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Board discusses House Bill 1223 on suspension and expulsion language; district staff to update policy
Summary
Board members and staff discussed recent legislative changes to suspension and expulsion language (House Bill 1223) and the implications for district policy, including a move to allow expulsions "up to 12 months" and references back to the North Dakota Century Code for weapons-related mandatory expulsions.
Board members and staff discussed language changes emerging from the legislative process to the district-originated suspension and expulsion bill, identified in the meeting as House Bill 1223.
Tara, speaking for district staff, said the bill as amended by the legislative council breaks the language into separate parts and references state code. "It's breaking out the bill and it's saying that a student can be expelled for up to 12 months, which was our original request," Tara said. She explained the district's reasoning: expulsions measured to a calendar-year length are intended to avoid inequities that arose when expulsions tied to the academic year varied depending on when an incident occurred.
Tara said the amended legislative-council language also refers the weapons-violation language back to the North Dakota Century Code and will require the district to update its local policy to reflect that expulsion for a violation of the district's weapons policy "can be expelled up to a calendar year or 12 months for a violation of the district's weapons policy," while noting that statute prescribes a mandatory one-year expulsion for possession of a firearm.
Board member Robin Nelson asked whether the change remedies cases in which two students who committed the same infraction at different points in the year received different-length expulsions; Tara responded that the calendar-year language is intended to make discipline more proportional to the act, rather than to the timing within the school calendar.
No formal board vote or policy adoption occurred at the meeting; staff said they are in the process of updating district policy to align with the amended bill language and statutory references.
Key points: - Bill referenced: House Bill 1223 (discussion of amended language and legislative-council changes). - District intent: allow expulsions "up to 12 months" to provide proportionality across incidents occurring at different points in an academic year. - Weapons policy: statutory requirement for a one-year expulsion for a firearm remains mandatory and will be reflected in updated district policy.
Board members thanked staff for drafting the legislation. The item remained a discussion and direction to update policy; no final policy adoption was recorded in open session.
