Student Handbook

STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT

STUDENT HANDBOOK

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DISCIPLINE FOCUSES ON INCLUSION, PREVENTION AND REDUCTION OF SUSPENSIONS

Revisions to the district’s Student Code of Conduct adopted by the Dayton Board of Education in 2014 eliminate all zero tolerance language, focus on reducing out-of-school suspensions, and center on prevention strategies to achieve more supportive school environments.

Inclusion and acceptance are the aim of the revised code of conduct, effective for the 2014-2015 school year. The district will provide training in preventive strategies to all teachers, beginning with the district’s preschool teachers.

Restorative Justice, introduced in 2012 to a number of schools expanded to eight schools for the 2014-2015 year and will be adopted district-wide by 2017, pending funding. The program reinforces positive behavior, conflict resolution and reconciliation, while teaching students responsibility, respect, and appropriate behavior in school and society.

These changes were made with input from a diverse committee comprised of parents, teachers, community members, principals, administrators, and students. The group has met monthly since last December to look at the district’s discipline data, policies and student code of conduct.

The committee will remain active following adoption of the revised code of conduct to serve the district as a component of the Family and Community Engagement Advisory Panel, reporting quarterly to the district’s Accountability Panel. The committee will, further, provide oversight to help ensure Dayton Public Schools remains accountable to the community by posting its discipline data on the district website, with quarterly updates starting in the fall.

Because efforts to monitor discipline for all student groups and schools are consistent with the practices of Positive School Climate, district officials expect to meet the annual target of a 10 percent reduction of disciplinary occurrences. Data comparing year-to-date disciplinary actions for the last two school years already indicate a significant reduction of 36 percent in suspensions district-wide.

VISION FOR A POSITIVE SCHOOL CLIMATE

Dayton Public Schools

  • Will provide safe and orderly environments as evidenced by positive student behavior

The purpose of the Student Code of Conduct is:

  • To provide clear and explicit expectations and guidelines governing student behavior, activities, and discipline.
  • To provide a framework for building a safe and effective academic community.