School Discipline Laws & Regulations by State & Category

(e)(1) When a principal or his or her designee verifies through local law enforcement officials that a report has been filed of the occurrence of a violent crime on the schoolsite of an elementary or secondary school at which he or she is the principal, the principal or the principal's designee may send to each pupil's parent or legal guardian and each school employee a written notice of the occurrence and general nature of the crime. If the principal or his or her designee chooses to send the written notice, the Legislature encourages the notice be sent no later than the end of business on the second regular workday after the verification. If, at the time of verification, local law enforcement officials determine that notification of the violent crime would hinder an ongoing investigation, the notification authorized by this subdivision shall be made within a reasonable period of time, to be determined by the local law enforcement agency and the school district. For purposes of this section, an act considered a "violent crime" shall meet the definition of Section 67381 and be an act for which a pupil could or would be expelled pursuant to Section 48915.

(d) The supervisor of attendance may provide support services and interventions, which may include, but are not limited to, any or all of the following:

Upon a pupil's initial classification as a truant, the school district shall notify the pupil's parent or guardian using the most cost-effective method possible, which may include electronic mail or a telephone call:

Any pupil is deemed an habitual truant who has been reported as a truant three or more times per school year, provided that no pupil shall be deemed an habitual truant unless an appropriate district officer or employee has made a conscientious effort to hold at least one conference with a parent or guardian of the pupil and the pupil himself, after the filing of either of the reports required by Section 48260 or Section 48261. For purposes of this section, a conscientious effort means attempting to communicate with the parents of the pupil at least once using the most cost-effective method possible, which may include electronic mail or a telephone call.

(a) If a minor pupil in a school district of a county is a habitual truant, or is a chronic absentee, as defined in Section 60901, or is habitually insubordinate or disorderly during attendance at school, the pupil may be referred to a school attendance review board, or to the probation department for services if the probation department has elected to receive these referrals. The school district supervisor of attendance, or any other persons the governing board of the school district or county may designate, making the referral shall provide documentation of the interventions undertaken at the school to the pupil, the pupil's parents or guardians, and the school attendance review board or probation department and shall notify the pupil and parents or guardians of the pupil, in writing, of the name and address of the school attendance review board or probation department to which the matter has been referred and of the reason for the referral. The notice shall indicate that the pupil and parents or guardians of the pupil will be required, along with the referring person, to meet with the school attendance review board or probation officer to consider a proper disposition of the referral.

(a) In any county which has established a county school attendance review board pursuant to Section 48321, the school attendance review board may notify the district attorney or the probation officer, or both, of the county in which the school district is located, or the probation officer may notify the district attorney, by first-class mail or other reasonable means, of the following if the district attorney or the probation officer has elected to participate in the truancy mediation program described in subdivision (b):

(b) Upon receipt of notification provided pursuant to subdivision (a), the district attorney or the probation officer may notify the parents or guardians of each pupil concerning whom notification has been received, by first-class mail or other reasonable means, that they may be subject to prosecution pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 48290) of Chapter 2 of Part 27 for failure to compel the attendance of the pupil at school. The district attorney or the probation officer may also request the parents or guardians and the child to attend a meeting in the district attorney's office or at the probation department pursuant to Section 601.3 of the Welfare and Institutions Code to discuss the possible legal consequences of the child's truancy. Notice of the meeting shall be given pursuant to Section 601.3 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

Any person taking action pursuant to Sections 48264 and 48265 shall report the matter, and the disposition made by him of the minor to the school authorities of the city, or city and county, or school district and to the minor's parent or guardian.

(a) The governing board of each school district may adopt a policy authorizing teachers to require the parent or guardian of a pupil who has been suspended by a teacher pursuant to Section 48910 for reasons specified in subdivision (i) or (k) of Section 48900, to attend a portion of a schoolday in the classroom of his or her child or ward. The policy shall take into account reasonable factors that may prevent compliance with a notice to attend. The attendance of the parent or guardian shall be limited to the class from which the pupil was suspended.

