West Virginia S.B. 439

Cannot Suspend for Truancy

Prohibits suspension as discipline for failure to attend class; stipulates other methods of discipline may be used for the pupil which may include, but are not limited to, detention, extra class time or alternative class settings; abolishes corporal punishment; gives teachers authority to exclude from classrooms or school bus any pupil who is guilty of disorderly conduct, who in any manner interferes with an orderly educational process, who threatens, abuses or otherwise intimidates or attempts to intimidate a school employee or a pupil, who willfully disobeys a school employee, or who uses abusive or profane language directed at a school employee. Any pupil excluded shall be placed under the control of the principal of the school or a designee. The excluded pupil may be admitted to the classroom or school bus only when the principal, or a designee, provides written certification to the teacher that the pupil may be readmitted and specifies the specific type of disciplinary action, if any, which was taken. When a teacher excludes the same pupil from his or her classroom or from a school bus three times in one school year, and after exhausting all reasonable methods of classroom discipline provided in the school discipline plan, the pupil may be readmitted to the teacher's classroom only after the principal, teacher and, if possible, the parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) of the pupil have held a conference to discuss the pupil's disruptive behavior patterns, and the teacher and the principal agree on a course of discipline for the pupil and inform the parent(s), guardian(s) or custodian(s) of the course of action. Thereafter, if the pupil's disruptive behavior persists, upon the teacher's request, the principal may, to the extent feasible, transfer the pupil to another setting.

Source:
West Virginia Legislative Web Site

Status: Signed into lawStatus Date: 05/01/2001