Student Conduct

Listed on this website are the behavioral interventions to be taken when a student’s behavior warrants consequences. In a behavioral intervention, the school administrator may exercise judgment in the implementation of disciplinary actions. An incident may warrant intervention dependent upon the age of the student, the situation, and the previous disciplinary record of the student. In the case of a student who poses an imminent threat of serious harm to other students and staff or has engaged in chronic and extreme disruption of the educational process, the student may be removed from school and a conference with the parent(s)/legal guardian(s) will be requested. In a behavioral intervention involving a student with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 Plan, the school administrator must follow the guidelines that pertain to those students. A student enrolled in prekindergarten through second grade may not be suspended or expelled from school, subject to exceptions, if required by federal law. It also allows prekindergarten through second grade students to be suspended for up to five school days if the school administration, in consultation with a school psychologist or other mental health professional, determines that there is an imminent threat of serious harm to other students or staff that cannot be reduced or eliminated through interventions and supports. In all other cases, all administrators shall follow the intervention levels for violations.

When a student commits a violation of the Board of Education of St. Mary’s County’s policies and regulations on the bus, such as engaging in violent, unsafe, and/or illegal behaviors, the school administrator must follow the appropriate consequences for the violation. For more serious infractions on the bus, discipline will include at least the appropriate support/intervention for the code violation.

Administrators must exercise caution in allowing students who have lost bus privileges and/or have been suspended from school to ride the bus home. The parent/legal guardian shall be contacted to transport the student home when there is a concern that the student may be a danger to self or others.