Committee reviews RS32016 to prevent students evading school discipline by disenrolling

Representative Chris Mathias told the Idaho House Education Committee on Jan. 23 that RS32016 would allow local boards of trustees to deny enrollment to students who had been ‘‘disenrolled in lieu of discipline,’’ closing what he described as a loophole that lets students avoid sanctions by unenrolling before formal discipline is recorded.

Mathias said the change would amend Idaho Code section 33‑3205 to add students ‘‘who were disenrolled in lieu of discipline’’ to the list of circumstances that permit a board to deny enrollment. ‘‘What has come to the awareness of those who work in our schools is that…parents are disenrolling [students] and trying to move them to a different district,’’ Mathias said, adding that a receiving district often has no record of an expulsion or formal sanction in those cases.

Committee members asked whether the change would conflict with protections under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act — which governs disciplinary processes for students with disabilities — and whether the language could unintentionally reach benign denials of enrollment, such as a full charter school. Representative Church explained that federal rules require evaluation before a student with a 504 plan can be removed from school for extended periods (suspensions longer than 10 days require a formal review of disability‑related behavior).

After extended discussion and suggestions for tightened wording, the committee voted to return RS32016 to the sponsor so the language could be clarified and refined; the sponsor, Representative Mathias, said he would revise the draft and bring it back. The committee did not adopt the bill as written at this hearing.

No formal vote tally for the return motion was recorded in the transcript; committee members said the motion carried and the RS will be redrafted for future consideration.