THE NEWLY REVISED Student Code of Conduct approved by the School Reform Commission last month introduces more flexibility when determining punishments for a variety of infractions.
It also reduces a reliance on out-of-school suspensions for lesser offenses and precludes suspensions (or transfers to alternative schools) for transgressions such as truancy, dress-code violations and cellphone misuse. The student's past behavior record will also be taken into consideration.
For example:
* If a student uses profane language or gestures, he will receive an in-school intervention. If the misconduct continues, the student could receive an in-school suspension. Under the previous policy, the student could have received a one- to three-day out-of-school suspension.
