Suspensions
RCSD Student Discipline and Intervention Matrix State Guidelines for New Laws in Discipline Suspension and Alternatives to Suspension for Ed. Code Violations
The Redwood City School District (RCSD) serves approximately 6,799 students in Kindergarten through 8th grade. All 12 schools in the district provide the services: two TK-5, two K-5, three TK-8, two K-8, two 6-8, and one 3-8. The majority of district students attend one of three Sequoia Union High School District (SUHSD) high schools upon graduation from eighth grade: Sequoia, Woodside or Menlo Atherton high schools.
Suspension from school means removal of a student from ongoing instruction for adjustment purpose. A principal or the principal’s designee may suspend a pupil from the school (not more than five consecutive school days) for any of the reasons in the Educational Code, Section 48900, upon a first offense if the principal or designee determines that the pupil violated Educational Code 48900, or that pupil’s presence causes a danger to persons or property, or threatens to disrupt the educational process. A student may be suspended or expelled for any of the acts listed below if the act is related to a school activity or occurs during school attendance occurring at any District school under the jurisdiction of the Superintendent or principal or within any other school District, including but not limited to the following circumstances:
1. While on school grounds;
2. While going to or coming from school;
3. During the lunch period, whether on or off the school campus;
4. During, going to, or coming from a school-sponsored activity; and/or
5. With a nexus or connection to the campus with impact on the school campus.
State Guidance for New Laws on Discipline
As we now know, suspension can do more harm than good. Sending a student home from school does not address the root cause of a student’s behavior; it removes students from the learning environment; and it has a disproportionate impact on African American students and students with disabilities, among other marginalized groups that are underperforming academically and overrepresented in our criminal justice system. Legislation in recent years, reflecting extensive research, has sought to minimize the use and impact of suspension. The state’s new accountability system reports suspensions and incentivizes minimizing the use of punitive discipline.
Replacing Suspension with Support
Collectively, we must do more to reverse the reality that our most vulnerable students are disproportionately removed from their classes. Research on student engagement, academic success, dropout, and graduation rates has shown the need to replace punitive discipline practices with targeted student supports such as those referenced in state law above. The CDE and California’s System of Support are your partners in establishing and strengthening LEA and school-level networks of support.
Suspensions
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OFFENSE ED. CODE |
Ed. Code |
POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCE(S) |
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Caused, attempted to cause, or threatened to cause |
48900(a)(1) |
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Willfully used force or violence upon the person of another, except in self-defense. |
48900(a)(2) |
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Possessed, sold, or furnished a firearm, knife, explosive, or other dangerous object. |
48900(b) |
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Unlawfully possessed, used, sold or otherwise furnished, or been under the influence of a controlled substance. |
48900(c) |
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Unlawfully offered, arranged, or negotiated to sell a controlled substance, an alcoholic beverage, or an intoxicant of any kind, and either sold, delivered, or otherwise furnished to a person another liquid, substance, or material and represented the liquid, substance, or material as a controlled substance, alcoholic beverage, or intoxicant. |
48900(d) |
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Committed or attempted to commit robbery or extortion. |
48900(e) |
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Caused or attempted to cause damage to school property or private property. |
48900(f) |
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Stole or attempted to steal school property or private property. |
48900(g) |
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Possessed or used tobacco or products containing tobacco or nicotine. |
48900(h) |
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Committed an obscene act or engaged in habitual profanity or vulgarity. |
48900(i) |
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Unlawfully possessed or unlawfully offered, arranged, or negotiated to sell drug paraphernalia. |
48900(j) |
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Disrupted school activities or otherwise willfully defied the valid authority of school personnel. |
48900(k) |
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Knowingly received stolen school property or private property. |
48900(l) |
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Possessed an imitation firearm. |
48900(m) |
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Committed or attempted to commit a sexual assault. |
48900(n) |
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Harassed, threatened, or intimidated a pupil who is a complaining witness in a school disciplinary proceeding. |
48900(o) |
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Unlawfully offered, arranged to sell, negotiated to sell, or sold the prescription drug Soma. |
48900(p) |
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Engaged in or attempted to engage in hazing. |
48900(q) |
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Engaged in an act of bullying, including bullying committed by means of an electronic act, directed specifically toward a student or school personnel. |
