Definitions
aggressor: Student who initiates negative behavior, whether that is physical contact, a verbal exchange, or some other act that has a negative impact on another student or a staff member.
altercations (verbal and physical): Confrontations between students; verbal altercations are often characterized by yelling and profanity; minor physical altercations are limited to pushing, grabbing, pinning against a floor or wall, or physically obstructing someone’s movement. Physical altercations that are more severe than what is described as “minor” are the same as fights and assaults.
alternative placement: When a disciplinary decision requires a student to receive educational services from the Center for Community Learning, the Regional Alternative Program, homebound services, or through online classes, and the student is no longer permitted to attend his or her base school during the alternative placement.
appeal: Students/families can appeal 1) the decision of the school to suspend a student; 2) the decision of the school to assign a failing grade based on poor attendance; 3) the decision of the discipline review committee or hearing officer; and 4) the decision of the superintendent on disciplinary matters
arson: Setting fire to a structure; attempting to set fire to structure
assault: Intended to include both “putting someone in fear of physical contact” and the actual physical contact, which is also called “battery.”
attendance conference: After a student has accumulated 7 unexcused absences in a year, the school and the student and a parent/guardian are to have a conference to discuss ways to improve the student’s attendance. This is not a punitive meeting. At this meeting, all parties will participate in reviewing the prior attendance plan and developing new interventions if needed to improve attendance. If the parent/guardian does not participate in the meeting, the school will hold the conference and develop the interventions without the parent/guardian, and a copy of the documentation from the meeting will be sent to the student’s home.
attendance plan: A plan that is developed after 5 unexcused absences with the intention of improving a student’s attendance.
attribution: An electronic record or electronic signature is attributable to a person if it was the act of the person. The act of the person may be shown in any manner, including a showing of the efficacy of any security procedure applied to determine the person to which the electronic record or electronic signature was attributable.
battery: Physical contact with a person that results in injury, no matter how great or small the injury.
bullying: Any aggressive and unwanted behavior that is intended to harm, intimidate, or humiliate the victim; involves a real or perceived imbalance of power between the aggressor or aggressors and victim; and is repeated over time or causes severe emotional trauma. ‘Bullying’ includes cyber bullying. ‘Bullying’ does not include ordinary teasing, horseplay, argument or peer conflict.
bus stop: Includes a reasonable distance from where the bus stops or any location where students gather to wait for the bus.
campus: A general term used to include all areas of the school’s property.
Center for Community Learning / CCL: An alternative education site.
cellular phone: Includes all types of mobile phones or devices, such as watches, that can be used to call, text, message, video chat, or post to social media.
chronic absenteeism: Missing ten percent of the school year (18 days out of 180 days) whether the absences are excused, unexcused, or due to suspensions.
communication device / electronic device: Includes all types of mobile phones or devices, such as watches, that can be used to call, text, message, video chat, or post to social media; also includes both personal and school-provided hand-held devices, such as tablets, iPads, Chromebooks, etc.
consumption: Taking of a drug or drinking of substance/beverage that contains alcohol.
continuum of services: (Special Education term) The span of settings and instructional supports that are available to students who have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
defiance: Characterized by being informed of an expected behavior or directive and choosing a behavior or course of action that runs contrary to the expectation.
disciplinary review committee: A committee that includes the Director of Student Support Services and a group of school administrators from various sites in the county; the committee conducts hearings to review student violations of the Code of Student Conduct that have resulted in 10-day out-of-school suspensions; the committee can reverse the school’s decision, confirm it, lengthen it, or add supportive measures for the student, such as assigning the student to an alternative placement.
disciplinary review hearing: A formal hearing before the Discipline Review Officer or the Discipline Review Committee following a major violation of the Code of Student Conduct.
disrespect: Includes but is not limited to the following verbal violations: back-talking, cursing at a staff member, addressing a staff member inappropriately, or becoming belligerent in response to a reasonable request from a staff member; includes but is not limited to the following nonverbal violations: walking away from a staff member while being addressed, mocking a staff member, or showing total disregard for the instructions, directives, or materials given by a staff member.
disruptive demonstration: Any behavior that disrupts the orderly learning environment, creates the potential for violence, calls attention to offensive materials or language or depictions, or creates a concern for the health and safety of students and staff.
distribution (materials, alcohol, drugs): The act of giving, selling, sharing, or arranging for the exchange of prohibited materials, alcohol, or drugs.
drug: A general term intended to apply to illegal substances as well as controlled substances and over-the-counter medicines.