(b) The policy shall be adopted pursuant to the procedures set forth in Sections 35291 and 35291.5. Parents and guardians shall be notified of this policy prior to its implementation. A teacher shall apply any policy adopted pursuant to this section uniformly to all pupils within the classroom.

The adopted policy shall include the procedures that the district will follow to accomplish the following:

(c) If a teacher imposes the procedure pursuant to subdivision (a), the principal shall send a written notice to the parent or guardian stating that attendance by the parent or guardian is pursuant to law. This section shall apply only to a parent or guardian who is actually living with the pupil.

(d) A parent or guardian who has received a written notice pursuant to subdivision (c) shall attend class as specified in the written notice. The notice may specify that the attendance of the parent or guardian be on the day the pupil is scheduled to return to class, or within a reasonable period of time thereafter, as established by the policy of the board adopted pursuant to subdivision (a).

(b)(2) The school district or private school shall notify the parent or guardian of the pupil in writing of the pupil's alleged misconduct before withholding the pupil's grades, diploma, or transcripts pursuant to this subdivision. When the minor and parent are unable to pay for the damages, or to return the property, the school district or private school shall provide a program of voluntary work for the minor in lieu of the payment of monetary damages. Upon completion of the voluntary work, the grades, diploma, and transcripts of the pupil shall be released.

(b) Any school district that has decided to withhold a pupil's grades, diploma, or transcripts pursuant to Section 48904 shall, upon receiving notice that the pupil has transferred to any school district in this state, notify the parent or guardian of the pupil in writing that the decision to withhold will be enforced as specified in subdivision (a).

When a principal or other school official releases a minor pupil to a peace officer for the purpose of removing the minor from the school premises, the school official shall take immediate steps to notify the parent, guardian, or responsible relative of the minor regarding the release of the minor to the officer, and regarding the place to which the minor is reportedly being taken, except when a minor has been taken into custody as a victim of suspected child abuse, as defined in Section 11165.6 of the Penal Code, or pursuant to Section 305 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. In those cases, the school official shall provide the peace officer with the address and telephone number of the minor's parent or guardian. The peace officer shall take immediate steps to notify the parent, guardian, or responsible relative of the minor that the minor is in custody and the place where he or she is being held. If the officer has a reasonable belief that the minor would be endangered by a disclosure of the place where the minor is being held, or that the disclosure would cause the custody of the minor to be disturbed, the officer may refuse to disclose the place where the minor is being held for a period not to exceed 24 hours. The officer shall, however, inform the parent, guardian, or responsible relative whether the child requires and is receiving medical or other treatment. The juvenile court shall review any decision not to disclose the place where the minor is being held at a subsequent detention hearing.

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) A teacher may suspend any pupil from class, for any of the acts enumerated in Section 48900, for the day of the suspension and the day following. The teacher shall immediately report the suspension to the principal of the school and send the pupil to the principal or the designee of the principal for appropriate action. If that action requires the continued presence of the pupil at the schoolsite, the pupil shall be under appropriate supervision, as defined in policies and related regulations adopted by the governing board of the school district. As soon as possible, the teacher shall ask the parent or guardian of the pupil to attend a parent-teacher conference regarding the suspension. If practicable, a school counselor or a school psychologist may attend the conference. A school administrator shall attend the conference if the teacher or the parent or guardian so requests. The pupil shall not be returned to the class from which he or she was suspended, during the period of the suspension, without the concurrence of the teacher of the class and the principal.

(d) At the time of suspension, a school employee shall make a reasonable effort to contact the pupil's parent or guardian in person or by telephone. If a pupil is suspended from school, the parent or guardian shall be notified in writing of the suspension.

(f)(1) The parent or guardian of a pupil shall respond without delay to a request from school officials to attend a conference regarding his or her child's behavior.

(a) A pupil suspended from a school for any of the reasons enumerated in Sections 48900 and 48900.2 may be assigned, by the principal or the principal's designee, to a supervised suspension classroom for the entire period of suspension if the pupil poses no imminent danger or threat to the campus, pupils, or staff, or if an action to expel the pupil has not been initiated.

