SF 2044 (LSB 5879XS (3) 91)

SENATE FILE 2044

BY  GRUENHAGEN

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the responsibilities of school districts and charter schools related to the discipline of students who cause violent or nonviolent disruptions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 256.9, subsection 68, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   68.  Develop and distribute to school districts and charter schools model policies that, if adopted by a school district or charter school, would satisfy the school district’s or charter school’s responsibilities under section 279.65A relating to the discipline of a student for making a threat of violence or causing an incident of violence that results in injury or property damage or assault causing a violent or nonviolent disruption.
    Sec. 2.  Section 256E.7, subsection 2, paragraph m, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   m.  Be subject to and comply with the requirements of section 279.65A relating to the adoption of policies related to the discipline of a student for making a threat of violence or causing an incident of violence that results in injury or property damage or assault who causes a violent or nonviolent disruption in the same manner as a school district.
    Sec. 3.  Section 279.65A, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   279.65A  Discipline of students who make threats of violence or cause incidents of violence cause violent or nonviolent disruptions —— teacher authority.
   1.  The board of directors of each school district shall adopt, in collaboration with teachers and administrative staff employed by the school district, policies for different grade levels that describe how a school district may discipline a student for making a threat of violence or causing an incident of violence that results in injury or property damage or assault causing a violent disruption or nonviolent disruption. All of the following shall apply to the policies:
   1.  a.  The policies must incorporate strategies that are designed to correct the student’s behavior.
   2.  b.  The policies must provide for parent or guardian conferences, counseling sessions, or mental health counseling sessions, when appropriate. The policies must provide that the school district must receive the prior written consent of the student’s parent or guardian before requiring the student to participate in a counseling session or a mental health counseling session. 
   3.  c.  The policies must be consistent with the all of the following:
   (1)  The provisions of chapter 256B, the and the administrative rules adopted by the state board for purposes of chapter 256B, the federal.
   (2)  The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §1400 et seq., and the federal.
   (3)  The federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended and codified in 29 U.S.C. §701 et seq.
   (4)  The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. §1232g et seq.
   (5)  The federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. §12101 et seq.
   4.  d.  The policies must provide for escalating levels of discipline each time the student makes a threat of violence or causes an incident of violence that results in injury or property damage or assault causes a violent disruption or nonviolent disruption.
   5.  e.  The policies must allow for the school district to select the level of discipline that the school district determines corresponds to the severity of the threat of violence or incident of violence violent disruption or nonviolent disruption.
   6.  f.  The policies must allow the school district to suspend the student, permanently remove the student from a particular class, expel the student, or place the student in an alternative learning environment, including a therapeutic classroom, when appropriate.
   7.  g.  The policies must require an individualized education program meeting if the student who made the threat of violence or caused the incident of violence that resulted in injury or property damage or assault caused a violent disruption or nonviolent disruption, or who was removed from the classroom pursuant to this subsection, has an individualized education program.
   h.  (1)  The policies must require each attendance center within the school district to create a placement review committee that is responsible for determining when a student who was removed from a classroom pursuant to paragraph “i” or “j” may return to the classroom.
   (2)  The placement review committee must consist of all of the following members:
   (a)  Two teachers who work in the attendance center and who must be selected by the teachers of the attendance center.
   (b)  One professional staff member who works in the attendance center and who must be selected by the principal of the attendance center.
   i.  (1)  (a)  The policies must authorize a teacher to remove a student who causes a nonviolent disruption from the teacher’s classroom and place the student under the supervision of the principal of the attendance center in which the classroom is located, or the principal’s designee, for at least thirty minutes, as determined by the principal or the principal’s designee in accordance with the policies.
   (b)  The policies must prohibit the principal, or the principal’s designee, from returning a student who is removed from the classroom pursuant to subparagraph division (a) to the teacher’s classroom without the teacher’s consent, unless the placement review committee determines that the student should be returned to the classroom pursuant to paragraph “h”, subparagraph (1).
   (c)  The policies must require the principal, or the principal’s designee, to inform the teacher of the disciplinary actions taken against the student removed from the classroom pursuant to subparagraph division (a) as soon as is reasonably possible after the student’s removal.
   (d)  The policies must require a student who is removed from the classroom pursuant to subparagraph division (a) to make up any work that the student missed while the student was under the supervision of the principal or the principal’s designee.
   (2)  The policies must require that, if a student is removed from a teacher’s classroom pursuant to subparagraph (1), subparagraph division (a), more than once in one school year, the teacher or teachers who removed the student from the classroom; the principal of the attendance center in which the classroom or classrooms are located; a qualified guidance counselor licensed by the board of educational examiners under chapter 256, subchapter VII, part 3; the student’s parent or legal guardian, if the student is not an emancipated minor; and the student shall participate in a meeting to discuss the student’s nonviolent disruptions and to establish a behavioral plan and a course of discipline to correct the student’s behavior, which may include placement in an alternative learning environment, including a therapeutic classroom, when appropriate.
