Student Conduct and Discipline

Administrative Procedure: 350

STUDENT CONDUCT AND DISCIPLINE

Background
Conduct and behaviour are closely associated with learning, and an effective instructional program requires a wholesome and orderly school environment.

Procedures

1. Students are expected to:
1.1 Attend school regularly and apply themselves to their learning responsibilities in both school and distributed learning courses.
1.2 Conform to reasonable standards of socially acceptable behaviour.
1.3 Respect the rights, person, and property of others.
1.4 Preserve the degree of order necessary for a positive climate for learning.
1.5 Respect the authority of staff, to the extent they are able, and respond accordingly. Consideration of student behavior will be assessed with a “trauma informed” perspective.

2. Discipline of a student shall be similar to that of a kind, firm, and judicious parent, but shall not include corporal punishment.

3. The District shall maintain a Code of Conduct, and following this model, principals will establish school codes of conduct to apply to students during any school activity, and may hold students responsible for their conduct on the way to and from school or a school activity.

4. Parents are expected to play a supportive role in affirming District and school expectations of conduct, in maintaining contact with the school, in ensuring care and appropriate supervision of their children when the parents are absent from the District, and in being available on short notice to attend a school interview when such is deemed necessary by the Principal.

5. In cases of serious misbehaviour or lack of application to school studies, a Principal or Vice-Principal is authorized to suspend a student for up to five (5) school days, in accordance with Administrative Procedure 355 – Suspension and Expulsion of Students. Further to this, Principals may determine alternative interventions to suspension based on the individual needs of students and considering trauma informed perspective.

6. Where necessary, the Superintendent or designate may extend this suspension for disciplinary or investigative reasons.
6.1 A suspension, which is extended for more than fifteen (15) school days, shall be reported to the Board.

7. 7. Only the Board may make a decision to no longer offer an education program to a student sixteen (16) years or older.

8. 8. Procedures shall be established which provide, in cases of suspension, for appropriate involvement of District Office staff and parents, and for provision of an appropriate education program within a reasonable time after suspension.

Reference: Sections 6, 7, 17, 20, 22, 26, 65, 79, 85 School Act
Revised: May 31, 2022

APPENDIX A – DISTRICT CONDUCT OF CONDUCT

The District, which includes staff, parents and students, has the responsibility to provide and ensure a safe and positive climate for learning. The District Code of Conduct provides a broad framework of behavioural expectations for students. This framework guides school communities in the development of their own codes. It is expected that all members of the school community will uphold the underlying principles of the District and school codes which include respect for self, others, property and the environment.

The Code of Conduct shall apply to all students during any school activity and may hold students responsible for their conduct on the way to and from school, at a school activity or in other circumstances where engaging in the activity will have an impact that adversely affects a school climate or operation, including disruption of the learning environment. Such behaviour or actions shall be considered a breach of the Code of Conduct, warranting appropriate forms of intervention.

The Code of Conduct recognizes that as children grow and mature, they are more able to make appropriate decisions and to be responsible for their actions.

Statement of Purpose
The District Code of Conduct is created to provide guiding principles of conduct for all students enrolled in the District and is in accordance with Section 6 (1) (a) and (b) of the School Act which states:
6 (1) A student must comply
(a) with the school rules authorized by the principal of the school or Provincial school attended by the student,
and
(b) with the code of conduct and other rules and policies of the board or the Provincial school.
The Purpose of the Code of Conduct as referenced in Administrative Procedure 350 – Student Conduct and Discipline, is to:
• Provide and maintain a safe, caring, and orderly environment for students to develop to their full potential.
• Ensure that the rights and responsibilities of individuals are appropriately balanced to uphold the collective well-being of all.
• Communicate the expectations of student behaviour to all members of the school community.

Conduct Expectations

Acceptable Conduct supports a positive learning environment.

