Student+discipline,+teacher+authority

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APOLOGIES AND FORCED SPEECH
(__Teen Rights - and Responsibilities - 2nd edition__, p. 8) "Another side to this coin is whether the school district can force a student to say certain things when the student chooses not to. Sometimes, they can.

In Kicklighter v. Evans County School District, Crystal Kicklighter was a student at Claxton High School. She got into an argument with another student before English class started. The teacher heard the argument and told Crystal she. could not continue. tomake "off-color remarks." Crystal told her teacher to " ... check the DeClaration of Independence," particularly the section on free speech. The teacher told Crystal to find a seat. When she did not, the teacher sent her to the office. The student ended up being required to apologize to the entire English class and serve a five-day suspension. Crystal served the suspension but never apologized.

The principal considered the apology an important part of the discipline imposed, and he ended up having Crystal escorted from the school by the police because she refused to apologize. Ultimately, she left the school permanently and filed a lawsuit.

Crystal came up with an interesting argument for her trial. She said that making her apologize would mean that she felt sorry, and that feeling sorry was a personal belief and individual thought that should be protected by the First Amendment. However, this court's opinion was that the students in school do not have the same degree of wide freedom that adults have. The judge said that the school dis­trict did have the authority to make Crystal apologize.

Another issue Crystal used to try to win her case was It claim that the school district was retaliating against her because she was white and was expecting a child with a fellow student who was black. The judge did agree that dating was an activity that was protected by the constitutional right to free association, but did not find any evidence to support Crystal's claim that the school was punishing her for her choice to date the black student. The judge based his decision partly on the fact that the school could show valid reasons to discipline Crystal that had nothing to do with her pregnancy."

[|Florida Statutes]
1003.32 Authority of teacher; responsibility for control of students; district school board and principal duties.--Subject to law and to the rules of the district school board, each teacher or other member of the staff of any school shall have such authority for the control and discipline of students as may be assigned to him or her by the principal or the principal's designated representative and shall keep good order in the classroom and in other places in which he or she is assigned to be in charge of students. (1) In accordance with this section and within the framework of the district school board's code of student conduct, teachers and other instructional personnel shall have the authority to undertake any of the following actions in managing student behavior and ensuring the safety of all students in their classes and school and their opportunity to learn in an orderly and disciplined classroom: (a) Establish classroom rules of conduct. (b) Establish and implement consequences, designed to change behavior, for infractions of classroom rules. (c) Have disobedient, disrespectful, violent, abusive, uncontrollable, or disruptive students removed from the classroom for behavior management intervention. (d) Have violent, abusive, uncontrollable, or disruptive students directed for information or assistance from appropriate school or district school board personnel. (e) Assist in enforcing school rules on school property, during school-sponsored transportation, and during school-sponsored activities. (f) Request and receive information as to the disposition of any referrals to the administration for violation of classroom or school rules. (g) Request and receive immediate assistance in classroom management if a student becomes uncontrollable or in case of emergency. (h) Request and receive training and other assistance to improve skills in classroom management, violence prevention, conflict resolution, and related areas. (i) Press charges if there is a reason to believe that a crime has been committed on school property, during school-sponsored transportation, or during school-sponsored activities. (j) Use reasonable force, according to standards adopted by the State Board of Education, to protect himself or herself or others from injury. (2) Teachers and other instructional personnel shall: (a) Set and enforce reasonable classroom rules that treat all students equitably. (b) Seek professional development to improve classroom management skills when data show that they are not effective in handling minor classroom disruptions. (c) Maintain an orderly and disciplined classroom with a positive and effective learning environment that maximizes learning and minimizes disruption. (d) Work with parents and other school personnel to solve discipline problems in their classrooms. (3) A teacher may send a student to the principal's office to maintain effective discipline in the classroom and may recommend an appropriate consequence consistent with the student code of conduct under s. 1006.07. <[|__http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch1006/Sec07.HTM__]> The principal shall respond by employing the teacher's recommended consequence or a more serious disciplinary action if the student's history of disruptive behavior warrants it. If the principal determines that a lesser disciplinary action is appropriate, the principal should consult with the teacher prior to taking disciplinary action. (4) A teacher may remove from class a student whose behavior the teacher determines 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. Each district school board, each district school superintendent, and each school principal shall support the authority of teachers to remove disobedient, violent, abusive, uncontrollable, or disruptive students from the classroom. (5) If a teacher removes a student from class under subsection (4), the principal may place the student in another appropriate classroom, in in-school suspension, or in a dropout prevention and academic intervention program as provided by s. 1003.53 <[|__http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch1003/Sec53.HTM__]> ; or the principal may recommend the student for out-of-school suspension or expulsion, as appropriate. The student may be prohibited from attending or participating in school-sponsored or school-related activities. **The principal may not return the student to that teacher's class without the teacher's consent unless the committee established under subsection (6) determines that such placement is the best or only available alternative.** The teacher and the placement review committee must render decisions within 5 days of the removal of the student from the classroom. (6)(a) Each school shall establish a placement review committee to determine placement of a student when a teacher withholds consent to the return of a student to the teacher's class. A school principal must notify each teacher in that school about the availability, the procedures, and the criteria for the placement review committee as outlined in this section. (b) The principal must report on a quarterly basis to the district school superintendent and district school board each incidence of a teacher's withholding consent for a removed student to return to the teacher's class and the disposition of the incident, and the superintendent must annually report these data to the department. (c) The Commissioner of Education shall annually review each school district's compliance with this section, and success in achieving orderly classrooms, and shall use all appropriate enforcement actions up to and including the withholding of disbursements from the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund until full compliance is verified. (d) Placement review committee membership must include at least the following: 1. Two teachers, one selected by the school's faculty and one selected by the teacher who has removed the student. 2. One member from the school's staff who is selected by the principal. The teacher who withheld consent to readmitting the student may not serve on the committee. The teacher and the placement review committee must render decisions within 5 days after the removal of the student from the classroom. If the placement review committee's decision is contrary to the decision of the teacher to withhold consent to the return of the removed student to the teacher's class, the teacher may appeal the committee's decision to the district school superintendent. (7) Any teacher who removes 25 percent of his or her total class enrollment shall be required to complete professional development to improve classroom management skills. (8) Each teacher or other member of the staff of any school who knows or has reason to suspect that any person has committed, or has made a credible threat to commit, a crime of violence on school property shall report such knowledge or suspicion in accordance with the provisions of s. 1006.13. <[|__http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch1006/Sec13.HTM__]> Each district school superintendent and each school principal shall fully support good faith reporting in accordance with the provisions of this subsection and s. 1006.13. <[|__http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch1006/Sec13.HTM__]> Any person who makes a report required by this subsection in good faith shall be immune from civil or criminal liability for making the report. (9) When knowledgeable of the likely risk of physical violence in the schools, the district school board shall take reasonable steps to ensure that teachers, other school staff, and students are not at undue risk of violence or harm.

