Williamson County board debates discipline, IEP timelines and response to student walkouts

At its Feb. 17 meeting, the Williamson County Board of Education spent significant time on how the district responds when students leave campus or disrupt instruction, with trustees pressing for clearer policy and faster IEP‑team responses.

Public commenter Steve Hickey told the board there is currently no policy for students who "leave school without proper authorization to protest" and urged a consistent approach so students cannot selectively disrupt instruction without consequences. "It is therefore puzzling that Williamson county schools has no policy for students who leave school without proper authorization to protest some matter," he said during the public‑comment period.

Superintendent Golden told the board the district has been communicating with families about demonstrations and that the scope of discipline for skipping class is addressed in board policy 6.3, while policy 6.306 addresses disruption and encourages consistent application. Golden said the district will share a recently published In Focus article with families and promised to bring any needed policy changes to the policy committee for discussion.

Board discussion turned to students with individualized education programs (IEPs) and how federal rules constrain discipline. Superintendent Golden and special‑education staff explained that a student with an IEP must receive services every day of school except for 10 days total in a school year; if a behavior is determined not to be a manifestation of the student's disability, the student may receive the same discipline as peers. For certain federal "zero tolerance" offenses—possession of illegal drugs or weapons or causing substantial bodily injury—schools may remove a student for up to 45 days while continuing to provide services.

Dana Ostrokes summarized the federal standard for the 45‑day rule, quoting the regulation language used in district training: "substantial risk of death, extreme physical pain, protracted and obvious disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty." Ostrokes said administrators are trained to apply case law and regulation when determining whether an incident meets that threshold.

Trustee Mr. Galbraith asked staff to pull aggregate data on student skipping over the last three semesters and the discipline that followed. Superintendent Golden agreed to search the district database for that information and to place the item on the policy committee agenda for possible development of a targeted policy on mass skipping or coordinated walkouts.

Trustees also asked about safety when students leave campus. Golden said Student Resource Officers (SROs) coordinate with local law enforcement and that when students are off campus the district typically notifies municipal police for added safety; "If a student is on our campus, that's our responsibility," he said.

The board did not adopt new discipline rules at this meeting; members directed staff to return with data and potential policy language for the policy committee to consider.

The next formal step is the policy committee review requested by trustees; no formal board motion on policy language was adopted at this session.