Upper Arlington City School District
Administrative Guidelines
 

5610.04 - GROUNDS FOR DISCIPLINE, SUSPENSION,EMERGENCY REMOVAL OR EXPULSION

Grounds for Discipline, Suspension, Emergency Removal or Expulsion as same occur either (1) on school premises, on authorized transportation, or at any school-sponsored activity, or (2) off school premises insofar as the actions disrupt, or have the potential to disrupt, the educational process in the schools or deprive or have the potential to deprive, other students of their right to an education within the curricular or co-curricular program or privilege of participation in the extracurricular program, including actions that occur off of property owned or controlled by the Board but that are connected to activities or incidents that have occurred on property owned or controlled by the Board, or actions, regardless of where they occur, that are directed at a District official or employee, or the property of such official or employee shall include:

 A.Physical harm to person
  Knowingly causing or attempting or threatening to cause, physical harm to another, as defined in ORC Section 2901.01(A)(3)*;
  * If an act of harm to a person is one that is a criminal offense when committed by an adult and results in serious physical harm to persons as defined in ORC Section 2901.01(A)(5), and occurs while the student is at school, on any other property owned or controlled by the Board, or at an interscholastic competition, an extracurricular event, or any other school program or activity, the Superintendent may expel a student for a period not to exceed one (1) year.
 B.Threatening a person
  Threatening another person with the purpose of obtaining any valuable thing or valuable benefit;
 C.Possessing weapons or other dangerous instrumentalities
  Possessing or using weapons or explosives, including any object with the intent to harm or any object that can reasonably be perceived or misperceived as a dangerous instrumentality*;
  * A student who brings a knife to a school operated by the Board or onto any other property owned or controlled by it or who possesses a knife or a firearm at a school, any other property owned or controlled by the Board, any interscholastic competition, extracurricular event, or any other school program or activity that is not located in a school or on property that is owned or controlled by the Board, which firearm or knife was initially brought onto said property or to said event, program, or activity by another person, may be expelled by the Superintendent for a period not to exceed one (1) year, which expulsion may be extended, as necessary to impose any expulsion authorized hereunder, into the school year following that in which the incident giving rise to the expulsion takes place. Unless s/he is permanently excluded pursuant to ORC Section 3313.662, a student who brings a firearm to a school operated by the Board or onto any other property owned or controlled by it or to an interscholastic competition, an extracurricular event or any other school program or activity that is not located in a school or on property that is owned or controlled by the District, shall be expelled by the Superintendent for one (1) year, which expulsion shall extend, as necessary to impose any expulsion required hereunder, into the school year following that in which the incident giving rise to the expulsion takes place, provided that the Superintendent may reduce, on a case-by-case basis, any such expulsion imposed pursuant to this firearm provision based upon either (1) any other applicable legal requirements, including but not limited to circumstances subject to 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq. and/or ORC Chapter 3323 as now in force or hereafter a amended in which a student is disabled and the incident giving rise to the one (1) year expulsion is a manifestation of that disability insofar as such an expulsion is precluded by said law(s), or (2) the Superintendent's determination in his/her discretion that the interest of the expelled student is served, and the interests of other students, school employees, and other members of the school community are not disproportionately disserved, by such a reduction. As used herein, "firearm" shall be defined as in 18 U.S.C. 921 as now in force or hereafter amended. As used herein, "knife" shall be defined as any instrument that possesses a pointed or sharp-edged blade of metal or other rigid material and that is designed or can be used for cutting, slicing, or stabbing; this definition shall include but not be limited to straight razors, utility knives, box cutters, ice picks, pocket knives, switchblades, and buck knives. Any expulsion under this paragraph shall be subject to all procedural requirements and rights applicable to expulsions on other grounds under Ohio law, and nothing expressed or implied in this paragraph is intended to, nor shall it, preclude the Superintendent from expelling a student in accordance with that law for otherwise possessing a weapon or other dangerous instrumentality that is not as just defined herein.
  * Any student who brings a firearm or weapon to a school operated by the Board shall be referred to the criminal justice or juvenile delinquency system.
 D.Substance violations
  Substance violations for which the stated penalty is suspension or expulsion (see Appendix E);
 E.Disruption of school
  Disrupting school or causing or attempting to cause the disruption or obstruction of any lawful mission, process, or function of school, including any school-sponsored activity, by violence, force, noise, coercion, threat, intimidation, fear, passive resistance, or other disorderly conduct, or urging other students to disrupt or to obstruct the process or function of school by use same;
 F.False reporting of emergencies
  Falsely reporting an emergency, including fire and bomb threats*;
  * A student who makes a bomb threat to a school building or to any premises at which a school activity is occurring at the time of the threat maybe expelled by the Superintendent for a period not exceeding one (1) year, which expulsion may be extended, as necessary, into the school year following that school year in which the incident that gives rise to the expulsion takes place.
 G.Physical harm to property
  Knowingly causing or attempting to cause physical harm to any school building or property or private property of another, as defined in ORC Section 2901.01(A)(4). (Parents or guardians will be held responsible for any property damaged by their child, ORC Sections 2307.70 and 3109.09*; also see ORC Section 2307.70);