It is expected that students will:
• Conduct themselves in an appropriate manner when going to and from school, within school, on school grounds, during extended school activities and on school buses.
• Apply themselves to the best of their ability in all aspects of their education.
• Attend school and classes regularly and punctually.
• Be respectful of the thoughts, feelings and heritage of others.
• Respect the rights and property of others.
• Follow personal digital device restrictions outlined in Administration Procedure 145
• Dress in a manner which reflects purpose and propriety.
• Contribute positively to a safe, caring and orderly school.
• Behave in an ethical and lawful manner.
• Report to a responsible adult, incidents of threats, bullying, harassment, violence or intimidation.

Unacceptable Conduct interferes with a positive learning environment.
Some examples of unacceptable behaviours include:
• Interference with the learning of others.
• Use of inappropriate or abusive language.
• Threatening, harassing, intimidating, assaulting or bullying, in any way, any person within the school community including aggressive behaviours such as “cyber” hate messaging and websites created in the student’s home, in cyber cafes or other settings.
• Possessing weapons or dangerous articles.
• Possession, use, or distribution of illegal or restricted substances.
• Theft of or damage to property.
• Any efforts to cause harm or discriminate against* another person based on, but not limited to race, religion, gender, physical or intellectual disability, marital or family status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or age.
• Gang related behaviours.
• Acts of retribution toward a person who has reported incidents.
*The Human Rights Code states: discrimination occurs when someone is treated differently and poorly because of their race, colour, ancestry, place of origin, religion, marital or family status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age (19 years and over), criminal conviction (in employment), political belief (in employment), or lawful source of income (in tenancy).

Rising Expectations
The Code of Conduct recognizes that as children grow and mature, they are more able to make appropriate decisions and to be responsible for their actions. As students progress through school, they are expected to:
• Acquire greater knowledge and understanding about their personal behaviour and its impact on others.
• Learn and utilize appropriate decision-making strategies.
• Demonstrate increasing self-discipline.
• Take increasing personal responsibility for their actions and learning.
• Be subject to increasing consequences for inappropriate behaviour.

Consequences
When determining consequences, and in compliance with Administrative Procedure 355 – Suspension and Expulsion of Students, consideration is given to the maturity as well as the intellectual, social and emotional capacity of the student along with the severity and frequency of the misbehaviour.
Consequences are to, where appropriate, follow District procedures and will:
• Be thoughtful, consistent and fair.
• Seek to prevent a recurrence of the offense.
• Teach acceptable social behaviour rather than be merely punitive.
And where appropriate
• Provide means for restitution and restorative actions.
• Involve the offender in determining a corrective plan of action.

Notification
It is understood that communication is essential to the home and school partnership. Notification will be given to the school’s community of the school’s Code of Conduct. As well, notice will be given to the parents, caregivers and students within each school of the range of responses that schools may apply to breaches of the Code of Conduct including threat making behaviours.
Therefore, for breaches of the Code of Conduct, notification may occur as follows:
• Parents/caregivers of student in breach of the Code of Conduct.
• Parents/caregivers of student victim(s).
• School and District personnel – where appropriate.
• Police and/or other agencies – where deemed appropriate or where required by law.
• All parents/caregivers of the school community – when deemed important to reassure members of the school community that school and District officials are aware of a serious situation or incident and are taking appropriate action to address it.
• When the breach of the Code of Conduct is criminal in nature, police will be consulted prior to public notification.
Reference: Sections 6, 7, 17, 20, 22, 26, 65, 79, 85 School Act

APPENDIX B – STUDENT THREAT ASSESSMENT PROTOCOL: FAIR NOTICE

What behaviours initiate a student threat assessment?
A student threat assessment will be initiated when behaviours include, but are not limited to, serious violence or violence with intent to harm or kill, verbal/written threats to harm/kill others, Internet website/MSN threats to harm/kill others, possession of weapons (including replicas), bomb threats and fire setting.

