorized by the charter school institute shall, following consultation with the school district accountability committee and school accountability committees, parents, teachers, administrators, students, student councils where available, and, where appropriate, the community at large, adopt and implement a safe school plan, or review and revise, as necessary in response to any relevant data collected by the school district, any existing plans or policies already in effect. In addition to the aforementioned parties, each school district board of education, in adopting and implementing its safe school plan, may consult with victims' advocacy organizations, school psychologists, local law enforcement, and community partners. The plan, at a minimum, must include the following:

*(a) Conduct and discipline code. (I) [Editor's note: This version of the introductory portion to subsection (2)(a)(I) is effective July 1, 2020.] A concisely written conduct and discipline code that shall be enforced uniformly, fairly, and consistently for all students. Copies of the code shall be provided to each student upon enrollment at the preschool, elementary, middle, and high school levels and shall be posted or kept on file at each public school in the school district. The school district shall take reasonable measures to ensure that each student of each public school in the school district is familiar with the code. The code shall include, but need not be limited to:

• (A) General policies on student conduct, safety, and welfare;

• (B) General policies and procedures for dealing with students who cause a disruption on school grounds, in a school vehicle, or at a school activity or sanctioned event, including a specific policy allowing a teacher to remove a disruptive student from his or her classroom. The policy shall state that, upon the third such removal from a teacher's class, the teacher may remove the disruptive student from the teacher's class for the remainder of the term of the class; except that a disruptive student shall not be removed from a teacher's class for the remainder of the term of the class unless the principal of the student's school or his or her designee has developed and implemented a behavior plan for the student. A behavior plan may be developed after the first such removal from class and shall be developed after the second removal from class. The general policies and procedures shall include a due process procedure, which at a minimum shall require that, as soon as possible after a removal, the teacher or the school principal shall contact the parent or legal guardian of the student to request his or her attendance at a student-teacher conference regarding the removal. Any policy or procedure adopted shall comply with applicable federal and state laws, including but not limited to laws regarding students with disabilities.

• (C) Provisions for the initiation of suspension or expulsion proceedings for students who qualify as habitually disruptive students; ...

(II) [Editor's note: This version of the introductory portion to subsection (2)(a)(II) is effective July 1, 2020.]

• In creating and enforcing a school conduct and discipline code pursuant to subsection (2)(a)(I) of this section, each school district board of education, on and after August 1, 2013, shall:

• (A) Impose proportionate disciplinary interventions and consequences, including but not limited to in-school suspensions, in response to student misconduct, which interventions and consequences are designed to reduce the number of expulsions, out-of-school suspensions, and referrals to law enforcement, except for such referrals to law enforcement as are required by state or federal law;

• (B) Include plans for the appropriate use of prevention, intervention, restorative justice, peer mediation, counseling, or other approaches to address student misconduct, which approaches are designed to minimize student exposure to the criminal and juvenile justice system. The plans shall state that a school administration shall not order a victim's participation in a restorative justice practice or peer mediation if the alleged victim of an offending student's misconduct alleges that the misconduct constitutes unlawful sexual behavior, as defined in section 16-22-102 (9), C.R.S.; a crime in which the underlying factual basis involves domestic violence, as defined in section 18-6-800.3 (1), C.R.S.; stalking as defined in section 18-3-602, C.R.S.; or violation of a protection order, as defined in section 18-6-803.5, C.R.S.; [...]

(A) Impose proportionate disciplinary interventions and consequences, including but not limited to in-school suspensions, in response to student misconduct, which interventions and consequences are designed to reduce the number of expulsions, out-of-school suspensions, and referrals to law enforcement, except for such referrals to law enforcement as are required by state or federal law

… (1.2) Each school district is encouraged to consider each of the following factors before suspending or expelling a student pursuant to a provision of subsection (1) of this section:

• (a) The age of the student;

• (b) The disciplinary history of the student;

• (c) Whether the student has a disability;

• (d) The seriousness of the violation committed by the student;

• (e) Whether the violation committed by the student threatened the safety of any student or staff member; and

• (f) Whether a lesser intervention would properly address the violation committed by the student. ...

(2) Notwithstanding any provision of this article 33 to the contrary, an enrolling entity may impose an out-of-school suspension or expel a student enrolled in preschool, kindergarten, first grade, or second grade only if:

• (a) The enrolling entity determines that the student has engaged in conduct on school grounds, in a school vehicle, or at a school activity or sanctioned event that:

• (I) Involves the possession of a dangerous weapon without the authorization of the public school or enrolling entity, if different;

• (II) Involves the use, possession, or sale of a drug or controlled substance, as defined in section 18-18-102 (5); or

• (III) Endangers the health or safety of others;

• (b) The enrolling entity determines that failure to remove the student from the school building would create a safety threat that cannot otherwise be addressed; and

• (c) The enrolling entity, on a case-by-case basis, considers each of the factors set forth in section 22-33-106 (1.2) before suspending or expelling the student. The enrolling entity shall document any alternative behavioral and disciplinary interventions that it employs before suspending or expelling the student.

(3) If an enrolling entity imposes an out-of-school suspension on a student who meets the criteria specified in subsection (2) of this section, the out-of-school suspension shall not exceed three school days unless the executive officer or chief administrative officer of the enrolling entity, or designee of either, determines that a longer period of suspension is necessary to resolve the safety threat or recommends that the student be expelled in accordance with section 22-33-105 (2)(c).

The general assembly hereby finds that except when a student's behavior would cause imminent harm to others in the school or when an incident requires automatic expulsion as defined by state law or a school's conduct and discipline code, expulsion should be the last step taken after several attempts to deal with a student who has discipline problems. The general assembly further finds that school districts should work with the student's parent or guardian and with state agencies and community-based nonprofit organizations to develop alternatives to help students who are at risk of expulsion before expulsion becomes a necessary step and to support students who are unable to avoid expulsion.