1999 Minnesota Statutes

     121A.61 Discipline and removal of students from class. 

    Subdivision 1.    Required policy.  Each school board 
 must adopt a written districtwide school discipline policy which 
 includes written rules of conduct for students, minimum 
 consequences for violations of the rules, and grounds and 
 procedures for removal of a student from class.  The policy must 
 be developed in consultation with administrators, teachers, 
 employees, pupils, parents, community members, law enforcement 
 agencies, county attorney offices, social service agencies, and 
 such other individuals or organizations as the board determines 
 appropriate.  A school site council may adopt additional 
 provisions to the policy subject to the approval of the school 
 board. 

    Subd. 2.    Grounds for removal from class.  The policy 
 must establish the various grounds for which a student may be 
 removed from a class in the district for a period of time 
 pursuant to the procedures specified in the policy.  The grounds 
 in the policy must include at least the following provisions as 
 well as other grounds determined appropriate by the board:  

    (a) willful conduct which materially and substantially 
 disrupts the rights of others to an education; 

    (b) willful conduct which endangers school district 
 employees, the student or other students, or the property of the 
 school; and 

    (c) willful violation of any rule of conduct specified in 
 the discipline policy adopted by the board.  

    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 individual education plan 
 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; and 

    (o) procedures for immediate and appropriate interventions 
 tied to violations of the code.  

    HIST: 1983 c 163 s 3; 1987 c 295 s 5; 1991 c 265 art 3 s 38; 
 1Sp1995 c 3 art 9 s 32; 1998 c 397 art 9 s 14,26; 1999 c 241 art 
 9 s 5