electronic record: Any record created, generated, sent, communicated, received or stored by electronic means.
electronic signature: An electronic sound, symbol or process attached to or logically associated with a record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record.
employee: A general term intended to include school administrators, teachers, counselors, aides, secretarial staff, custodial staff, and cafeteria staff as well as any volunteer who is working with students in an instructional setting.
expulsion: A consequence that 1) prohibits a student from receiving educational services from Henry County Public Schools; 2) prohibits a student from attending or participating in school-sponsored activities; and 3) exempts a student from compulsory attendance for the duration of the expulsion. When a student is expelled, he or she must appeal to the School Board for the expulsion to be lifted, and he or she may continue educational progress through home-schooling at the parent/guardian’s expense.
extortion (also “blackmail” or “coercion”): Knowingly obtaining control over the property or possessions of another person by threat or intimidation; using a threat to compel someone to act in a dishonest or unethical manner; using a threat to compel someone to do something against his or her will.
fight: An exchange of punches or open-handed hitting, whether the student makes contact or not, or any hold or push or wrestling that exceeds what would be deemed as a minor physical altercation.
firearm: Applies to any instrument, device, or weapon that is capable of propelling a projectile by means of combustion or pneumatic device, whether loaded or unloaded, operative or inoperative at the time of discovery.
First Offender program: A program offered as an intervention for students who have violated the alcohol or drug policy. This program requires a student to participate in drug counseling. The student may not attend the base school until all components of the First Offender program have been satisfied.
gang activity: Using a real or perceived affiliation with a street gang as a means to intimidate a student or instigate an altercation; organizing or causing to be carried out a violation of the Code of Student Conduct or an act that violates the law or causes harm or injury to a person or a person’s property.
harassment: Characterized by behavior or conduct that threatens or intimidates another person; or excessively annoys or demeans or reduces a person’s self-image; or creates a hostile environment or effectively prevents a student from fully accessing the learning environment at school.
hazing: Recklessly or intentionally endangering the health, safety, or well-being of a student or students in connection with or for the purpose of initiation or continued membership in a group regardless of whether the recipient of the actions participated voluntarily.
hearing officer: Generally, an administrator from outside of the student’s base school who has the authority to extend a suspension beyond ten days, assign a student to an alternative placement, or put in place services and supports that will benefit the student.
homebound instruction: An instructional setting available to students who are experiencing a prolonged absence from school of at least three weeks and who are expecting to return to school. Instruction is provided by an employee of Henry County Schools, and the student’s teachers are responsible for assigning grades for student work.
home-based instruction: (Special Education term) Refers to an instructional setting within the continuum of Special Education services. Home-based instruction is the provision of Special Education services and access to the student’s general curriculum at home or at a neutral location outside of the regular school building.
home instruction / homeschool: An agreement between the school division and the family whereby the family assumes the responsibility for providing instruction, assigning grades, and monitoring student achievement, and the school division reserves the right to continue to permit home instruction or to revoke permission to provide home instruction based on the family’s compliance with state regulations for home instruction. Home instruction requires approval from the school division before a student is relieved of his or her compulsory attendance obligation.
in-school suspension / ISS: A minor consequence for violations of school rules; ISS is a setting in the school building that removes the student from his or her peers in order to prevent further disruptions or to provide a space for a student to continue to work while a violation or disturbance is being investigated.
incentive: A reward, big or small, that is attached to a desirable outcome regarding student behavior, attendance, or academic progress. Teachers, counselors, and administrators will use incentives as needed and will withhold an incentive if a student does not reach the level of performance the incentive was designed to produce.
Individualized Education Plan / IEP: When a student is deemed eligible for Special Education and Related Services, an IEP is created to identify instructional strategies that are aimed to benefit the student as well as various accommodations that the school will provide for the student to increase the student’s ability to access and participate in his or her educational process.
ingestion: When a student has taken a drug or unauthorized substance orally.
instigation / instigating: Communicating a willingness or interest of another or oneself to engage in an altercation; encouraging an altercation through one’s presence, gestures, actions, or words, whether delivered directly or via electronic communication devices.
insubordination: Failing to comply with a reasonable, direct instruction from someone in a supervisory or instructional role.
intervention: A strategy that aims to change a behavior from negative to positive.
intimidation: Using one’s size, physical presence, actions, gestures, or demeanor to influence a change in someone else’s behavior or to prevent someone from a course of action.
larceny: Theft of personal property
Least Restrictive Environment: (Special Education term) Refers to the amount of assistance a student with disabilities receives through the course of the day; this term often is used in connection with the use of resource teacher, inclusion classes, self-contained classes, and alternative placements.
look-alike: Something that could be mistaken for a real weapon, prohibited object, or prohibited substance.
