Definitions
School-Based
Interventions
School-based
interventions or discipline may be used informally or formally. In
either case, the student continues to attend school and completes
class work.
Informal
use includes interventions for minor violations of
classroom rules and less serious violations of school rules that
are handled with minor, usually short, corrective action. They are
the sort of interventions that a prudent adult would use to
instruct children in appropriate behavior, and they usually are
closely related to the specific student behavior. Examples of informal
interventions are sending a student to the end of the line for
crowding, losing a recess for classroom misbehavior, having a short
time-out at recess for unsafe recess behavior, staying briefly
after class to complete an assignment, losing a privilege for a
short time for misusing the privilege, having a brief conversation
about the inappropriate student behavior with the teacher,
principal or other staff member, etc.
Parents
may or may not be informed about informal discipline, if the
incident was minor, occurred only once, and the student does not
repeat the behavior.
Formal
use occurs when a school-based discipline is used
for a first violation of a District Offense. Engaging in repeatedly
recurring minor behavior may cause a student to be disciplined more
formally, also. Examples of formal school-based interventions
usually involve stronger limitations on students, such as lunchroom
cleanup, sitting at a special table during lunchtime, staying after
school, going to a detention room, attending Saturday School,
participating in a school-sponsored behavior class, losing a major
privilege, etc. Formal school-based interventions may include the
parent coming to school for a conference with their child and an
administrator.
Formal
use for a school-based intervention must be treated by the school
with the same formality as a short-term suspension, including
contacting parents/guardians by telephone and sending home a Notice
of Disciplinary Action form with the reason for the school-based
discipline explained. The school-based discipline must be recorded
in the student's computer discipline record. Parents/ guardians may
appeal formal school-based discipline by requesting an informal
grievance conference with the principal.
Short-Term
Suspension
A short-term suspension
is any length of time from one (1) day up to ten (10) days. The
student may not attend school, may not participate in any school
activities either at school or at any other location (such as a
game or a dance), and may not trespass on any school property
during that period of time. At the end of the short-term
suspension, the student returns to the same school from which
he/she was suspended.
The student has the
right to request homework during this time period, but since he/she
cannot trespass at school to get it, the parent will need to make
arrangements to pick it up and return the completed
assignments.
The student or
parent/guardian has up to two (2) days to appeal the expulsion to
the principal if he/she believes that the student did not do the
behavior being disciplined or if he/she believes that the
administrator did not follow standard discipline for the offense.
To appeal, call the school for an appointment with the principal
for a “Step 1 Grievance meeting”.
Long-term
Suspension
A long-term suspension
may be for any period of time from eleven (11) days up through the
end of the semester. The student may not attend school, participate
in any school activities either at school or at any other location
(such as a game or a dance), or trespass on any school property
during that period of time.
To avoid losing
credit, the student will have to complete the remainder of the
semester by attending the Reentry Program. A long-term suspension
of 15 days or less is treated much like a short-term suspension and
the student merely stays home for the duration of the long-term
suspension. At the end of the long-term suspension, the student can
return to the same school that long-term suspended him/her. Contact
an Enrollment Center to arrange for your child to be assigned to a
school with a Reentry Program.
For long-term
suspensions of 15 days or less, the student has the right to
request homework, but since he/she cannot trespass at school to get
it, the parent will need to make arrangements to pick it up and
return the completed assignments.
The student or
parent/guardian has up to three (3) days to appeal the suspension
if he/she believes that the student did not do the behavior being
disciplined or if he/she believes that the administrator did not
follow standard discipline for the offense. To appeal, call the
Discipline Appeals Office at 252-0820.
Expulsion
An expulsion is a permanent removal from a given school. The
student can never attend this particular school again, although
he/she may be assigned to another Seattle Public School
later.
To avoid losing
credit, the student will have to complete the remainder of the
semester by attending the Reentry Program. When the student
completes the Reentry Program, he/she will be assigned to a
different school than the one that expelled him/her. Contact an
Enrollment Center have your child assigned to a school with a
Reentry Program.
The student or
parent/guardian has up to three (3) days to appeal the expulsion if
he/she believes that the student did not do the behavior being
disciplined or if he/she believes that the administrator did not
follow standard discipline for the offense. To appeal, call the
Discipline Appeals Office at 252-0820.
Emergency
Expulsion
An emergency expulsion means that school officials consider the
student’s behavior to be a continuing danger to
himself/herself or others, or his/her behavior is a continuing
disruption to the educational process.
The student may not go
to school at all until the discipline is changed to something else
or the emergency expulsion is removed completely. The student may
not participate in school activities or trespass on any school
property while emergency expelled. An emergency expulsion usually
lasts 10 days, but can be extended to the end of the semester if
the situation warrants it.
Normally, the
discipline of an emergency expulsion will be imposed at the same
time as a long-term suspension or an expulsion from school. If just
an emergency expulsion is marked on the Notice of Disciplinary
Action form, sometimes after investigating the student’s
behavior, the emergency expulsion will be changed to a short-term
suspension or be dropped completely.
If just an emergency
expulsion is marked on the Notice of Disciplinary Action form, the
student or parent/guardian has up to ten (10) days to appeal the
decision. However, if the emergency expulsion is listed along with
a long-term suspension or expulsion, the student or parent/guardian
has just three (3) days to appeal the decision. To appeal, call the
Discipline Appeals Office at 252-0820.
Emergency
Exclusion
Emergency Exclusion is
sometimes called a "Safety Exclusion" or an "Emergency Exclusion
for Safety Reasons". It may be linked with a disciplinary action or
may stand alone as a health and safety issue.
Emergency Exculsion is
an immediate removal from school that is authorized where there is
good and sufficient reason to believe that the student's presence
poses an immediate danger to the student, other students, or school
personnel, based on threatened behavior rather than past
behavior. This is used when there is reason to believe that the
student is suicidal, but may also be used when there is compelling
evidence that the student has made a credible threat of homicide,
assault, or sexual assault toward another person at school. An
emergency exclusion usually lasts 10 days, but can be shortened or
extended depending upon the situation and steps the school and
parents/guardians take to remove or manage the threat.
Students or
parent/guardians have the right to appeal an Emergency Exclusion
under the same conditions as an Emergency Expulsion is appealed.
The school must show that it has compelling evidence of a credible,
serious threat if an emergency exclusion is used. To appeal, call
the Discipline Appeals Office at 252-0820.
