School Discipline Laws & Regulations by State & Category

(a) The Legislature hereby recognizes that all pupils enrolled in the state public schools have the inalienable right to attend classes on school campuses that are safe, secure, and peaceful. The Legislature also recognizes that pupils cannot fully benefit from an educational program unless they attend school on a regular basis. In addition, the Legislature further recognizes that school crime, vandalism, truancy, and excessive absenteeism are significant problems on far too many school campuses in the state.

(b) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the establishment of an interagency coordination system is the most efficient and long-lasting means of resolving school and community problems of truancy and crime, including vandalism, drug and alcohol abuse, gang membership, gang violence, and hate crimes.

(d) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this chapter to encourage school districts, county offices of education, law enforcement agencies, and agencies serving youth to develop and implement interagency strategies, in-service training programs, and activities that will improve school attendance and reduce school crime and violence, including vandalism, drug and alcohol abuse, gang membership, gang violence, hate crimes, bullying, including bullying committed personally or by means of an electronic act, teen relationship violence, and discrimination and harassment, including, but not limited to, sexual harassment.

(f) As used in this chapter, “bullying” has the same meaning as set forth in subdivision (r) of Section 48900.

(g) As used in this chapter, “electronic act” has the same meaning as set forth in subdivision (r) of Section 48900

(a) The comprehensive school safety plan shall include, but not be limited to, both of the following:

A pupil shall not be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion, unless the superintendent of the school district or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has committed an act as defined pursuant to any of subdivisions (a) to (r), inclusive:

In addition to the reasons specified in Section 48900, a pupil may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has committed sexual harassment as defined in Section 212.5.

For the purposes of this chapter, the conduct described in Section 212.5 must be considered by a reasonable person of the same gender as the victim to be sufficiently severe or pervasive to have a negative impact upon the individual's academic performance or to create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational environment. This section shall not apply to pupils enrolled in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive.

In addition to the reasons set forth in Sections 48900 and 48900.2, a pupil in any of grades 4 to 12, inclusive, may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has caused, attempted to cause, threatened to cause, or participated in an act of, hate violence, as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 233.

(a) In addition to the reasons specified in Sections 48900, 48900.2, 48900.3, and 48900.4, a pupil may be suspended from school or recommended for expulsion if the superintendent or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has made terroristic threats against school officials or school property, or both.

(b) For the purposes of this section, “terroristic threat” shall include any statement, whether written or oral, by a person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which will result in death, great bodily injury to another person, or property damage in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000), with the specific intent that the statement is to be taken as a threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out, which, on its face and under the circumstances in which it is made, is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to the person threatened, a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution of the threat, and thereby causes that person reasonably to be in sustained fear for his or her own safety or for his or her immediate family's safety, or for the protection of school district property, or the personal property of the person threatened or his or her immediate family.

(a) The governing board of each school district, or its designee, may regulate the possession or use of any electronic signaling device that operates through the transmission or receipt of radio waves, including, but not limited to, paging and signaling equipment, by pupils of the school district while the pupils are on campus, while attending school-sponsored activities, or while under the supervision and control of school district employees.

(b) No pupil shall be prohibited from possessing or using an electronic signaling device that is determined by a licensed physician and surgeon to be essential for the health of the pupil and use of which is limited to purposes related to the health of the pupil.

(a)(1) Notwithstanding Section 1714.1 of the Civil Code, the parent or guardian of any minor whose willful misconduct results in injury or death to any pupil or any person employed by, or performing volunteer services for, a school district or private school or who willfully cuts, defaces, or otherwise injures in any way any property, real or personal, belonging to a school district or private school, or personal property of any school employee, shall be liable for all damages so caused by the minor. The liability of the parent or guardian shall not exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000), adjusted annually for inflation. The parent or guardian shall be liable also for the amount of any reward not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), adjusted annually for inflation, paid pursuant to Section 53069.5 of the Government Code. The parent or guardian of a minor shall be liable to a school district or private school for all property belonging to the school district or private school loaned to the minor and not returned upon demand of an employee of the school district or private school authorized to make the demand.

(b)(1) Any school district or private school whose real or personal property has been willfully cut, defaced, or otherwise injured, or whose property is loaned to a pupil and willfully not returned upon demand of an employee of the school district or private school authorized to make the demand may, after affording the pupil his or her due process rights, withhold the grades, diploma, and transcripts of the pupil responsible for the damage until the pupil or the pupil's parent or guardian has paid for the damages thereto, as provided in subdivision (a).

(a) Pupils of the public schools, including charter schools, shall have the right to exercise freedom of speech and of the press including, but not limited to, the use of bulletin boards, the distribution of printed materials or petitions, the wearing of buttons, badges, and other insignia, and the right of expression in official publications, whether or not the publications or other means of expression are supported financially by the school or by use of school facilities, except that expression shall be prohibited which is obscene, libelous, or slanderous. Also prohibited shall be material that so incites pupils as to create a clear and present danger of the commission of unlawful acts on school premises or the violation of lawful school regulations, or the substantial disruption of the orderly operation of the school.

(b) The governing board or body of each school district or charter school and each county board of education shall adopt rules and regulations in the form of a written publications code, which shall include reasonable provisions for the time, place, and manner of conducting such activities within its respective jurisdiction.

