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Students
Student Discipline (continued)

C.       Removal of Special Education Students for Certain Offenses:

1.       A responsible administrator may remove a student eligible for special education under the IDEA to an appropriate interim alternative educational setting for not more than forty-five (45) school days if the student:

a.       Was in possession of a dangerous weapon, as defined in 18 U.S.C. 930(g)(2), as amended from time to time, on school grounds, on school transportation, or at a school-sponsored activity, or

b.       Knowingly possessed or used illegal drugs or sold or solicited the sale of a controlled substance while at school, on school transportation, or at a school-sponsored activity; or

c.       Has inflicted serious bodily injury upon another person while at school, on school premises, on school transportation, or at a school function.

2.       The following definitions shall be used for this subsection XII.C.:

a.       Dangerous weapon means a weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, animate or inanimate, that is used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious bodily injury, except that such term does not include a pocket knife with a blade of less than 2.5 inches in length. 

b.       Controlled substance means a drug or other substance identified under schedules I, II, III, IV, or V in section 202(c) of the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. 812(c). 

c.       Illegal drug means a controlled substance but does not include a substance that is legally possessed or used under the supervision of a licensed health-care professional or that is legally possessed or used under any other authority under the Controlled Substances Act or under any other provision of federal law.

d.       Serious bodily injury means a bodily injury which involves: (A) a substantial risk of death; (B) extreme physical pain; (C) protracted and obvious disfigurement; or (D) protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty. 

 

XIII.   Procedures Governing Expulsions for Students Identified as Eligible under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (“Section 504”)

A.       Except as provided in subsection B below, notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, if the Administration recommends for expulsion a student identified as eligible for educational accommodations under Section 504 who has violated any rule or code of conduct of the District that applies to all students, the following procedures shall apply:

1.       The parents of the student must be notified of the decision to recommend the student for expulsion.

2.       The District shall immediately convene the student’s Section 504 team (“504 team”) for the purpose of reviewing the relationship between the student’s disability and the behavior that led to the recommendation for expulsion.  The 504 team will determine whether the student’s behavior was a manifestation of the student’s disability.

3.       If the 504 team finds that the behavior was a manifestation of the student’s disability, the Administration shall not proceed with the recommended expulsion. 

4.       If the 504 team finds that the behavior was not a manifestation of the student's disability, the Administration may proceed with the recommended expulsion.

B.       The Board may take disciplinary action for violations pertaining to the use or possession of illegal drugs or alcohol against any student with a disability who currently is engaging in the illegal use of drugs or alcohol to the same extent that such disciplinary action is taken against nondisabled students.  Thus, when a student with a disability is recommended for expulsion based solely on the illegal use or possession of drugs or alcohol, the 504 team shall not be required to meet to review the relationship between the student’s disability and the behavior that led to the recommendation for expulsion. 

 

XIV.    Procedures Governing Expulsions for Students Placed in a Juvenile Detention Center

          A.       Any student who commits an expellable offense and is subsequently placed in a juvenile detention center or any other residential placement for such offense may be expelled by the Board in accordance with the provisions of this section. The period of expulsion shall run concurrently with the period of placement in a juvenile detention center or other residential placement.

          B.       If a student who committed an expellable offense seeks to return to the District after participating in a diversionary program or having been placed in a juvenile detention center or any other residential placement and such student has not been expelled by the Board for such offense under subdivision (A) of this subsection, the Board shall allow such student to return and may not expel the student for additional time for such offense.

 

XV.     Early Readmission to School

An expelled student may apply for early readmission to school.  The Board delegates the authority to make decisions on readmission requests to the Superintendent.  Students desiring readmission to school shall direct such readmission requests to the Superintendent.  The Superintendent has the discretion to approve or deny such readmission requests, and may condition readmission on specified criteria. 

 

XVI.    Dissemination of Policy

          The District shall, at the beginning of each school year and at such other times as it may deem appropriate, provide for an effective means of informing all students, parent(s) and/or guardian(s) of this policy.

 

XVII.   Compliance with Documentation and Reporting Requirements

A.       The District shall include on all disciplinary reports the individual student’s state-assigned student identifier (SASID).

B.       The District shall report all suspensions and expulsions to the State Department of Education.

C.       If the Board expels a student for sale or distribution of a controlled substance, as defined in Conn. Gen. Stat. § 21a-240(9), whose manufacture, distribution, sale, prescription, dispensing, transporting or possessing with the intent to sell or dispense, offering, or administration is the subject to criminal penalties under Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 21a-277 and 21a-278, the District shall refer such student to an appropriate state or local agency for rehabilitation, intervention or job training and inform the agency of its action. 

D.       If the Board expels a student for possession of a firearm, as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 921, or deadly weapon, dangerous instrument or martial arts weapon, as defined in Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53a-3, the District shall report the violation to the local police.

 

Legal References:  Connecticut General Statutes:
 

§ 10-16 Length of school year

§ 10-74j Alternative education

§§ 4-176e through 4-180a and § 4-181a Uniform Administrative Procedures Act

§ 10-222d Safe school climate plans. Definitions.  Safe school climate assessments

§§ 10-233a through 10-233f Suspension and expulsion of students

§ 10-233l Expulsion and suspension of children in preschool programs

§ 10-253  School privileges for children in certain placements, nonresident children, children in temporary shelters, homeless children and children in juvenile detention     facilities. Liaison to facilitate transitions between school districts and juvenile and criminal justice systems.

§ 19a-342a Use of electronic nicotine delivery system or vapor product prohibited. Exceptions. Signage required. Penalties

§ 21a-240 Definitions

§ 21a-277 Penalty for illegal manufacture, distribution, sale, prescription, dispensing

§ 21a-278 Penalty for illegal manufacture, distribution, sale, prescription, or administration by non-drug-dependent person

§§ 21a-408a through 408p Palliative Use of Marijuana

§ 29-35 Carrying of pistol or revolver without permit prohibited. Exceptions

§ 29-38 Weapons in vehicles

§ 53a-3 Definitions

§ 53-206 Carrying of dangerous weapons prohibited

§ 53-344  Sale or delivery of cigarettes or tobacco products to persons under twenty-one.

§ 53-344b Sale and delivery of electronic nicotine delivery system or vapor products to persons under twenty-one years or age

 

Public Act No. 21-46, “An Act Concerning Social Equity and the Health, Safety and Education of Children.”

 

          Packer v. Board of Educ. of the Town of Thomaston, 717 A.2d 117 (Conn. 1998).

             State v. Hardy, 896 A.2d 755 (Conn. 2006).

             State v. Guzman, 955 A.2d 72 (Conn. App. Ct. 2008).

 

Connecticut State Department of Education, Standards for Educational Opportunities for Students Who Have Been Expelled, adopted January 3, 2018.

 

Federal law:

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq., as amended by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, Pub. L. 108-446. 

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794(a).

18 U.S.C. § 921 (definition of “firearm”)

18 U.S.C. § 930(g)(2) (definition of “dangerous weapon”)

18 U.S.C. § 1365(h)(3) (identifying “serious bodily injury”)

21 U.S.C. § 812(c) (identifying “controlled substances”)

34 C.F.R. § 300.530 (defining “illegal drugs”)

Gun-Free Schools Act, 20 U.S.C. § 7961

Honig v. Doe, 484 U.S. 305 (1988)

U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, Resource on Confronting Racial Discrimination in Student Discipline (May 2023)

 

Revised:	May 14, 2024	HAMDEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Adopted:	July 12, 2004	Hamden, Connecticut