  * If an act of harm to property is one that is a criminal offense when committed by an adult and results in serious physical harm to property as defined in ORC Section 2901.01(A)(6), and occurs while the student is at school, on any other property owned or controlled by the Board, or at an interscholastic competition, an extracurricular event, or any other school program or activity, the Superintendent may expel a student for a period not to exceed one (1) year, which expulsion may be extended, as necessary, into the school year following that school year in which the incident that gives rise to the expulsion takes place.
 H.Violations of law
  Committing any act not listed herein as a major infraction that is a criminal offense when committed by an adult;
 I.Repeating or flagrantly committing suspendable offenses
  Repeating or flagrantly committing instances of suspendable offenses, except as other provisions of this Handbook apply.
 J.Damage to property
  Damage or destruction to any school property or private property (parents or guardians will be held responsible for any property damage by their child, ORC Section 3109.09; also see ORC Section 2307.70);
 K.Insubordination/Disrespect
  Failure to comply with the reasonable direction of, or otherwise demonstrating manifest disrespect toward, a member of the school staff;
 L.Failure to provide identification
  Failure to provide identification when requested to do so by school personnel;
 M.Abuse of computer hardware and/or software
  Abusing the District's computer hardware or software, including but not limited to the following: tampering with computers or computer programs (whether such programs are commercially prepared or belong to another student or a member of the school staff); using equipment to make unauthorized or illegal duplicates of computer software; damaging or destroying computers or other computer hardware or computer software; or using computer phone or computer mail network facilities of the District for purposes unrelated to the instructional program of the District unless written permission from the Superintendent or designee has been obtained.
  * In addition to these restrictions, the District's computer hardware or software shall not be used in violation of any other provision of the code of student conduct ("the underlying violation"); any such misconduct shall be subject to discipline, including but not limited to suspension, expulsion, or permanent exclusion, to the same extent as the underlying violation would be. This prohibition shall be deemed to preclude, but is not limited to, the use of computer hardware or software to create, display, or communicate words or images that are profane or offensively lewd/indecent (see "R" below), defamatory (see "T" below), or harassing (see "CC" below).
 N.Intimidation or Bullying
  Insulting, demeaning, threatening, disparaging, taunting, bullying, or challenging another, or to otherwise engage in any form of intimidation, by word or deed, when the purpose or effect is to unreasonably interfere with a student or group of student's performance in school, or to create a hostile, disruptive, or offensive school environment, or to otherwise adversely impact upon a student's educational opportunities (see Appendix G);
 O.Theft
  Theft, including any attempt thereof, of school property or of the private property of others;
 P.Possessing stolen property
  Knowingly possessing stolen school property or the private property of others and not making an attempt to return same;
 Q.Fighting
  Physical contact of a negative nature (pushing, shoving, hitting, kicking, etc.);
 R.Profanity, etc.
  Using language, gestures, or signs that are profane or offensively lewd/indecent;
 S.Dress and appearance
  Violating school rules relating to dress and appearance;
 T.Libel or slander
  Deliberate use of libel or slander orally or in written/symbolic form;
 U.Truancy
  Unexcused absence from school or class for any part of the school day (leaving school or class without permission);
 V.Tardiness
  Repeated tardiness to school or class;
 W.Smoking or use or possession of a tobacco product or clove cigarette
  Smoking or the use or possession of a tobacco product (a tobacco product being any substance containing tobacco or rolling papers that can be used with same) or clove cigarette;
 X.Buying, selling, or distributing tobacco product or clove cigarette
  Buying, selling or distributing any tobacco product (a tobacco product being as defined in "W") or clove cigarette;
 Y.Possession or use of an electronic communications device
  Electronic communication devices, including but not limited to, pagers or cellular/portable telephones, except when such device is officially provided, or its possession/use is expressly permitted in advance by the school officials are not to be used in classrooms. When such devices are used in other parts of school premises and become a distraction to the basic educational mission of the District, their use may be regulated.
 Z.Cheating, deception, etc.
  Misrepresenting, or attempting to misrepresent, another person or his/her work or product, (homework, quiz, test, essay, term paper, etc.) as one's own work or product (or vise versa), or any action (copying, duplicating, distributing, etc.) in an attempt to assist another person to do the same;
 AA.Forgery and false information
  Using the name or identity of another person (orally or in writing) or falsifying/altering times, date, grades, address, or other data or correspondence to be used by school personnel;
 BB.Gambling
  Gambling, or assisting others to gamble, regardless of the monetary value of the stakes;
 CC.Harassment
  Harassment on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, religion, handicap/ability level, age, sex, or sexual orientation, which for this purpose is defined as slurs, or other verbal or physical conduct, relating to the foregoing bases, when such conduct has the purpose or the effect of (a) unreasonably interfering with a student's performance in school, (b) creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive school environment, or (c) otherwise adversely impacting upon a student's educational opportunities (see Appendix G);
 DD.Hazing
  Doing any act or coercing another, including the victim, to do any act of initiation into any student or other organization that causes or creates a risk of causing mental or physical harm to any person;
 EE.Operation of transportation vehicles
  Violation of rules and regulations governing student operation of transportation vehicles;
 FF.Conditions of suspension
  Violation of the conditions of suspension as specified in writing when a student has been suspended;
 GG.Expellable offenses
  Commission of an expellable offense except as other provisions of the Handbook apply.