   j.  (1)  The policies must require a teacher to remove a student who causes a violent disruption from the teacher’s classroom and place the student under the supervision of the principal of the attendance center in which the classroom is located, or the principal’s designee.
   (2)  (a)  The policies must prohibit the principal, or the principal’s designee, from returning a student who is removed from the classroom pursuant to subparagraph (1) to the teacher’s classroom without the teacher’s consent, unless the placement review committee determines that the student should be returned to the classroom pursuant to paragraph “h”, subparagraph (1).
   (b)  Notwithstanding paragraph “h”, subparagraph (1), and subparagraph division (a), the policies must provide that the placement review committee shall not have the authority to require a student to return to a teacher’s classroom if all of the following criteria are satisfied:
   (i)  The teacher removed the student from the teacher’s classroom because the student caused a violent disruption that included the student assaulting the teacher.
   (ii)  The teacher does not consent to allowing the student to return to the teacher’s classroom.
   (3)  The policies must require that a student removed from the classroom pursuant to this paragraph be suspended, expelled, or placed in an alternative learning environment, including a therapeutic classroom, when appropriate, as determined by the principal of the attendance center in which the classroom is located in accordance with the policies.
   8.  k.  The policies must be published on the school district’s internet site and in applicable student handbooks.
   2.  For purposes of this section:
   a.  “Nonviolent disruption” includes but is not limited to a disruption to classroom instruction that is a result of any of the following:
   (1)  Disorderly conduct.
   (2)  Abusive or profane language.
   (3)  Bullying, as defined under section 280.28.
   (4)  Repeatedly disruptive behavior.
   b.  “Violent disruption” includes but is not limited to a disruption to classroom instruction that is a result of a threat of violence or an incident of violence that results in any of the following:
   (1)  Injury.
   (2)  Property damage.
   (3)  Assault, as defined under section 708.1.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to the responsibilities of school districts and charter schools related to the discipline of students who cause violent or nonviolent disruptions.
   Current Code section 279.65A requires school districts and, through current Code section 256E.7(2)(m), charter schools, to adopt, in collaboration with teachers and administrative staff employed by the school, policies for different grade levels that describe how a school may discipline a student for making a threat of violence or causing an incident of violence that results in injury or property damage or assault. Current Code section 279.65A establishes requirements related to the policies.
   The bill modifies Code section 279.65A to require school districts and charter schools to adopt, in collaboration with teachers and administrative staff employed by the school, policies for different grade levels that describe how a school may discipline a student for causing a violent disruption or nonviolent disruption. The bill defines “nonviolent disruption” to include a disruption to classroom instruction that is a result of disorderly conduct, abusive or profane language, bullying, or repeatedly disruptive behavior. The bill defines “violent disruption” to include a disruption to classroom instruction that is a result of a threat of violence or an incident of violence that results in injury, property damage, or assault.
   The policies must be consistent with the provisions of Code chapter 256B (special education) and rules adopted by the state board of education for purposes of Code chapter 256B and with certain specified federal laws.
   The policies must require each attendance center within the school district to create a placement review committee that is responsible for determining when a student who was removed from the classroom pursuant to the bill’s provisions may return to the classroom. The bill establishes the membership of the placement review committee.
   The policies must authorize a teacher to remove a student who causes a nonviolent disruption from the teacher’s classroom and place the student under the supervision of the principal for at least 30 minutes. A student who is removed from the classroom pursuant to this provision is required to make up any work that the student missed while the student was under the supervision of the principal. In addition, the policies must prohibit the principal from returning a student who is removed from the classroom to the teacher’s classroom without the teacher’s consent, unless the placement review committee determines that the student should be returned to the classroom. The policies must also require the principal to inform the teacher of the disciplinary actions taken against the student who was removed from the classroom as soon as is reasonably possible after the student’s removal. The policies must require that if a student is removed from the classroom more than once in one school year, the teacher, a qualified guidance counselor, the student’s parent or legal guardian, if the student is not an emancipated minor, and the student are required to participate in a meeting to discuss the student’s nonviolent disruptions and to establish a behavioral plan and a course of discipline to correct the student’s behavior, which may include placement in an alternative learning environment.
   The policies must require a teacher to remove a student who causes a violent disruption from the teacher’s classroom and place the student under the supervision of the principal. The policies must prohibit the principal from returning a student who is removed from the classroom pursuant to this provision to the teacher’s classroom without the teacher’s consent, unless the placement review committee determines that the student should be returned to the classroom. However, the placement review committee shall not have the authority to require a student to return to a teacher’s classroom if the teacher removed the student from the teacher’s classroom because the student caused a violent disruption that included the student assaulting the teacher, and the teacher does not consent to allowing the student to return to the teacher’s classroom. The policies must require that a student removed from the classroom pursuant to this provision be suspended, expelled, or placed in an alternative learning environment.
   The bill makes conforming changes.