48900(r) Must include 48900.2, 48900.3, & 48900.4 |
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Aided or abetted the infliction of physical injury to another person. |
48900(s) |
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Committed sexual harassment |
48900.2 |
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Caused, attempted to cause, threatened to cause or participated in an act of hate violence. |
48900.3 |
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Intentionally engaged in harassment, threats, or intimidation |
48900.4 |
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Making terroristic threats |
48900.7 |
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Alternatives to Suspension and Education Code related
48900.5 |
(a) Suspension, including supervised suspension as described in Section 48911.1, shall be imposed only when other means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct. A school district may document the other means of correction used and place that documentation in the pupil’s record, which may be accessed pursuant to Section 49069. However, a pupil, including an individual with exceptional needs, as defined in Section 56026, may be suspended, subject to Section 1415 of Title 20 of the United States Code, for any of the reasons enumerated in Section 48900 upon a first offense, if the principal or superintendent of schools determines that the pupil violated subdivision (a), (b), (c), (d), or (e) of Section 48900 or that the pupil’s presence causes a danger to persons. (b) Other means of correction include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) A conference between school personnel, the pupil’s parent or guardian, and the pupil. (2) Referrals to the school counselor, psychologist, social worker, child welfare attendance personnel, or other school support service personnel for case management and counseling. (3) Study teams, guidance teams, resource panel teams, or other intervention-related teams that assess the behavior, and develop and implement individualized plans to address the behavior in partnership with the pupil and his or her parents. (4) Referral for a comprehensive psychosocial or psychoeducational assessment, including for purposes of creating an individualized education program, or a plan adopted pursuant to Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 794(a)). (5) Enrollment in a program for teaching prosocial behavior or anger management. (6) Participation in a restorative justice program. (7) A positive behavior support approach with tiered interventions that occur during the school day on campus. (8) After-school programs that address specific behavioral issues or expose pupils to positive activities and behaviors, including, but not limited to, those operated in collaboration with local parent and community groups. (9) Any of the alternatives described in Section 48900.6. |
48900.6. |
As part of or instead of disciplinary action prescribed by this article, the principal of a school, the principal’s designee, the superintendent of schools, or the governing board may require a pupil to perform community service on school grounds or, with written permission of the parent or guardian of the pupil, off school grounds, during the pupil’s nonschool hours. For the purposes of this section, “community service” may include, but is not limited to, work performed in the community or on school grounds in the areas of outdoor beautification, community or campus betterment, and teacher, peer, or youth assistance programs. This section does not apply if a pupil has been suspended, pending expulsion, pursuant to Section 48915. However, this section applies if the recommended expulsion is not implemented or is, itself, suspended by stipulation or other administrative action. |
Expulsion
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Must Recommend Expulsion (Mandatory) Expulsion Codes EC 48915(c) |
Power School Codes |
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100 |
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103 |
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200 |
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400 |
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105 |
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Shall Recommend Expulsion Unless Particular Circumstances Render Inappropriate |
Power School Codes |
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Act must be committed at school or school activity. EC Section 48915 (a) states that an administrator shall recommend expulsion for the following violations [except for subsections (c) and (e)] unless the administrator finds that expulsion is inappropriate due to a particular circumstance.
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500 |
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Act must be committed at school or school activity. 2. Possession of any knife, explosive, or other dangerous object of no reasonable use to the pupil. EC Section 48915 (a)(2). |
101 |
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Act must be committed at school or school activity. 3. Possession and/or use of any substance listed in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11053) of Division 10 of the Health and Safety Code, except for the first offense for possession of not more than one avoirdupois ounce of marijuana other than concentrated cannabis. |
201 |
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Act must be committed at school or school activity. 4. Robbery or extortion. EC Section 48915 (a)(4). |
600 |
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Act must be committed at school or school activity. 5. Assault or battery, or threat of, on a school employee. |
503 |
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The recommendation for expulsion shall be based on one or both of the following:
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