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Board updates student-handbook discipline rules and expands approved uniform colors and elementary shorts
Summary
The Beauregard Parish School Board approved discipline committee recommendations on March 13 to add “digital” harassment to the student handbook, expand penalties for repeated electronic-device violations and broaden possible consequences for deliberate injurious acts; the board also approved dress-code changes to allow black as a parish-wide color and permitted certain walking shorts for elementary students.
The Beauregard Parish School Board on March 13 approved revisions to the student handbook’s discipline provisions and approved changes to the parish uniform dress code recommended by the discipline and dress-code committee.
Why it matters: The handbook changes increase the district’s disciplinary options for severe deliberate acts and for repeated electronic-device violations; the dress-code changes standardize approved colors and permit walking shorts for elementary students.
Key changes approved - Harassment language: The handbook will add the term “digital” between “verbal” and “physical” in the harassment/hazing/cyberbullying section to explicitly address digital forms of harassment. - Electronic-device violations: At the discipline committee’s request, the handbook will add a fifth occurrence for cell-phone/electronic-device/wearable-technology violations; the fifth occurrence will allow indefinite out-of-school suspension pending a hearing with the superintendent or designee to consider alternate placement. - Deliberate injurious acts: The committee recommended changing the penalty range for deliberate acts that cause puncture, bleeding or other injury from a fixed three days of out-of-school suspension to “three days to indefinite out-of-school suspension” pending a hearing and possible alternate placement or expulsion; the committee said the change responds to a serious stabbing incident at a school last year. - Dress code: The committee recommended, and the board approved, adding black to the list of approved school colors pre-K through 12. The committee also recommended allowing walking shorts in school-approved colors and blue denim for elementary students. The committee vote was 17–0 on the dress-code items.
Discussion and clarifications - Distinguishing fighting vs. deliberate acts: Board members discussed concerns about unintentionally creating a zero-tolerance policy for routine fights. Committee and board members clarified that the deliberate-act language is intended for intentional, injurious acts (for example, a puncture or stabbing) rather than every instance of student fighting. The committee representative said the language was prompted by a prior incident where a student was stabbed with a pencil and the handbook lacked clear options for severe deliberate harm.
- Process: The board approved the motion to adopt the recommended revisions and instructed staff and the discipline committee to finalize handbook wording and publish the updated pages (pages 10, 12 and 13 referenced during discussion).
Quote - On the deliberate-harm change, the committee representative said the language was prompted by “a particular incident that occurred last year” in which “a student became agitated and stabbed another student in the arm with a pencil.”
Next steps - Central office and school principals will update the student handbook and communicate the changes to families and staff before implementation.