(d) At the time a pupil is assigned to a supervised suspension classroom, a school employee shall notify, in person or by telephone, the pupil's parent or guardian. Whenever a pupil is assigned to a supervised suspension classroom for longer than one class period, a school employee shall notify, in writing, the pupil's parent or guardian.

(a) The governing board may suspend a pupil from school for any of the acts enumerated in Section 48900 for any number of schooldays within the limits prescribed by Section 48903.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 35145 of this code and Section 54950 of the Government Code, the governing board of a school district shall, unless a request has been made to the contrary, hold closed sessions if the board is considering the suspension of, disciplinary action against, or any other action against, except expulsion, any pupil, if a public hearing upon that question would lead to the giving out of information concerning a school pupil which would be in violation of Article 5 (commencing with Section 49073) of Chapter 6.5.

(c) Before calling a closed session to consider these matters, the governing board shall, in writing, by registered or certified mail or by personal service, notify the pupil and the pupil's parent or guardian, or the pupil if the pupil is an adult, of the intent of the governing board to call and hold a closed session. Unless the pupil or the pupil's parent or guardian shall, in writing, within 48 hours after receipt of the written notice of the board's intention, request that the hearing be held as a public meeting, the hearing to consider these matters shall be conducted by the governing board in closed session. In the event that a written request is served upon the clerk or secretary of the governing board, the meeting shall be public, except that any discussion at that meeting which may be in conflict with the right to privacy of any pupil other than the pupil requesting the public meeting, shall be in closed session.

Each school district is authorized to establish a policy that permits school officials to conduct a meeting with the parent or guardian of a suspended pupil to discuss the causes, the duration, the school policy involved, and other matters pertinent to the suspension.

(d) If the governing board denies the readmission of an expelled pupil pursuant to subdivision (c), the governing board shall make a determination either to continue the placement of the pupil in the alternative educational program initially selected for the pupil during the period of the expulsion order or to place the pupil in another program that may include, but need not be limited to, serving expelled pupils, including placement in a county community school.

(e) The governing board shall provide written notice to the expelled pupil and the pupil's parent or guardian describing the reasons for denying the pupil readmittance into the regular school district program. The written notice shall also include the determination of the educational program for the expelled pupil pursuant to subdivision (d). The expelled pupil shall enroll in that educational program unless the parent or guardian of the pupil elects to enroll the pupil in another school district.

Notwithstanding any other law, the governing board of a school district may transfer to another school in that school district a pupil enrolled in that school district who has been convicted of a violent felony, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 667.5 of the Penal Code, or convicted of a misdemeanor listed in Section 29805 of the Penal Code if the pupil to be transferred and the victim of the crime for which the pupil was convicted are enrolled at the same school, subject to satisfaction of both of the following conditions:

(a) At the beginning of the first semester or quarter of the regular school term, the governing board of each school district shall notify the parent or guardian of a minor pupil regarding the right or responsibility of the parent or guardian under Sections 35291, 46014, 46015, 48205, 48207, 48208, 49403, 49423, 49451, 49472, and 51938 and Chapter 2.3 (commencing with Section 32255) of Part 19 of Division 1 of Title 1.

(b) The notification also shall advise the parent or guardian of the availability of individualized instruction as prescribed by Section 48206.3, and of the program prescribed by Article 9 (commencing with Section 49510) of Chapter 9.

(c) The notification also shall advise the parents and guardians of all pupils attending a school within the school district of the schedule of minimum days and pupil-free staff development days, and if minimum or pupil-free staff development days are scheduled thereafter, the governing board of the school district shall notify parents and guardians of the affected pupils as early as possible, but not later than one month before the scheduled minimum or pupil-free day.

(d) The notification also may advise the parent or guardian of the importance of investing for future college or university education for their children and of considering appropriate investment options, including, but not limited to, United States savings bonds.

(e) Each school district that elects to provide a fingerprinting program pursuant to Article 10 (commencing with Section 32390) of Chapter 3 of Part 19 of Division 1 of Title 1 shall inform parents or guardians of the program as specified in Section 32390.

(f) The notification also shall include a copy of the written policy of the school district on sexual harassment established pursuant to Section 231.5, as it relates to pupils.

