Minnesota Legislature
HF 1233
as introduced - 89th Legislature (2015 - 2016) Posted on 04/25/2015 05:55pm
Current Version - as introduced
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A bill for an act
relating to education; modifying certain student discipline provisions; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2014, sections 121A.45, subdivision 3; 121A.46, by adding a
subdivision; 121A.53; 121A.55; 121A.575; 121A.61, subdivision 3; 121A.67, by
adding a subdivision.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1.
Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 121A.45, subdivision 3, is amended to read:
Subd. 3.
Parent notification and meeting.
If a pupil's total days of removal
from school exceeds ten cumulative days in a school year, the school district shall make
reasonable attempts to convene a meeting with the pupil and the pupil's parent or guardian
before subsequently removing the pupil from school and, with the permission of the
parent or guardian, arrange for a mental health screening new text begin or initial special education
evaluation new text end for the pupil. The district is not required to pay for the mental health screeningnew text begin ,
but is required to pay for the special education evaluation when deemed necessarynew text end . The
purpose of this meeting is to attempt to determine the pupil's need for assessment or other
services or whether the parent or guardian should have the pupil assessed or diagnosed to
determine whether the pupil needs treatment for a mental health disorder.
Sec. 2.
Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 121A.46, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:
new text begin Subd. 5. new text end
new text begin Suspensions prohibited for young children. new text end
new text begin
School administrations shall
not suspend students in prekindergarten through grade 3. Alternatives to pupil suspension
under section 121A.575 shall be used.
new text end
Sec. 3.
Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 121A.53, is amended to read:
121A.53 REPORT TO COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION.
Subdivision 1.
Exclusions and expulsions.
The school board must report through
the department electronic reporting system each exclusion deleted text begin ordeleted text end new text begin ,new text end expulsionnew text begin , and agreement of
parents to withdraw a child from school as an alternative to expulsionnew text end within 30 days of
the effective date of the action to the commissioner of education. This report must include
a statement of alternative educational services given the pupil and the reason for, the
effective date, and the duration of the exclusion or expulsion. The report must also include
the student's age, grade, gender, race, and special education status.
Subd. 2.
Report.
The school board must include state student identification numbers
of affected pupils on all dismissal reports required by the department. The department
must report annually to the commissioner summary data on the number of dismissalsnew text begin ,
including early dismissals,new text end by age, grade, gender, race, and special education status of the
affected pupils. All dismissal reports must be submitted through the department electronic
reporting system.new text begin The school board must also provide this summary data at the school
level on the district Web site, except when doing so would unreasonably risk exposing
student's personal identifiable information.
new text end
Sec. 4.
Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 121A.55, is amended to read:
121A.55 POLICIES TO BE ESTABLISHED.
(a) The commissioner of education shall promulgate guidelines to assist each school
board. Each school board shall establish uniform criteria for dismissal and adopt written
policies and rules to effectuate the purposes of sections 121A.40 to 121A.56. The policies
shall emphasize preventing dismissals through early detection of problems deleted text begin and shalldeleted text end new text begin ;
avoid using suspension and expulsion from school as a consequence until alternatives have
been tried under section 121A.575;new text end be designed to deleted text begin addressdeleted text end new text begin preventnew text end students' inappropriate
behavior from recurringnew text begin ; and include strategies to reengage the student in learningnew text end . The
policies shall recognize the continuing responsibility of the school for the education of
the pupil during the dismissal period. The alternative educational servicesdeleted text begin , if the pupil
wishes to take advantage of them,deleted text end must be adequate to allow the pupil to make progress
towards meeting the graduation standards adopted under section 120B.02 and help prepare
the pupil for readmission.
(b) An area learning center under section 123A.05 may not prohibit an expelled or
excluded pupil from enrolling solely because a district expelled or excluded the pupil. The
board of the area learning center may use the provisions of the Pupil Fair Dismissal Act to
exclude a pupil or to require an admission plan.
(c) Each school district shall develop a policy and report it to the commissioner on
the appropriate use of peace officers and crisis teams to remove students who have an
individualized education program from school grounds.
Sec. 5.
Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 121A.575, is amended to read:
121A.575 ALTERNATIVES TO PUPIL SUSPENSION.
Notwithstanding any law to the contrary and in accordance with sections 121A.40
to 121A.56, after a school administration notifies a pupil of the grounds for suspension,
the school administration may, instead of imposing the suspension, do one or more of
the following:
deleted text begin
(1) strongly encourage a parent or guardian of the pupil to attend school with the
pupil for one day;
deleted text end
deleted text begin
(2) assign the pupil to attend school on Saturday as supervised by the principal
or the principal's designee; and
deleted text end
deleted text begin
(3) petition the juvenile court that the student is in need of services under chapter
260C.
deleted text end
new text begin
(1) implement an alternate restorative consequence such as restitution, community
service, or circle of support;
new text end
new text begin
(2) impose an in-school suspension;
new text end
new text begin
(3) develop a positive behavior intervention plan based on a functional behavioral
assessment; or
new text end
new text begin
(4) coordinate crisis services to the extent funds are available with the county board
responsible for implementing sections 245.487 to 245.4889 for students with a serious
emotional disturbance or other students who have an individualized education program or
504 plan whose behavior may be addressed by crisis intervention.
new text end
Sec. 6.
Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 121A.61, subdivision 3, is amended to read:
Subd. 3.
Policy components.
The policy must include at least the following
components:
(a) rules governing student conduct and procedures for informing students of the
rules;
(b) the grounds for removal of a student from a class;
(c) the authority of the classroom teacher to remove students from the classroom
pursuant to procedures and rules established in the district's policy;
(d) the procedures for removal of a student from a class by a teacher, school
administrator, or other school district employee;
(e) the period of time for which a student may be removed from a class, which may
not exceed five class periods for a violation of a rule of conduct;
(f) provisions relating to the responsibility for and custody of a student removed
from a class;
(g) the procedures for return of a student to the specified class from which the
student has been removed;
(h) the procedures for notifying a student and the student's parents or guardian of
violations of the rules of conduct and of resulting disciplinary actions;
(i) any procedures determined appropriate for encouraging early involvement of
parents or guardians in attempts to improve a student's behavior;
(j) any procedures determined appropriate for encouraging early detection of
behavioral problems;
(k) any procedures determined appropriate for referring a student in need of special
education services to those services;
(1) the procedures for consideration of whether there is a need for a further
assessment or of whether there is a need for a review of the adequacy of a current
individualized education program of a student with a disability who is removed from class;
(m) procedures for detecting and addressing chemical abuse problems of a student
while on the school premises;
(n) the minimum consequences for violations of the code of conduct;
(o) procedures for immediate and appropriate interventions tied to violations of
the code;
(p) a provision that states that a teacher, school employee, school bus driver, or
other agent of a district may use reasonable force in compliance with section 121A.582
and other laws; and
(q) an agreement regarding procedures to coordinate crisis servicesnew text begin , including the
use of mobile crisis response teams,new text end to the extent funds are available with the county board
responsible for implementing sections 245.487 to 245.4889 for students with a serious
emotional disturbance or other students who have an individualized education program
whose behavior may be addressed by crisis intervention.
Sec. 7.
Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 121A.67, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:
new text begin Subd. 3. new text end
new text begin Notification of parents. new text end
new text begin
A school administrator must immediately contact
the parent of any student who is removed from a classroom, school building, or school
grounds by a peace officer.
new text end