Section VI – Definitions

365-day suspension: A disciplinary exclusion from school for 365 calendar days.

Alternative School: full-time educational program that meets the academic requirements of the NC Standard Course of Study and provides the student with the opportunity to make timely progress towards graduation and grade promotion.

Board: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education.

Bullying: Bullying is defined in CMS Regulation S-BULY/R as a physical act or gesture or a verbal, written, or electronically communicated expression directed at one or more persons that:

1. Creates an actual and reasonable expectation that the conduct will

A. cause physical harm or emotional distress to a person or damage his or her property, or

B. place a person in reasonable fear of physical harm, emotional distress or damage to his or her property; or

2. Creates or is certain to create an intimidating, hostile educational environment for the person at whom the conduct is directed, such that it substantially interferes with or impairs the student’s educational performance.

Destructive Device: An explosive, incendiary, or poison gas, including bomb, grenade, rocket having a propellant charge of more than four ounces, missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter ounce, mine, or device similar to any of the previously listed devices.

Disciplinary Reassignment: Assignment to an alternative school imposed as a consequence for violating the Code of Student Conduct. These assignments are not long-term suspensions.

Exclusion: The removal of a student from school for disciplinary purposes.

Expulsion: The indefinite exclusion of a student from school enrollment for disciplinary purposes; may be imposed only by the Board, and the student must be 14 years old.

In School Suspension (ISS): In-school suspension is an intervention for minor violations of the Code of Student Conduct in which students are removed from the regular classroom setting but allowed to remain at the school. ISS provides the opportunity to redirect student behavior and to restore an orderly environment that is conducive to effective teaching and learning.

Long-term suspension: The disciplinary exclusion from school of a student for more than 10 school days. For offenses occurring during the first, second and third quarters, the term may not exceed the end of the school year; for offenses occurring during the fourth quarter, the term may be through the end of the first semester of the following school year. May be imposed by the superintendent or designee.

MTSS: Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) is a three-tiered instructional framework for both academics and behavior. Disruptions in instruction are prevented by teaching students the expected behaviors for the campus and classroom. If students demonstrate a pattern of problem behavior, they are considered for a range of behavioral support interventions in addition to other discipline responses.

Principal: The school principal or any school professional to whom the principal may officially delegate authority.

Parent: Natural parent, legal guardian (including foster parent) or other caregiver adult who is acting in the place of a parent and is entitled to enroll the student in school under NC law.

Restorative Justice: Restorative Justice is reactive in nature. It consists of formal and informal responses to wrongdoing. These responses are introduced in an effort to avoid the reoccurrence of the wrongdoing and to begin to rebuild relationships where there has been harm.

Restorative Practice: Restorative Practices are proactive in nature. They consist of formal and informal processes put in place to create positive school climate. These processes precede any wrongdoing, provide expectation clarity for all involved and have a strong focus on building relationships and a sense of community.

Service Learning: Service Learning involves students in community service activities and applies the experience to personal and academic development. Service Learning occurs when there is “a balance between learning goals and service outcomes” (Furco 3). Service Learning differs from internship experience or volunteer work in its “intention to equally benefit the provider and the recipient of the service as well as to ensure equal focus on both the service being provided and the learning that is occurring” (Furco 5). Service Learning course objectives are linked to real community needs that are designed in cooperation with community partners and service recipients. In Service Learning, course materials inform student service and service informs academic dialogue and comprehension. Service Learning engages students in a three-part process: classroom preparation through explanation and analysis of theories and ideas; service activity that emerges from and informs classroom context; and structured reflection tying service experience back to specific learning goals (Jeavons 135).

Short-term suspension: A disciplinary exclusion of a student from school for 10 or fewer school days may be imposed by a principal or assistant principal.

Student: Any person attending any school in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

Suspension: The temporary exclusion of a student from the regular school program.

References

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (Policies of the Board of Education are available on the CMS Web site located at www.cms.k12.nc.us)

North Carolina General Statutes

• §§ 1-538.3(b), 20-11(n1), 115C-378 & 380, 115C-288, 115C-307, 115C - 390.1 - 390.12 and 115C-391.1.

Other References

• Handbook on Parents’ Rights

• Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments

• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

• Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)

• Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA)

• McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987 (McKinney-Vento)

• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

• Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Parent-Student Handbook and Forms Handbook

• Defining Restorative by Ted Wachtel, IIRP President and Founder

• Defining Restorative by Ted Wachtel, IIRP President and Founder

• Definition on Service Learning, Colorado State University (http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/service_

learning/definition.cfm)

• CMS would like to thank the Student Advisory Council and other Mecklenburg County entities for their Code of

 Student Conduct recommendations.