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2004 SESSION
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 22.1-279.6 and 22.1-279.9 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 22.1-279.6. Board of Education guidelines and model policies for codes of student conduct; school board regulations.
A. The Board of Education shall establish guidelines and develop model student
conduct policies for codes of student conduct to aid local school boards in the
implementation of such policies. The guidelines and model policies shall
include, but not be limited to, (i) criteria for the removal of a student from a class,
the use of suspension, expulsion, and exclusion as disciplinary measures, the
grounds for suspension and expulsion and exclusion, and the procedures to be
followed in such cases, including proceedings for such suspension, expulsion,
and exclusion decisions and all applicable appeals processes; (ii) standards,
consistent with state, federal and case laws, for school board policies on
alcohol and drugs, hazing, vandalism, trespassing, threats, search and seizure,
disciplining of students with disabilities, intentional injury of others and
dissemination of such policies to students, their parents, and school
personnel; and (iii) standards for in-service training of school personnel in
and examples of the appropriate management of student conduct and student
offenses in violation of school board policies.
In accordance with the most recent enunciation of constitutional principles by the Supreme Court of the United States of America, the Board's standards for school board policies on alcohol and drugs and search and seizure shall include guidance for procedures relating to voluntary and mandatory drug testing in schools, including, but not limited to, which groups may be tested, use of test results, confidentiality of test information, privacy considerations, consent to the testing, need to know, and release of the test results to the appropriate school authority.
In the case of suspension and expulsion, the procedures set forth in this article shall be the minimum procedures that the school board may prescribe.
B. School boards shall adopt and revise, in accordance with the requirements of
this section, regulations governing on codes of student conduct that are
consistent with, but may be more stringent than, the guidelines of the Board. School boards shall
include, in the regulations governing on codes of student conduct, procedures
for suspension, expulsion, and exclusion decisions and shall biennially review the model student
conduct code to incorporate discipline options and alternatives to preserve a safe, nondisruptive
environment for effective teaching and learning.
Each school board shall include, in its standards code of student conduct,
prohibitions against hazing, profane or obscene language. School boards shall
also cite, in their codes of student conduct, the provisions of § 18.2-56,
which defines and prohibits hazing and imposes a Class 1 misdemeanor penalty for
violations, i.e., confinement in jail for not more than 12 months and a fine of not
more than $2,500, either or both.
A school board may regulate the use or possession of beepers or other portable communications devices and laser pointers by students on school property or attending school functions or activities and establish disciplinary procedures pursuant to this article to which students violating such regulations will be subject.
Nothing herein shall be construed to require any school board to adopt policies requiring or encouraging any drug testing in schools. However, a school board may, in its discretion, require or encourage drug testing in accordance with the Board of Education's guidelines and model student conduct policies required by subsection A and the Board's guidelines for student searches required by § 22.1-279.7.
C. The Board of Education shall establish standards to ensure compliance with the federal Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 (Part F-Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994), as amended, in accordance with § 22.1-277.07.
This subsection shall not be construed to diminish the authority of the Board of Education or to diminish the Governor's authority to coordinate and provide policy direction on official communications between the Commonwealth and the United States government.
§ 22.1-279.9. Development of programs to prevent crime and violence.
All school boards shall develop, in cooperation with the local law-enforcement agencies, juvenile and domestic relations court judges and personnel, parents, and the community at large, programs to prevent violence and crime on school property and at school-sponsored events, which shall include prevention of hazing. Activities designed to prevent the recurrence of violence and crime, including hazing, may include such interventions as education relating to Virginia's criminal law, school crime lines, peer mediation, conflict resolution, community service requirements, and any program focused on demonstrating the consequences of violence and crime. School boards are encouraged to develop and use a network of volunteer services in implementing these prevention activities.