Duty to report
To keep school communities safe and caring, staff, parents, students and community members must report all threat-related behaviours.

What is a threat?
A threat is an expression of intent to do harm or act out violently against someone or something. Threats may be verbal, written, drawn, posted on the Internet or made by gesture. Threats must be taken seriously, investigated and responded to.

What is a Threat Assessment Team?
Each school has a Threat Assessment Team which is multi-disciplinary. The team may include principal, vice-principals, district resource counsellor, school counsellor and police.

What is the purpose of a student threat assessment?
The purposes of a student threat assessment are:
• To ensure the safety of students, staff, parents and others.
• To ensure a full understanding of the context of the threat.
• To understand factors contributing to the threat makers’ behaviour.
• To be proactive in developing an intervention plan that addresses the emotional and physical safety of the threat maker.
• To promote the emotional and physical safety of all.

What happens in a student threat assessment?
All threat making behaviour by a student shall be reported to the principal who will activate the protocol for the initial response. Once the team has been activated, interviews may be held with the student(s), the threat maker, parents and staff to determine the level of risk and develop an appropriate response to the incident. Intervention plans will be developed and shared with parents, staff and students as required.

Can I refuse to participate in a threat assessment process?
It is important for all parties to engage in the process. However, if for some reason there is a reluctance to participate in the process by the threat maker or parent/guardian, the threat assessment process will continue in order to promote a safe and caring learning environment for all.

APPENDIX C – WEARING OF KIRPAN BY MEMBERS OF SIKH RELIGION
1. The kirpan is not to be considered an offensive weapon provided it is worn as a matter of religious expression and is concealed.
2. The Board’s solicitor has advised that it is not advisable to permit students wearing a kirpan (knife) or karpa (steel bracelet) to take part in Physical Education classes, either on an individualized program or, more importantly, in activities where there are a number of students involved.
3. Parents of students who may be wearing a kirpan or karpa are to be advised that the student may be excused from Physical Education programs when there is a potential safety hazard to the student or others.

Reference: Sections 6, 7, 17, 20, 22, 26, 65, 79, 85 School Act

APPENDIX D – SELF/PEER MEDIA EXPLOITATION GUIDELINES
These guidelines were created in partnership with Delta Police and MCFD.

Policy:
Student safety and the development of social responsibility is a priority in the Delta School District. It is important to have standards and guidelines in place to help young people navigate their way through a media-rich technological world that is seeing an increasing amount of inappropriate and even illegal media usage. The Delta School District is committed to reducing and repairing harm, and to ensuring school safety.
Possession, creation, and/or distribution of pornography (self/peer media exploitation) is strictly prohibited and will be treated as a serious matter and potentially could result in a series of escalating consequences that may include suspension and/or withdrawal from the Delta School District. Possession, creation, and/or distribution of child pornography may also result in criminal charges. In all cases, young people need to be supported and educated.
Many of the guidelines and terms have been taken from the Canadian Centre for Child Protection Resource guide.

Language and Definitions:
Affected Youth: Youth whose image/video has been taken and/or distributed whether by themselves or someone else.
Offending Youth: Youth who have taken and/or distributed an image/video of someone other than themselves.
Bystander: Youth who are in receipt of the distributed image/video, whether by the affected or acting out youth; and/or youth who are aware of exploitative images/videos.
Peer Media Exploitation: The type of exploitation coined in the media as “sexting,” is generally defined as youth creating, sending or sharing sexual images and/or videos with peers via the Internet and/or electronic devices. Self/peer exploitation usually involves exchanging images/videos through cell phone messaging, messaging apps (on iPhones, Blackberries, Androids), social networking sites, etc.
Exploitative Media: A photograph, film, video or other visual representation, whether or not it was made by electronic or mechanical means:
Child Pornography (as defined by the criminal code):
• a photograph, film, video, or other visual representation that shows a person who is or is depicted as being under the age of 18 years and is engaged in or is depicted as engaged in explicit sexual activity, or
• the dominant characteristic of which is the depiction, for a sexual purpose, of a sexual organ or the anal region of a person under the age of 18 years.

