NEPN/NSBA Code: ADAA

SCHOOL SYSTEM COMMITMENT TO STANDARDS 

FOR ETHICAL AND RESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR

The School Committee believes that promoting ethical and responsible behavior is an essential part of the school unit’s educational mission.  The School Committee recognizes that ethics, constructive attitudes, responsible behavior, and “character” are important if a student is to leave school as a “responsible and involved citizen,” as described in the Guiding Principles of the Maine Learning Results.  The School Committee also recognizes that Maine law requires the adoption of a district-wide student code of conduct consistent with statewide standards for student behavior developed by the Commissioner of the Department of Education in compliance with 20-A MRSA § 254(11).

The School Committee seeks to create and maintain a school climate in which ethical and responsible behavior can flourish.  The School Committee believes that instilling a sense of ethics and responsibility in students requires setting positive expectations for student behavior as well as establishing disciplinary consequences for behavior that violates School Committee policy or school rules.  Further, the School Committee believes that in order to teach ethical and responsible behavior, adults who interact with students must strive to model and reinforce ethical and responsible behavior.  To that end, the School Committee supports an active partnership between schools and parents.

Recognizing that collaboratively identified core values are the foundation for a school culture that encourages and reinforces ethical and responsible student behavior, the School Committee is committed to the establishment and implementation of a process for identifying shared values and setting and enforcing standards for behavior, including prescription of consequences for unacceptable behavior.  The process for identifying such shared values will invite and include the participation of School Committee members, school administrators, staff, parents, students, and the community.  Core values will be reviewed periodically, with an opportunity for public participation.  The School Committee will direct the Superintendent/designee to develop a process to assess the school system's progress toward the achievement of an ethical and responsible school culture. 

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[NOTE:  The statewide standards are the “core values” identified in the report of the Commission for Ethical and Responsible Student Behavior, Taking Responsibility: Standards for Ethical and Responsible Behavior in Maine Schools and Communities.  The core values are: Respect, Honesty, Compassion, Fairness, Responsibility and Courage.  The Code of Conduct must be “consistent with,” not identical to, the statewide standards developed under 20 M.R.S.A. § 254(11).  This provides an opportunity for communities to identify their own core values and articulate what they “look like” when applied to behavior.  The core values serve as a basis for school system expectations for student conduct.]

Following the identification of core values, the School Committee, with input from administrators, staff, parents, students, and members of the community, will adopt a Student Code of Conduct consistent with statewide standards for student behavior that shall, as required by law:

A.  Define unacceptable student behavior;

B.  Establish standards of student responsibility for behavior;

C.  Prescribe consequences for violation of the Student Code of Conduct, including first-time violations, when appropriate;

D.  Describe appropriate procedures for referring students in need of special services to those services;

E.  Establish criteria to determine when the further assessment of a current Individual Education Plan (IEP) is necessary, based on the removal of the student from class; 

F.  Establish policies and procedures concerning the removal of disruptive or violent students from a classroom or a school bus, as well as student disciplinary and placement decisions, when appropriate; and

G.  Establish guidelines and criteria concerning the appropriate circumstances when the Superintendent/designee may provide information to the local police or other appropriate law enforcement authorities regarding an offense that involves violence committed by any person on school grounds or other school property.

H.  Establish policies and procedures to address bullying, harassment, and sexual harassment.

The School Committee will review the Student Code of Conduct periodically, inviting input from administrators, staff, parents, students, and members of the community.

When revising the prescribed consequences for violation of the Student Code of Conduct, the School Committee shall consider (evaluate and revise, as deemed necessary or desirable) relevant existing district-wide school disciplinary policies and/or consider the adoption of new policies that:

A.  Focus on positive interventions and expectations and avoid focusing exclusively on unacceptable student behavior; 

B.  Focus on positive and restorative interventions that are consistent with evidence-based practices rather than set punishments for specific behaviors, and avoid “zero tolerance” practices unlessspecifically required by federal or state laws, rules, or regulations; 

C.  Allow administrators to use their discretion to fashion appropriate discipline that examines the circumstances pertinent to the case at hand; and

D.  Provide notice to the parents of a student when a student is suspended from school, regardless of whether the suspension is an in-school or out-of-school suspension.

 “Positive interventions” and “restorative interventions” shall have the same meaning as provided in 20-A MRSA §1001(15).

Students, parents, staff, and the community will be informed of the Student Code of Conduct and relevant district-wide school disciplinary policies through handbooks, the school unit’s website, and/or other means selected by the Superintendent/designee.  

Ethics and Curriculum

The School Committee encourages the integration of ethics into content areas of the curriculum, as appropriate. The School Committee also encourages schools to provide students with meaningful opportunities to apply values and ethical and responsible behavior through activities such as problem-solving, peer mediation, and student government/leadership development.   

Legal Reference: 20-A MRSA §§ 254, 1001(15), 1001(15-A)

Cross-reference: JIC ‒ Student Code of Conduct

JKD – Suspension of Students

Adopted: September 11, 2023