22-032 Code Vt. R. 22-000-032-X - UNSAFE SCHOOL CHOICE OPTION POLICY
(a)
Unsafe
school choice - Each local education agency shall ensure that any
student who either attends a persistently dangerous public elementary or
secondary school, or is a victim of a violent criminal offense that occurred in
or on the grounds of a public elementary or secondary school that the student
attends, shall be allowed to attend a safe public school at the same grade
level within that local education agency. For purposes of this section, a "safe
public school" shall mean a public school that has not been designated by the
Department of Education as a persistently dangerous public elementary or
secondary school.
(b)
Persistently dangerous school -- Each local education agency shall, by
June 1, furnish data requested by the Commissioner on whether its schools are
persistently dangerous. If data becomes available after June 1, but before June
30, the report shall be amended by the local education agency. The Commissioner
shall determine by June 30 whether and which schools are persistently
dangerous. A school shall be designated as persistently dangerous if all of the
criteria in (1) -- (3) below are met for each of the immediately prior three
school years:
(1) 3% or more of the student
enrollment or, with respect to a school with a student enrollment of less than
a hundred, at least three students, have been expelled for violence-related
incidents that occurred in or on the grounds of the school;
(2) One or more students have been expelled
for possessing a weapon in or on the grounds of the school. For purposes of
this section "weapon" means a dangerous or deadly weapon within the meaning of
13 V.S.A. §
4016(a)(2); and
(3) 3% or more of the student enrollment or,
with respect to schools with a student enrollment of less than a hundred, at
least three students, have been determined to be victims of violent criminal
offenses and have exercised the school choice option described in subsection
(a), above. This criterion is inapplicable with respect to any school year
prior to July 1, 2003.
(c)
Duration of designation --
A school that has been designated as being persistently dangerous shall
continue to be so designated until such time as two consecutive school years
have passed in which the school has met less than all of the criteria set forth
in subsections (b)(1) - (3), above.
(d)
Victims of violent criminal
offenses -- When a student seeks to exercise school choice as the victim
of a violent criminal offense, the principal shall determine whether that
student is the victim of a violent criminal offense that occurred in or on the
grounds of the school that the student attends. Such principal shall, prior to
making any such determination, consult with any law enforcement agency
investigating such alleged violent criminal offense and consider any reports or
records provided by such agency. The principal may conclude that a student has
been a victim of a violent criminal offense where either:
(1) the perpetrator has admitted the violent
conduct, or
(2) the evidence
against the perpetrator allows for no reasonable doubt that he or she committed
the offense. The determination of the principal may be appealed by or on behalf
of a student claiming to be the victim of a violent offense to the
superintendent, and then to the school board for the district. For purposes of
this section, "violent criminal offense" shall mean any simple assault as
defined in
13 V.S.A. §
1023 that results in bodily injury, or any
crime listed under
13 V.S.A. §
5301(7)(A)-(I), (M), (N)
& (P)-(T).
(e)
Transfer - Any student who transfers to a safe public school
pursuant to subsection (a), above, shall be enrolled in the classes and other
activities of the public school to which such student transfers in the same
manner as all other children at that public school.
(f)
Notification - Each local
education agency that is required to provide school choice pursuant to the
provisions of this section shall promptly notify parents of, or persons in
parental relation to students:
(1) attending
schools that have been designated as persistently dangerous, or
(2) who are victims of violent criminal
offenses of their right to transfer to a safe public school within the local
education agency, and of the procedures for such transfer. Nothing in this
section shall be construed to require such notification if there are no other
public schools within the local education agency at the same grade
level.
(g)
Duration of unsafe school choice -- Any student who transfers to a safe
public school pursuant to subsection (a), above, shall be permitted to remain
in such safe public school until the end of the last grade-level offered at the
school from which he or she transferred.
(h)
Designating a safe public
school - When a school has been designated as a persistently dangerous
public elementary or secondary school, or when a student has been the victim of
a violent criminal offense that occurred in or on the grounds of a public
elementary or secondary school that the student attends, it shall be the
responsibility of the local education agency, after consultation with the
student's parents, based on objective criteria, to designate a safe public
school or schools within the local education agency to which the student(s) may
transfer. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to require a local
education agency to designate a safe public school if there are no other public
schools within the local education agency at the same grade level.
(i)
Transportation - Consistent
with the criteria of its transportation policy, the local education agency
shall provide transportation for any student permitted to transfer to the safe
public school within the local education agency it has designated pursuant to
subdivision (h) of this section.
(j)
Definition of local education
agency -- For purposes of this section, "local education agency" shall
mean a school district, as defined in
16 V.S.A. §
11(a)(10).
16 V.S.A.
§§
164(7),
168
Notes
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