Considerations:
Age of consent:
In Canada, anyone under the age of 16 cannot consent to sexual activity with an adult who is five years older or more. For youth 12 and 13 years of age, the close in age exemption means the individual must be less than two years older than the child. In addition there can be no consent where one of the parties is in a position of trust or authority towards the child or the relationship is otherwise exploitative of the child.
Actions taken by school or district staff when there is clear intent on part of a student regarding the creating and sharing of the image/video.

Procedures:
The school principal or designate is responsible for ensuring the district’s procedure regarding accessing, possession and distribution of pornographic images and peer/media exploitation is followed consistently in all cases.
The administrator is responsible to ensure student and parents are advised that social media devices (ie: cell phones, ipods, computers etc) may be subject to search and seizure any time there is reasonable grounds to believe this has occurred. This notification will be done annually through school agendas, and included in the district fair notice letter regarding school safety.
A non-compliant student who is unwilling to unlock a secured device should be given the option to work either with the school administrator, or be referred to the school liaison officer.

1. Possession – Adult Pornography
Defined: a student is in possession of pornographic images of someone over 18
1.1 Assess the nature of the images
1.2 Have student delete images
1.3 Notify parents
Depending on the nature and intent of the offense (number of times etc) the student may be subject to escalating interventions and consequences.

2. Possession – Child Pornography
Defined: a student is in possession of pornographic images of someone under 18.
Administrators who determine a student is in the possession of images determined to be child pornography (under 18) shall:
2.1 Secure the device.
2.2 Contact the school’s Liaison Officer or the Delta Police Department.
2.3 In conjunction with the Police, assess the nature of the images, the intent behind the creation or sharing of the images, and the extent of distribution. Once there is determination that an image is child pornography, police will undertake further investigations and seize the device in question.
2.4 Notify parents of affected and offending youth.
2.5 After parents, School Liaison Officer, and school have determined criminal intent, an action plan is created by school administration and police in consultation with parents.
2.6 Depending on the nature and intent of the offense (number of times etc) the student may be subject to escalating interventions and consequences.

3. Distribution Definition: A student who transmits, makes available, distributes, sells, advertises, or shares images in any way.
3.1 Secure the device if applicable
3.2 Contact the School Liaison Officer in all cases of child pornography (under 18). Avoid sharing the images with staff or parents.
3.3 Notify parents of affected and acting out youth
3.4 Depending on the nature and intent of the offense (number of times etc) the student may be subject to escalating interventions and consequences.

Consequences
Suspension:
The primary intention of a consequence is for the wellbeing of the students and school culture. Students need to learn from the consequence. The purpose is harm reduction and restoration rather than punishment (and potential further damage). Nature, intent and extent will be considered when issuing consequences. If actions by students is determined to be criminal in nature, police will undertake investigations and liaise with school and district officials in regards to school responses.

Suspensions and other consequences issued by schools and in consultation with district staff are intended to reflect the District and School code of conduct. Threat assessments, safety plans and other preliminary assessments will be used to help determine an understanding of both the offense in question and the appropriate consequences. Safety of affected youth impacted by the offense of another will be considered as paramount importance in consideration of consequences as well.

In Delta School District suspension vary between in-school low level suspensions to school imposed suspensions of up to five days. Five day suspensions leading to suspension to the Board of Trustees are imposed by the Office of the Superintendent and will involve consultation with an area superintendent. A hearing will then be conducted at the School Board Office and subsequent placement and conditions imposed.
D

etermination of level or degree of consequence by the school and district to offenses are determined by the Nature (images depict a child clothed or partially clothed in undergarments, nudity, sexuality depicted), Intent (Impulsive or malicious behaviour evident) and Extent (level of distribution).