5300 Code of Conduct

The Board of Education is committed to providing a safe and orderly school environment where students may receive, and district personnel may deliver quality educational services without disruption or interference. The school district is committed to:

• ensuring each student is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged;
• helping students develop self-discipline and social and emotional growth; and
• guiding students in improvement and corrections of inappropriate, unacceptable, and unsafe behaviors.

Responsible behavior by students, teachers, other district personnel, parents and other visitors is expected, as it is essential to achieving this goal.

The District has a long-standing set of expectations for conduct on school property and at school functions. These expectations are based on the principles of civility, mutual respect, citizenship, character, tolerance, honesty and integrity.

The Board of Education recognizes the need to clearly define these expectations for acceptable conduct on school property, to identify the possible developmentally appropriate, graduated consequences of unacceptable conduct, and to ensure that discipline when necessary is administered promptly and fairly keeping in mind the goal is not to penalize, but to teach students there are consequences to actions and choices. To this end, the Board adopts this Code of Conduct (“Code”), which is based upon education laws, regulations, and Board policies. 

The District has adopted a Code of Conduct that is in line with the NYS SAVE legislation.  The full Code of Conduct is available upon request from each school principal, may be downloaded from the District’s Web site (www.bufsd.org) and is available for viewing at the Brentwood Public Library.  Unless otherwise indicated, this Code applies to all students, school personnel, parents, and visitors when on school property or attending a school function.

This summary is intended to help parents inform their children of the basic rights, responsibilities and consequences attached to misconduct.  A copy of this summary will be mailed to parents and given to all students at the start of each school year.

All students are expected to know and adhere to the District’s Code of Conduct.

Rights and Responsibilities

Student Rights

The District is committed to safeguarding the rights given to all students under State and Federal law. In addition, to promote a safe, healthy, orderly, and supportive environment, all District students have the right to:

1. Take part in all District activities on an equal basis regardless of race, weight, color, creed, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practice, gender (including gender identity and expression) or sexual orientation or disability.
2. To be respected as an individual and treated fairly and with dignity by other students and school staff.
3. Present their version of the relevant events to school personnel authorized to impose consequences.
4. Access school policies, regulations, and rules and, when necessary, receive an explanation of those rules from school personnel.
5. To be provided with clear expectations regarding:
   1. Course objectives and requirements;
   2. Grading criteria and procedures;
   3. Assignment requirements and deadlines; and
   4. School and classroom rules and expectations regarding behavior.
6. Access grades including, but not limited to, tests, homework and assignments through the District’s electronic portal.

Student Responsibilities

All District students have the responsibility to:

1. Contribute to maintaining a safe and orderly school environment that is conducive to learning and to show respect to other persons and to property.
2. Help make school a community free of violence, intimidation, bullying, harassment, and discrimination.
3. Be familiar with and abide by all District policies, rules and regulations dealing with student conduct.
4. Attend school every day unless they are legally excused and be in class, on time, and prepared to learn which includes the possession of all required supplies, materials and laptop, as assigned.
5. Work to the best of their ability in all academic and extracurricular pursuits and strive toward their highest level of achievement possible.
6. React to direction given by teachers, administrators, and other school personnel in a respectful, positive manner.
7. Use a polite tone of voice and appropriate body language, listening when others are speaking to you.
8. To be truthful when speaking with school officials regarding Code of Conduct violations.
9. Respect personal space.
10. Work to develop skills to manage their emotions and reactions and resolve conflict with others.
11. Ask questions when they do not understand.
12. Seek help in solving problems.
13. Dress appropriately for school and school functions.
14. Accept responsibility for their actions.
15. Conduct themselves as representatives of the District when participating in or attending school-sponsored extracurricular events and to hold themselves to the highest standards of conduct, demeanor, and sportsmanship.

Parents Rights

All parents have the right to:

1. Receive regular and timely communication from the school related to student behavior and learning.
2. Expect their child to learn in a safe, orderly environment.
3. Expect equal and fair treatment of their child by school staff.

Parents Responsibilities

All parents are expected to:

1. Recognize that the education of their child(ren) is a joint responsibility of the parents and the school community and collaborate with the district to optimize their child’s educational opportunities.
2. Send their children to school ready to participate and learn, which includes the possession of all required supplies, materials, and laptop, as assigned.
3. Ensure their children attend school regularly, on time.
4. Ensure absences are excused.
5. Ensure their children be dressed and groomed in a manner consistent with the student dress code.
6. Help their children understand that in a democratic society, appropriate rules are required to maintain a safe, orderly environment.
7. Know school rules and help their children understand them so that their children can help create a safe, respectful, supportive school environment.
8. Convey to their children a supportive attitude toward education and the District.
9. Build positive, constructive relationships with teachers, other parents and their children’s friends.
10. Tell school officials about any concerns or complaints in a respectful and timely manner.
11. Help their children deal effectively with peer pressure.
12. Inform school officials of changes in the home situation that may affect student conduct or performance.
13. Provide a place for study and ensure homework assignments are completed.
14. Be respectful and courteous to staff, other parents/guardians, and students while on school premises.