(g) The notification shall advise the parent or guardian of all existing statutory attendance options and local attendance options available in the school district. This notification component shall include all options for meeting residency requirements for school attendance, programmatic options offered within the local attendance areas, and any special programmatic options available on both an interdistrict and intradistrict basis. This notification component also shall include a description of all options, a description of the procedure for application for alternative attendance areas or programs, an application form from the school district for requesting a change of attendance, and a description of the appeals process available, if any, for a parent or guardian denied a change of attendance. The notification component also shall include an explanation of the existing statutory attendance options, including, but not limited to, those available under Section 35160.5, Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 46600) of Part 26, and subdivision (b) of Section 48204. The department shall produce this portion of the notification and shall distribute it to all school districts.

(h) It is the intent of the Legislature that the governing board of each school district annually review the enrollment options available to the pupils within its school district and that the school districts strive to make available enrollment options that meet the diverse needs, potential, and interests of the pupils of California.

(i) The notification shall advise the parent or guardian that a pupil shall not have his or her grade reduced or lose academic credit for any absence or absences excused pursuant to Section 48205 if missed assignments and tests that can reasonably be provided are satisfactorily completed within a reasonable period of time, and shall include the full text of Section 48205.

(j) The notification shall advise the parent or guardian of the availability of state funds to cover the costs of advanced placement examination fees pursuant to Section 52242.

(k) The notification to the parent or guardian of a minor pupil enrolled in any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, also shall include the information required pursuant to Section 51229.

(l) If a school district elects to allow a career technical education course to satisfy the requirement imposed by subparagraph (E) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 51225.3, the school district shall include, in the notification required pursuant to this section, both of the following:

(m) A school district that elects to adopt a policy regarding the transfer of pupils pursuant to Article 1.5 (commencing with Section 48929) shall inform parents or guardians of the policy in the notification required pursuant to this section.

The notice shall be provided at the time of registration for the first semester or quarter of the regular school term. The notice may be provided using any of the following methods:

(a) The notice shall be signed by the parent or guardian and returned to the school. Signature of the notice is an acknowledgment by the parent or guardian that he or she has been informed of his or her rights but does not indicate that consent to participate in any particular program has either been given or withheld.

(b) If the notice is provided in electronic format pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 48981, the parent or guardian shall submit to the school a signed acknowledgment of receipt of the notice.

If any activity covered by the sections set forth in Section 48980 will be undertaken by the school during the forthcoming school term, the notice shall state that fact and shall also state the approximate date upon which any of such activities will occur.

No school district shall undertake any activity covered by the sections set forth in Section 48980 with respect to any particular pupil unless the parent or guardian has been informed of such action pursuant to this article or has received separate special notification.

(a) If 15 percent or more of the pupils enrolled in a public school that provides instruction in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, speak a single primary language other than English, as determined from the census data submitted to the department pursuant to Section 52164 in the preceding year, all notices, reports, statements, or records sent to the parent or guardian of any such pupil by the school or school district shall, in addition to being written in English, be written in the primary language, and may be responded to either in English or the primary language.

(b) Pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 64001, the department shall monitor adherence to the requirements of subdivision (a) as part of its regular monitoring and review of public schools and school districts, commonly known as the Categorical Program Monitoring process, and shall determine the types of documents and languages a school district translates to a primary language other than English, the availability of these documents to parents or guardians who speak a primary language other than English, and the gaps in translations of these documents.

(c) Based on census data submitted to the department pursuant to Section 52164 in the preceding fiscal year, the department shall notify a school district, by August 1 of each year, of the schools within the school district, and the primary language other than English, for which the translation of documents is required pursuant to subdivision (a). The department shall make that notification using electronic methods.

(d) The department shall use existing resources to comply with subdivisions (b) and (c).

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.

(e) To prevent emergency interventions from being used in lieu of planned, systematic behavioral interventions, the parent, guardian, and residential care provider, if appropriate, shall be notified within one schoolday if an emergency intervention is used or serious property damage occurs. A behavioral emergency report shall immediately be completed and maintained in the file of the individual with exceptional needs. The behavioral emergency report shall include all of the following: