REPORT TITLE:
Edu.; Student Discipline


DESCRIPTION:
Provides public school teachers with procedures to follow before
refusing admittance of a pupil to class.  Requires substitute
educational activities or other appropriate assistance for
children excluded from attending school.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           2505
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO TEACHERS' RIGHTS REGARDING STUDENT DISCIPLINE. 


BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that teachers in Hawaii's
 
 2 public schools face many challenges in the classroom.  One of the
 
 3 hardest challenges is dealing with disruptive students who
 
 4 obstruct, or in some cases, prohibit the learning process.  Such
 
 5 students can be disrespectful, unruly, and uncontrollable in
 
 6 their behavior.
 
 7      The legislature finds that creating provisions to guide
 
 8 teachers on handling disruptive students is needed.  An
 
 9 environment conducive to learning and free of disruptive students
 
10 will ensure that other public school students can learn, receive
 
11 a better education, and achieve high test scores.
 
12      The purpose of this Act is to establish disciplinary
 
13 measures and procedures available to teachers facing disruptive
 
14 students in their classrooms.
 
15      SECTION 2.  Section 302A-1134, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
16 amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
 
17      "(a)  If for any reason a child becomes a detriment to the
 
18 morals or discipline of any school, the child may be precluded
 
19 from attending school by the principal, with the approval of the
 

 
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 1 district superintendent.  The department shall seek the active
 
 2 participation of other public and private agencies in providing
 
 3 help to these children before and after they have left school.
 
 4 If a child is excluded from attending school, the superintendent
 
 5 or the superintendent's designee shall ensure that substitute
 
 6 educational activities or other appropriate assistance is
 
 7 provided, such as referral for appropriate intervention and
 
 8 treatment services, as determined by the principal in
 
 9 consultation with the appropriate school staff.  An appeal may be
 
10 taken on behalf of the child to the superintendent of education
 
11 within ten days from the date of [such action.] a child's
 
12 exclusion from school."
 
13      SECTION 3.  Section 302A-1141, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
14 amended to read as follows:
 
15      "[[]�302A-1141[]]  Punishment of pupils limited[.]; teacher
 
16 dismissal of pupils from class.  (a)  No physical punishment of
 
17 any kind may be inflicted upon any pupil, but reasonable force
 
18 may be used by a teacher in order to restrain a pupil in
 
19 attendance at school from hurting oneself or any other person or
 
20 property, and reasonable force may be used as defined in section
 
21 703-309(2) by a principal or the principal's agent only with
 
22 another teacher present and out of the presence of any other
 
23 student but only for the purposes outlined in section
 

 
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 1 703-309(2)(a).
 
 2      (b)  Before refusing admittance of a pupil to a class, a
 
 3 teacher shall exhaust all other alternatives by conducting
 
 4 conferences in the following order, as needed:
 
 5      (1)  With the pupil;
 
 6      (2)  With the pupil's parents;
 
 7      (3)  With the pupil, the pupil's parents, and the pupil's
 
 8           counselor; and
 
 9      (4)  With the principal, the pupil, the pupil's parents, and
 
10           the pupil's counselor."
 
11      SECTION 4.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
12 New statutory material is underscored.
 
13      SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
14 
 
15                       INTRODUCED BY:  ___________________________