PROHIBITED STUDENT CONDUCT

The Board of Education expects all students to conduct themselves in an appropriate and civil manner, with proper regard for the rights and welfare of other students, District personnel and other members of the school community, and for the care of school facilities and equipment with the goal of making school a community free of violence intimidation, bullying, harassment, and discrimination. Exclusion from the school environment and suspension will only be used when necessary to protect the safety of students and staff or when all other measures have been exhausted.

The best discipline is self-imposed, and students must learn to assume and accept responsibility for their own behavior, as well as the consequences of their mistakes or misbehavior. District personnel who interact with students are expected to use disciplinary action only when necessary and to place emphasis on educating students so that they may learn from their behavior and grow in self-discipline.

The Board recognizes the need to make its expectations for student behavior while on school property or engaged in a school function specific and clear. The rules of conduct listed below are intended to do that and focus on safety and respect for the rights and property of others. Students who will not accept responsibility for their own behavior and who violate these school rules will be required to accept the consequences for their behavior.

Students may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including suspension from school, when they:

Engage in conduct that is disorderly. Examples of disorderly conduct include, but are not limited to:

1. Running or otherwise unsafe behavior in hallways, classrooms, or spaces where such behavior is not appropriate.
2. Making unreasonable noise.
3. Using language or gestures that are profane, lewd, vulgar, or abusive.
4. Obstructing vehicular or pedestrian traffic.
5. Engaging in any willful act, which disrupts the normal operation of the school community.
6. Trespassing. Students are not permitted in any school building, other than the one in which they are enrolled, without permission from the administrator in charge of the building.
7. Computer/electronic communications misuse, including any unauthorized use of computers, software, or internet/intranet account; accessing inappropriate websites; or any other violation of the District’s acceptable use policy.

Engage in conduct that is violent. Examples of violent conduct include, but are not limited to:

1. Committing an act of violence (such as hitting, kicking, punching, and scratching) upon a teacher, administrator, other school employee, another student or any other person lawfully on school property.
2. Possessing a weapon. Authorized law enforcement officials are the only persons permitted to have a weapon in their possession while on school property or at a school function.
3. Displaying what appears to be a weapon.
4. Threatening to use any weapon.
5. Intentionally damaging or destroying the personal property of a student, teacher, administrator, other District employee or any person lawfully on school property, including graffiti or arson.
6. Intentionally damaging or destroying school district property.

Engage in misconduct while on a school bus.

It is crucial for students to behave appropriately while riding on District or charter buses to ensure their safety and that of other passengers and to avoid distracting the bus driver. Students are required to conduct themselves on the bus in a manner consistent with established standards for classroom behavior. Excessive noise or pushing, shoving and fighting will not be tolerated.

Engage in any conduct that endangers the safety, physical or mental morals, health or welfare of others. Examples of such conduct include, but are not limited to:

1. Attempting to engage in or perform an act of violence noted in Section D.
2. Subjecting other students, school personnel or any other person lawfully on school property or attending a school function to danger by recklessly engaging in conduct which creates a substantial risk of physical injury.
3. Stealing or attempting to steal the property of other students, school personnel or any other person lawfully on school property or attending a school function.
4. Defamation, which includes making false or unprivileged statements or representations about an individual or identifiable group of individuals that harm the reputation of the person or the identifiable group by demeaning them.
5. Discrimination, which includes using race, color, creed, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practice, sex, gender (identity and expression), sexual orientation, weight or disability to deny rights, equitable treatment or access to facilities available to others.
6. Harassment (or Bullying) is the creation of a hostile environment by conduct or threats, intimidation, or abuse. (See policy, 0115, Student Harassment and Bullying Prevention and Intervention for a more complete definition.)
7. Intimidation, which includes engaging in actions or statements that put an individual in fear of bodily harm.
8. Hazing, which includes an induction, initiation or membership process involving harassment (see policy 0115 for a more complete definition).
9. Selling, using, distributing, or possessing obscene material.
10. Using vulgar or abusive language, cursing, or swearing.
11. Smoking a cigarette, cigar, pipe, electronic cigarette, or using chewing or smokeless tobacco.
12. Possessing, consuming, selling, offering, manufacturing, distributing, or exchanging alcoholic beverages or illegal substances, or being under the influence of either. "Illegal substances" include, but are not limited to, inhalants, marijuana, cocaine, LSD, PCP, amphetamines, heroin, steroids, look-alike drugs, and any synthetic version thereof, whether specifically illegal or not, commonly referred to as "designer drugs" which are substances designed and synthesized to mimic the intended effects and usages of, which are chemically substantially similar to, illegal drugs, which may or may not be labeled for human consumption.
13. Inappropriately using or sharing prescription and over-the-counter drugs.
14. Gambling.
15. Indecent exposure, that is, exposure to sight of the private parts of the body in a lewd or indecent manner.
16. Initiating a report warning of fire or other catastrophe without valid cause, misuse of 911, or discharging a fire extinguisher.
17. Knowingly making false statements or knowingly submitting false information to school staff during a disciplinary process.

