Indiana School Discipline Laws & Regulations: Scope

Indiana School Discipline Laws & Regulations: Scope

Category: Codes of Conduct
Subcategory: Scope
State: Indiana

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Indiana

New in 2024

LAWS

IC 10-21-1-14. Safe school committee establishment; school safety plan participation; school policy development.

(a) Each school operated by a school corporation shall establish a safe school committee. The committee may be a subcommittee of the committee that develops the strategic and continuous school improvement and achievement plan under IC 20-31-5. Each committee may include at least one (1) member who is a member of the support staff of the school or school corporation career and technical education school.

(b) Each school operated by a charter school shall establish a safe school committee. A charter school in operation on July 1, 2023, shall comply with this subsection not later than July 1, 2024.

(d) The department of education, the school corporation’s or charter school’s school safety specialist or specialists, and a school resource officer, if one (1) is employed by the school corporation or charter school, shall provide materials and guidelines to assist a safe school committee in developing a policy for a particular school that addresses the following issues:

(1) Implementation of the school safety plan.

(2) Addressing outside and internal threats to the physical safety of students, faculty, staff, and the public, including unsafe conditions, crime prevention, school violence, bullying and cyberbullying, criminal organization activity, child abuse and child sexual abuse, mental health and behavioral health, suicide awareness and prevention, and other issues that prevent the maintenance of a safe school.

(3) Addressing the professional development needs for faculty and staff to implement methods that decrease problems identified under subdivision (2).

(4) Identifying and implementing methods to encourage:

(A) involvement by the community, families, and students;

(B) development of relationships between students and school faculty and staff; and

(e) The guidelines developed under subsection (d) must include age appropriate, research based information that assists school corporations or charter schools and safe school committees in:

(1) developing and implementing bullying and cyberbullying prevention programs;

(2) establishing investigation and reporting procedures related to bullying and cyberbullying; and

(3) adopting discipline rules that comply with IC 20-33-8-13.5.

(f) In addition to developing guidelines under subsection (d), the department of education shall establish categories of types of bullying incidents to allow school corporations to use the categories in making reports under IC 20-20-8-8 and IC 20-34-6-1.

IC 20-33-8-13.5. Discipline rules prohibiting bullying required.

(a) Discipline rules adopted by the governing body of a school corporation under section 12 [IC 20-33-8-12] of this chapter must:

(1) prohibit bullying; and

(2) include:

(A) provisions concerning education, parental involvement, and intervention;

(B) a detailed procedure for the expedited investigation of incidents of bullying that includes:

(i) appropriate responses to bullying behaviors, wherever the behaviors occur;

(ii) provisions for anonymous and personal reporting of bullying to a teacher or other school staff;

(iii) provisions that require a school to prioritize the safety of the victim;

(iv) timetables for reporting of bullying incidents to the parents of both the targeted student and the alleged perpetrator in an expedited manner;

(v) timetables for reporting of bullying incidents to school counselors, school administrators, the superintendent, or law enforcement, if it is determined that reporting the bullying incident to law enforcement is necessary;

(vi) discipline provisions for teachers, school staff, or school administrators who fail to initiate or conduct an investigation of a bullying incident; and

(vii) discipline provisions for false reporting of bullying; and

(i) support services for the victim; and

(ii) bullying education for the alleged perpetrator.

(b) The discipline rules described in subsection (a) may be applied regardless of the physical location in which the bullying behavior occurred, whenever:

(1) the individual committing the bullying behavior and any of the intended targets of the bullying behavior are students attending a school within a school corporation; and

(2) disciplinary action is reasonably necessary to avoid substantial interference with school discipline or prevent an unreasonable threat to the rights of others to a safe and peaceful learning environment.

(c) The discipline rules described in subsection (a) must prohibit bullying through the use of data or computer software that is accessed through a:

(1) computer;

(2) computer system;

(3) computer network; or

(4) cellular telephone or other wireless or cellular communications device.

(d) The discipline rules described in subsection (a) must include policies to allow a parent of a child in the school corporation to review any materials used in any bullying prevention or suicide prevention program.

(e) The discipline rules described in subsection (a) may include provisions to determine:

(1) the severity of an incident of bullying; and

(2) whether an incident of bullying may warrant the transfer of the victim or the alleged perpetrator to another school in the school corporation.

(f) This section may not be construed to give rise to a cause of action against a person or school corporation based on an allegation of noncompliance with this section. Noncompliance with this section may not be used as evidence against a school corporation in a cause of action.

(g) A record made of an investigation, a disciplinary action, or a follow-up action performed under rules adopted under this section is not a public record under IC 5-14-3.

(h) The department shall periodically review each policy adopted under this section to ensure the policy's compliance with this section.

IC 20-33-8-14. Grounds for suspension or expulsion.

(a) The following are the grounds for student suspension or expulsion, subject to the procedural requirements of this chapter and as stated by school corporation rules:

(1) Student misconduct.

(2) Substantial disobedience.

(b) The grounds for suspension or expulsion listed in subsection (a) apply when a student is:

(1) on school grounds immediately before or during school hours, or immediately after school hours, or at any other time when the school is being used by a school group;

(2) off school grounds at a school activity, function, or event; or

(3) traveling to or from school or a school activity, function, or event.

IC 20-33-8-15. Unlawful activity by student.

In addition to the grounds specified in section 14 [IC 20-33-8-14] of this chapter, a student may be suspended or expelled for engaging in unlawful activity on or off school grounds if:

(1) the unlawful activity may reasonably be considered to be an interference with school purposes or an educational function; or

(2) the student's removal is necessary to restore order or protect persons on school property;

including an unlawful activity during weekends, holidays, other school breaks, and the summer period when a student may not be attending classes or other school functions.

IC 20-33-8-4. "School purposes" defined.

As used in this chapter, "school purposes" refers to the purposes for which a school corporation operates, including the following:

(1) To promote knowledge and learning generally.

(2) To maintain an orderly and effective educational system.

(3) To take any action under the authority granted to school corporations and their governing bodies by IC 20-26-5 or by any other statute.

IC 20-33-8-5. "School property" defined.

As used in this chapter, "school property" means the following:

(1) A building or other structure owned or rented by a school corporation.

(2) The grounds adjacent to and owned or rented in common with a building or other structure owned or rented by a school corporation.

IC 20-33-9-5. Reporting duty of employees other than administrative staff.

If a person other than a member of the administrative staff who is an employee of a school corporation has personally observed:

(1) a violation described in section 1 [IC 20-33-9-1] of this chapter; or

(2) a delinquent act that would be a violation under section 1 of this chapter if the violator were an adult;

in, on, or within one thousand (1,000) feet of the school property of the school corporation employing the person, the person shall immediately report the violation in writing to a member of the administrative staff of the school corporation employing the person.

REGULATIONS

No relevant regulations found.