Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 29, 1994 TAG: 9403290084
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He will ask parents to sign a pledge affirming their support for a new student-conduct policy that has tough penalties for drugs, weapons and violence on school grounds.
Harris will mail a summary of the code, called Standards and Expectations for Student Behavior, to the parents of all middle- and high-school students this week.
He will include a pledge for them to sign and return to school.
Parents cannot be forced to sign the pledge, but school officials hope that most will do so.
Like the old code, the new one prohibits students from having guns, knives or other weapons on school property. It also bans fights, assaults and disruptive behavior. And it prohibits students from using or possessing tobacco products.
Offenses that will carry an automatic 10-day suspension and recommendation for expulsion are:
Possession of guns or other weapons.
Selling or distributing illegal drugs.
Inflicting serious injury on another person.
The old code banned guns and other weapons in schools, but the new one is more comprehensive.
Three students have been expelled by the School Board in the past two months - two for bringing guns to school, and one for having a knife on school property.
Under the new policy, students who sexually harass others can also get kicked out of school.
The code defines sexual harassment and includes examples of prohibited acts, such as grabbing or touching someone, making sexual threats or suggestions, spreading rumors of a sexual nature and making sexual jokes.
The new code also prohibits cursing, vandalism, lying, cheating and plagiarism.
School officials consulted with students, parents, teachers and administrators in drafting the code.
School officials estimate that 30 to 40 children a year are suspended for violating school rules, and that two or three are expelled each year.
"We want to make sure that our schools are absolutely safe - and we want it to be absolute," Harris said.
by CNB