(c) Pupil editors of official school publications shall be responsible for assigning and editing the news, editorial, and feature content of their publications subject to the limitations of this section. However, it shall be the responsibility of a journalism adviser or advisers of pupil publications within each school to supervise the production of the pupil staff, to maintain professional standards of English and journalism, and to maintain the provisions of this section.

(d) There shall be no prior restraint of material prepared for official school publications except insofar as it violates this section. School officials shall have the burden of showing justification without undue delay prior to a limitation of pupil expression under this section.

(e) “Official school publications” refers to material produced by pupils in the journalism, newspaper, yearbook, or writing classes and distributed to the student body either free or for a fee.

(f) This section does not prohibit or prevent the governing board or body of a school district or charter school from adopting otherwise valid rules and regulations relating to oral communication by pupils upon the premises of each school.

(g) An employee shall not be dismissed, suspended, disciplined, reassigned, transferred, or otherwise retaliated against solely for acting to protect a pupil engaged in the conduct authorized under this section, or refusing to infringe upon conduct that is protected by this section, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, or Section 2 of Article I of the California Constitution.

When a petition is requested in juvenile court or a complaint is filed in any court alleging that a minor of compulsory school attendance age or any pupil currently enrolled in a public school in a grade to and including grade 12 is a person who (a) has used, sold, or possessed narcotics or other hallucinogenic drugs or substances; (b) has inhaled or breathed the fumes of, or ingested any poison classified as such in Section 4160 of the Business and Professions Code; or (c) has committed felonious assault, homicide, or rape the district attorney may, within 48 hours, provide written notice to the superintendent of the school district of attendance, notwithstanding the provisions of Section 827 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, and to the pupil's parent or guardian.

(a)(1) Except as provided in subdivisions (c) and (e), the principal or the superintendent of schools shall recommend the expulsion of a pupil for any of the following acts committed at school or at a school activity off school grounds, unless the principal or superintendent determines that expulsion should not be recommended under the circumstances or that an alternative means of correction would address the conduct:

(c) The principal or superintendent of schools shall immediately suspend, pursuant to Section 48911, and shall recommend expulsion of a pupil that he or she determines has committed any of the following acts at school or at a school activity off school grounds:

(h) As used in this section, the term “explosive” means “destructive device” as described in Section 921 of Title 18 of the United States Code.

(a)(1) As used in this article “injurious object” shall mean those objects specified in the following sections:

(b) As used in this section, “academic purpose” means any school sponsored activity or class of instruction scheduled during the schoolday.

(c) “Injurious object” does not include any personal possessions or items of apparel which a schoolage child reasonably may be expected either to have in his or her possession or to wear.

Any certificated employee of any school district and any classified employee of a school district who is designated by the governing board for such purposes may take from the personal possession of any pupil upon school premises or while under the authority of school personnel any injurious object in the possession of the pupil.

The parent or guardian of a pupil from whom an injurious object has been taken pursuant to this section may be notified by school personnel of the taking.

School personnel may retain protective possession of any injurious object taken pursuant to this section until the risk of its use as a weapon has dissipated, unless prior to dissipation of the risk, the parent or guardian requests that the school personnel retain the object, in which case, the school personnel shall retain the object until the parent or guardian or another adult with the written consent of the parent or guardian appears personally to take possession of the injurious object from the school personnel.

Notwithstanding Section 49332, a pupil who brings an injurious object to school, and who presents the object to a certificated or classified employee, may have the object returned to him or her at the conclusion of the school day, provided such injurious object may be lawfully possessed off school grounds.

(a) The State Department of Education shall prepare and distribute to school districts and county offices of education guidelines for incorporating in-service training in gang violence and drug and alcohol abuse prevention for teachers, counselors, athletic directors, school board members, and other educational personnel into the staff development plans of all school districts and county offices of education.

(b) The department shall, upon request, assist school districts and county offices of education in developing comprehensive gang violence and drug and alcohol abuse prevention in-service training programs. The department's information and guidelines, to the maximum extent possible, shall encourage school districts and county offices of education to avoid duplication of effort by sharing resources, adapting or adopting model in-service training programs, developing joint and collaborative programs, and coordinating efforts with existing state staff development programs, county gang violence and drug and alcohol staff development programs, county health departments, county and city law enforcement agencies, and other public and private agencies providing health, drug, alcohol, gang violence prevention, or other related services at the local level.

(c) The department shall assist school districts and county offices of education in qualifying for the receipt of federal and state funds to support their gang violence and drug and alcohol abuse prevention in-service training programs.

(d) Each school that chooses to utilize the provisions of this article related to in-service training in gang violence and drug and alcohol abuse prevention, is encouraged to develop a single plan to strengthen its gang violence and drug and alcohol abuse prevention efforts. If a school develops or has developed a school improvement plan pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 52010) of Chapter 6 of Part 28, or a school safety plan pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 32280) of Chapter 2.5 of Part 19, it is encouraged to incorporate into that plan, where appropriate, the gang violence and drug and alcohol prevention plan that it has developed.

(e) The department shall consult with the Office of Emergency Services regarding gang violence.