The board of directors of each school district shall adopt, in collaboration with teachers and administrative staff employed by the school district, policies for different grade levels that describe how a school district may discipline a student for making a threat of violence or causing an incident of violence that results in injury or property damage or assault. All of the following shall apply to the policies:
 1. The policies must incorporate strategies that are designed to correct the student’s behavior.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 279.65A

  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Internet: means the federated international system that is composed of allied electronic communication networks linked by telecommunication channels, that uses standardized protocols, and that facilitates electronic communication services, including but not limited to use of the world wide web; the transmission of electronic mail or messages; the transfer of files and data or other electronic information; and the transmission of voice, image, and video. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Property: means a tangible object, animate or inanimate, under a museum's care which has intrinsic historic, artistic, scientific, or cultural value. See Iowa Code 305B.2
  • School: means an agency of the state or political subdivision of the state, individual, partnership, company, firm, society, trust, association, corporation, or any combination which meets any of the following criteria:
     a. See Iowa Code 261B.2
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Student: means a person who enrolls in or seeks to enroll in a course of instruction offered or conducted by a school. See Iowa Code 261B.2
 2. The policies must provide for parent or guardian conferences, counseling sessions, or mental health counseling sessions, when appropriate. The policies must provide that the school district must receive the prior written consent of the student’s parent or guardian before requiring the student to participate in a counseling session or a mental health counseling session.
 3. The policies must be consistent with the provisions of chapter 256B, the administrative rules adopted by the state board for purposes of chapter 256B, the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq., and the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended and codified in 29 U.S.C. § 701 et seq.
 4. The policies must provide for escalating levels of discipline each time the student makes a threat of violence or causes an incident of violence that results in injury or property damage or assault.
 5. The policies must allow for the school district to select the level of discipline that the school district determines corresponds to the severity of the threat of violence or incident of violence.
 6. The policies must allow the school district to suspend the student, permanently remove the student from a particular class, expel the student, or place the student in an alternative learning environment, including a therapeutic classroom, when appropriate.
 7. The policies must require an individualized education program meeting if the student who made the threat of violence or caused the incident of violence that resulted in injury or property damage or assault has an individualized education program.
 8. The policies must be published on the school district’s internet site and in applicable student handbooks.
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