Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 339 § 339.250 — Duty

Duty of student to comply with rules; policies on discipline, suspension, expulsion, threats of violence or harm, firearms and physical force; student handbook or code of conduct; enforcement of policies. (1) Public school students shall comply with rules for the government of such schools, pursue the prescribed course of study, use the prescribed textbooks and submit to the teachers’ authority. (2) Each district school board shall adopt written policies for the discipline, suspension or expulsion of any refractory student. The policies: (a) May allow discipline, suspension or expulsion for conduct that includes, but is not limited to: (A) Willful disobedience; (B) Open defiance of the authority of a school employee; (C) Possession or distribution of tobacco, alcohol, drugs or other controlled substances; (D) Use or display of profane or obscene language; (E) Willful damage or injury to school property; (F) Use of threats, intimidation, harassment or coercion against a student or a school employee; (G) Assault of a school employee or another student; or (H) Intentional attempts, by word or conduct, to place a school employee or another student in fear of imminent serious physical injury. (b) Must require consideration of the age of a student and the past pattern of behavior of a student prior to imposing the suspension or expulsion of a student. (c) Must limit the use of expulsion to the following circumstances: (A) For conduct that poses a threat to the health or safety of students or school employees; (B) When other strategies to change student conduct have been ineffective, except that expulsion may not be used to address truancy; or (C) When the expulsion is required by law. (d) In addition to any limitations imposed by paragraph (c) of this subsection, for a student who is in fifth grade or lower, must limit the use of out-of-school suspension or of expulsion to the following circumstances: (A) For nonaccidental conduct causing serious physical harm to a student or school employee; (B) When a school administrator determines, based upon the administrator’s observation or upon a report from a school employee, that the student’s conduct poses a direct threat to the health or safety of students or school employees; or (C) When the suspension or expulsion is required by law. (e) When an out-of-school suspension is imposed as provided under paragraph (d) of this subsection, must require the school district to take steps to prevent the recurrence of the behavior that led to the out-of-school suspension and return the student to a classroom setting so that the disruption of the student’s academic instruction is minimized. (f) Must be limited so that: (A) The duration of an expulsion may not be more than one calendar year. (B) The duration of a suspension may not be more than 10 school days. (g) Notwithstanding ORS 336.010, may require a student to attend school during nonschool hours as an alternative to suspension if the total number of hours does not exceed the equivalent of 10 school days. (3) Pursuant to the policies adopted as provided by subsection (2) of this section, each school district shall develop a student handbook, code of conduct or other document that: (a) Defines and helps create a learning environment that students respect; (b) Defines acceptable norms of behavior for students and the types of behavior that are subject to discipline; (c) Establishes procedures to address behavior or circumstances that pose a threat to the safety of students or employees of the school; (d) Establishes a system of consequences that are designed to correct student misconduct and promote behavior within acceptable norms; and (e) Makes the system of consequences known to the school community through the dissemination of information to students, parents, legal guardians and school district employees. (4) Each district school board shall adopt written policies on managing students who threaten violence or harm in public schools. The policies adopted by a district school board under this section shall include all of the following: (a) Staff reporting methods. (b) Provisions that allow an administrator to consider and implement any of the following options: (A) Immediately removing from the classroom setting any student who has threatened to injure another person or to severely damage school property. (B) Placing the student in a setting where the behavior will receive immediate attention, including, but not limited to, the office of the school principal, vice principal, assistant principal, counselor or a school psychologist licensed by the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission or the office of any licensed mental health professional. (C) Requiring that a school obtain an evaluation of a student by a licensed mental health professional before allowing the student to return to the classroom setting. A student who is removed from the classr