[|United Teachers of Dade Contract], p. 16
E. The teacher shall have the authority to remove a seriously disruptive student from the classroom. In such cases, the principal or designee shall be notified immediately and the teacher shall be entitled to receive, prior to or upon the student's return to the classroom, a copy of the Student Case Management Form (SCAM) describing corrective action(s) taken.

[|MDCPS Code of Student Conduct]
Board Rule 6Gx13- 5D-1.081 2007-2008



TEMPORARY REMOVAL FROM CLASS If a student is disruptive in class, the teacher may request assistance from a school administrator to have the student temporarily assigned elsewhere. The principal may utilize various Board-approved programs to address the student’s behavior. The principal should consider the teacher’s recommendations.

PERMANENT REMOVAL FROM CLASS A teacher may remove from class a student whose behavior the teacher determines 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. This includes disobedient, violent, abusive, uncontrollable, or disruptive students. In such cases the principal shall be notified immediately and the teacher shall be entitled to receive, prior to or upon return of the student to class, a copy of the Student Case Management Form (SCM) describing corrective strategies taken.

Each school must establish a Placement Review Committee to determine appropriate placement of the student when the teacher has withheld consent for return to the teacher’s class. The committee consists of at least two teachers, one selected by the faculty and one selected by the teacher who has removed the student, along with one member from the school’s staff selected by the principal. The teacher who requested the removal may not serve on the committee. The parent/guardian of the student must be informed of the Placement Review Committee and be provided the opportunity to communicate with the committee on behalf of the student. The committee must render a decision within 5 days after the removal of the student from the classroom and may either: (1) place the student in another class, or (2) return the student to the teacher’s class. The teacher may appeal the committee’s decision to the Superintendent.

In the case of a student with a disability, the Individual Educational Plan (IEP) committee may need to determine appropriate placement. Removal from a particular class should not effectuate a denial of IEP or Limited English Proficient (LEP) services.