Grounds for removal: If a student's presence poses a continuing danger to persons or property or an ongoing threat of disrupting the academic process, that student may be removed from school or a school-sponsored activity immediately without the rights of procedural due process.

Grounds of permanent exclusion: A student may be recommended for permanent exclusion from the public school of this state if the student is convicted of, or adjudicated a delinquent child for, committing, when s/he was sixteen (16) years of age or older, an act that would be a criminal offense if committed by an adult and if the act is any of the following:

 A.A violation of ORC Section 2923.122;
 B.A violation of ORC Section 2923.12, of a substantially similar municipal ordinance, or of division (A)(1), (4), (5), (6), (7), (9), or (10) of ORC Section 2925.03 that was committed on property owned or controlled by, or at an activity held under the auspices of, a Board of a city, local, exempted village, or joint vocational school District;
 C.A violation of ORC Sections 2903.01, 2903.02, 2903.03, 2903.04, 2903.11, 2903.12, 2907.02, 2907.05 or 2907.12 that was committed on property owned or controlled by, or at an activity held under the auspices of, a Board of a city, local, exempted village, or joint vocational school district, if the victim at the time of the commission of the act was an employee of the Board; or
 D.Complicity in any violation described in preceding paragraphs (1), (2), or (3) that was alleged to have been committed in the manner described in preceding paragraphs (1), (2), or (3), regardless of whether the act of complicity was committed on property owned or controlled by, or at an activity held under the auspices of, a Board of a city, local, exempted village, or joint vocational school district.