State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > Utah > Future-title-53a > Chapter-11 > 53a-11-904-effective-07-01-11

53A-11-904 (Effective 07/01/11). Grounds for suspension or expulsion from apublic school.
(1) A student may be suspended or expelled from a public school for any of thefollowing reasons:
(a) frequent or flagrant willful disobedience, defiance of proper authority, or disruptivebehavior, including the use of foul, profane, vulgar, or abusive language;
(b) willful destruction or defacing of school property;
(c) behavior or threatened behavior which poses an immediate and significant threat tothe welfare, safety, or morals of other students or school personnel or to the operation of theschool;
(d) possession, control, or use of an alcoholic beverage as defined in Section 32B-1-102;
(e) behavior proscribed under Subsection (2) which threatens harm or does harm to theschool or school property, to a person associated with the school, or property associated with thatperson, regardless of where it occurs; or
(f) possession or use of pornographic material on school property.
(2) (a) A student shall be suspended or expelled from a public school for any of thefollowing reasons:
(i) any serious violation affecting another student or a staff member, or any seriousviolation occurring in a school building, in or on school property, or in conjunction with anyschool activity, including:
(A) the possession, control, or actual or threatened use of a real weapon, explosive, ornoxious or flammable material;
(B) the actual or threatened use of a look alike weapon with intent to intimidate anotherperson or to disrupt normal school activities; or
(C) the sale, control, or distribution of a drug or controlled substance as defined inSection 58-37-2, an imitation controlled substance defined in Section 58-37b-2, or drugparaphernalia as defined in Section 58-37a-3; or
(ii) the commission of an act involving the use of force or the threatened use of forcewhich if committed by an adult would be a felony or class A misdemeanor.
(b) A student who commits a violation of Subsection (2)(a) involving a real or look alikeweapon, explosive, or flammable material shall be expelled from school for a period of not lessthan one year subject to the following:
(i) within 45 days after the expulsion the student shall appear before the student's localschool board superintendent, the superintendent's designee, chief administrative officer of acharter school, or the chief administrative officer's designee, accompanied by a parent or legalguardian; and
(ii) the superintendent, chief administrator, or designee shall determine:
(A) what conditions must be met by the student and the student's parent for the student toreturn to school;
(B) if the student should be placed on probation in a regular or alternative school settingconsistent with Section 53A-11-907, and what conditions must be met by the student in order toensure the safety of students and faculty at the school the student is placed in; and
(C) if it would be in the best interest of both the school district or charter school, and thestudent, to modify the expulsion term to less than a year, conditioned on approval by the localschool board or governing board of a charter school and giving highest priority to providing a

safe school environment for all students.
(3) A student may be denied admission to a public school on the basis of having beenexpelled from that or any other school during the preceding 12 months.
(4) A suspension or expulsion under this section is not subject to the age limitationsunder Subsection 53A-11-102(1).
(5) Each local school board and governing board of a charter school shall prepare anannual report for the State Board of Education on:
(a) each violation committed under this section; and
(b) each action taken by the school district against a student who committed theviolation.

Amended by Chapter 276, 2010 General Session