The Florida Senate

1003.32  Authority of teacher; responsibility for control of students; district school board and principal duties.--Subject to law and to the rules of the district school board, each teacher or other member of the staff of any school shall have such authority for the control and discipline of students as may be assigned to him or her by the principal or the principal's designated representative and shall keep good order in the classroom and in other places in which he or she is assigned to be in charge of students.

(1)  Within the framework of the district school board's code of student conduct, teachers and other instructional personnel shall have the authority to undertake any of the following actions in managing student behavior and ensuring the safety of all students in their classes and school:

(a)  Establish classroom rules of conduct.

(b)  Establish and implement consequences, designed to change behavior, for infractions of classroom rules.

(c)  Have disobedient, disrespectful, violent, abusive, uncontrollable, or disruptive students temporarily removed from the classroom for behavior management intervention.

(d)  Have violent, abusive, uncontrollable, or disruptive students directed for information or assistance from appropriate school or district school board personnel.

(e)  Assist in enforcing school rules on school property, during school-sponsored transportation, and during school-sponsored activities.

(f)  Request and receive information as to the disposition of any referrals to the administration for violation of classroom or school rules.

(g)  Request and receive immediate assistance in classroom management if a student becomes uncontrollable or in case of emergency.

(h)  Request and receive training and other assistance to improve skills in classroom management, violence prevention, conflict resolution, and related areas.

(i)  Press charges if a crime has been committed against the teacher or other instructional personnel on school property, during school-sponsored transportation, or during school-sponsored activities.

(j)  Use reasonable force, according to standards adopted by the State Board of Education, to protect himself or herself or others from injury.

(k)  Use corporal punishment according to school board policy and at least the following procedures, if a teacher feels that corporal punishment is necessary:

1.  The use of corporal punishment shall be approved in principle by the principal before it is used, but approval is not necessary for each specific instance in which it is used. The principal shall prepare guidelines for administering such punishment which identify the types of punishable offenses, the conditions under which the punishment shall be administered, and the specific personnel on the school staff authorized to administer the punishment.

2.  A teacher or principal may administer corporal punishment only in the presence of another adult who is informed beforehand, and in the student's presence, of the reason for the punishment.

3.  A teacher or principal who has administered punishment shall, upon request, provide the student's parent with a written explanation of the reason for the punishment and the name of the other adult who was present.

(2)  Teachers and other instructional personnel shall:

(a)  Set and enforce reasonable classroom rules that treat all students equitably.

(b)  Seek professional development to improve classroom management skills when data show that they are not effective in handling minor classroom disruptions.

(c)  Maintain a positive and effective learning environment that maximizes learning and minimizes disruption.

(d)  Work with parents and other school personnel to solve discipline problems in their classrooms.

(3)  A teacher may send a student to the principal's office to maintain effective discipline in the classroom. The principal shall respond by employing appropriate discipline-management techniques consistent with the student code of conduct under s. 1006.07

(4)  A teacher may remove from class a student whose behavior the teacher determines interferes with the teacher's ability to communicate effectively with the students in the class or with the ability of the student's classmates to learn.

(5)  If a teacher removes a student from class under subsection (4), the principal may place the student in another appropriate classroom, in in-school suspension, or in a dropout prevention and academic intervention program as provided by s. 1003.53; or the principal may recommend the student for out-of-school suspension or expulsion, as appropriate. The student may be prohibited from attending or participating in school-sponsored or school-related activities. The principal may not return the student to that teacher's class without the teacher's consent unless the committee established under subsection (6) determines that such placement is the best or only available alternative. The teacher and the placement review committee must render decisions within 5 days of the removal of the student from the classroom.

(6)  Each school shall establish a committee to determine placement of a student when a teacher withholds consent to the return of a student to the teacher's class. Committee membership must include at least the following:

(a)  Two teachers selected by the school's faculty.

(b)  One member from the school's staff who is selected by the principal.

The teacher who withheld consent to readmitting the student may not serve on the committee. The teacher and the placement review committee must render decisions within 5 days after the removal of the student from the classroom.

(7)  Any teacher who removes 25 percent of his or her total class enrollment shall be required to complete professional development to improve classroom management skills.

(8)  When knowledgeable of the likely risk of physical violence in the schools, the district school board shall take reasonable steps to ensure that teachers, other school staff, and students are not at undue risk of violence or harm.

History.--s. 127, ch. 2002-387.