Manifestation Determination Review: (Special Education term) A meeting held after a student with disabilities has been suspended for the tenth day in a given school year; the meeting aims to determine whether the violations that led to suspensions are attributable to the student’s disability.
out-of-school suspension / OSS: An external suspension from school during which a student is not permitted to be on the school property or attend or participate in any school-sponsored activities. Out-of-school suspension, for attendance purposes, count the same as “excused” absences, which means that students will have an opportunity to make up assignments and assessments missed due to a suspension.
plagiarism: Intentionally or unintentionally using the words or thoughts of others without acknowledging the source of the information.
Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS): A framework or approach for assisting school personnel in adopting and organizing evidence-based behavioral interventions into an integrated continuum that enhances academic and social behavior outcomes for all students. PBIS is not a packaged curriculum, scripted intervention, or manualized strategy.
possession (materials, alcohol, drugs, weapons): Having a prohibited item or substance on one’s person, in one’s belongings, in one’s locker or desk, or in one’s vehicle. If a school official can reasonably discern that a student had been in possession of a prohibited item or substance, the student can face disciplinary consequences.
prohibited substance: General term intended to include tobacco, alcohol, drugs, or any other substance that has the potential to disrupt school operations or create a concern for students’ health and safety.
Regional Alternative Program: An alternative placement site that operates in the evenings.
restitution: Paying in full or in part for damages to property, to replace lost property, or to repay the cost of resources used in the treatment of an injury or event.
school property, school grounds: General terms intended to cover not only the physical school building but also the playgrounds, athletic fields, parking lots, and school buses. The term “property” is intended to include textbooks, computers, calculators, lockers, furniture, etc. In short, these terms apply to that which is purchased and maintained by Henry County Public Schools.
School Resource Officer / SRO: A deputy of the Henry County Sheriff’s Office assigned to work with schools, students, and families.
school-sponsored activities: General term intended to include athletic contests (onsite and offsite); school events such as dances, receptions, fundraising events, family nights, and academic contests; and field trips.
self-remediate: To take responsibility for one’s actions by acknowledging a violation and taking action to move immediately into compliance with the expectations.
sexual harassment: Any unwelcome sexual advances, references to sexual orientation, requests for sexual favors, and other inappropriate verbal, written, or physical conduct of a sexual nature that creates an intimidating, hostile, uncomfortable, or offensive environment for any student or employee.
stalking: Engaging in a pattern of behavior that places another person in fear of serious harm.
substantial disruption: Any act, commotion, or distraction that adversely affects or reasonably has the potential to adversely affect the orderly learning environment or prevents a group of students from being engaged in a lesson or places an excessive burden on school resources. A disruption becomes substantial when any one or more of the following conditions are met: 1) the disruption prevents the delivery of instruction for more than a moment, 2) multiple school personnel resources, such as teachers, counselor, administrators, and secretarial staff, are unable to attend to regular duties because they are involved with the settling of the disruption, and/or 3) the disruption results in the mobilization of outside resources or the initiation of emergency responses procedures in the school, such as evacuation, shelter-in-place, or lock down procedures.
tardiness: Being late to school or class, or not meeting the teacher’s expectation for being prepared for instruction at the being of class.
technology: General term intended to include Internet access, computers, laptops, hand-held devices, calculators, etc.
theft / stealing: Acquiring another’s possessions without right or permission; taking into one’s own possession items that belong to someone else with no intention of returning the items to the rightful owner.
tobacco product: Includes cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, cigars, snuff, dip, chew; tobacco by any name or of any consistency; also includes e-cigarettes and vaping devices.
trespassing: Entering or accessing a place without permission or without proper supervision.
truancy: Failure to comply with compulsory attendance statutes set forth in §22.1-254 of the Code of Virginia.
use: (as related to prohibited substances) – Participated in the consumption or ingestion of a prohibited substance, or introduced a prohibited substance to the body in any manner; (as related to materials, objects, weapons, and technology) – Accessing, operating, or accepting assistance from or gaining an advantage from possessing the prohibited material, object, weapon, or technology.
vandalism: Marring, defacing, or destroying property through a willful act.
weapon: A general term intended to include knives and guns as well as any other object that is being used to inflict harm or being used with the intention of intimidating or threatening someone.