Engage in any form of academic misbehavior. Examples of misbehavior include, but are not limited to:

1. Plagiarism.
2. Cheating.
3. Copying.
4. Altering records.
5. Assisting another student in any of the above actions.

Engage in off-campus misbehavior that interferes with or can reasonably be expected to substantially disrupt the educational process in the school or a school function. Such misbehavior includes, but isn’t limited to, threatening or harassing students or school personnel through any means off-campus, including cyberbullying (for a complete definition of harassment, bullying and cyberbullying refer to policy 0115, Student Harassment and Bullying Prevention and Intervention). 

CODE OF DRESS

All students are expected to give proper attention to personal cleanliness and to dress appropriately for school and school functions. Students and their parents have the primary responsibility for acceptable student dress and appearance. Teachers and all other District personnel will exemplify and reinforce acceptable student dress and help students develop an understanding of appropriate appearance in the school setting.

1. Basic Principle: Certain body parts must be covered for all students at all times. Clothes must be worn in a way such that undergarments, breasts, abdomen, and back are fully covered. All items listed in the “must wear” and “may wear” categories below must meet this basic principle.
2. Students Must Wear, while following the basic principle of Section 1 above:
   • A shirt (with fabric in the front, back, and on the sides under the arms), AND pants/jeans or the equivalent (for example, a skirt, sweatpants, leggings, a dress, or shorts).
   • Shoes.
   • Masks or appropriate face coverings are required only when directed by school administration, in accordance with Department of Health guidelines.
3.  Students May Wear, as long as these items do not violate Section 1 above:
   • Religious, medical and/or cultural headwear, including head wraps.
   • Hoodie sweatshirts (wearing the hood overhead outside of school is permissible).
   • Fitted pants, including opaque leggings, yoga pants, and “skinny jeans”.
   • Ripped jeans, as long as underwear and buttocks are not exposed.
   • Tank tops, and/or other attire with straps.
   • Athletic attire.
4. Students Cannot Wear:
   • Clothing with violent language or images.
   •  Clothing with images or language depicting/suggesting drugs, alcohol, vaping, or paraphernalia (or any illegal item or activity).
   • Bullet proof vest, body armor, tactical gear, or facsimile.
   • Clothing with hate speech, profanity, or pornography.
   • Clothing with images or language that creates a hostile or intimidating environment based on any protected class or consistently marginalized groups.
   • Any clothing that reveals visible undergarments.
   • Strapless attire.
   • Swimsuits (except as required in class or athletic practice).
   • Accessories that could be considered dangerous or could be used as a weapon.
   • Hats or any item that obscures the face or ears (except as a religious observance, medical and/or cultural headwear, or as personal protective equipment (PPE).
   • Bandanas or du-rags.
   • ANY COMBINATION OF CLOTHING, WHICH LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES CURRENTLY CONSIDER GANG-RELATED. THESE ITEMS MAY CHANGE FROM TIME TO TIME. EXAMPLES INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO: “KNOWN GANG COLORS, SYMBOLS.

Each Building Principal or his/her designee shall be responsible for informing all students and their parents of the student dress code at the beginning of the school year and any revisions to the dress code made during the school year.

Students who violate the student dress code shall be required to modify their appearance by covering or removing the offending item, and if necessary or practical, replacing it with an acceptable item. Any student who refuses to do so shall be subject to discipline, up to and including in-school suspension for the day. Any student who repeatedly fails to comply with the dress code may be subject to further discipline, up to and including out of school suspension if after restorative justice principles have been implemented the student continues to refuse to cooperate.

Summary PDF

Complete Code of Conduct PDF

Code of Conduct Online