Protecting instructional time and maintaining a school climate conducive to learning is of universal importance and should be central to a school board’s evaluation of a policy. The rise in emotional and mental health issues among students and the impact on classroom behavior have become greater topics of discussion.

The devastating global pandemic that shut down schools, reordered the norms for gathering in public spaces and forced many into quarantine fundamentally changed the way we live and work. These changes have taken a toll on everyone at every stratum of the socioeconomic landscape. The fallout can clearly be seen in the emotional lives of our children — and nowhere is the crisis more on display than in the classrooms, cafeterias and playgrounds of our public schools. Students’ struggles with emotional well-being and its connection to behavior is a national issue.

Even prior to the pandemic, social-emotional learning (SEL) was being incorporated into classrooms to help improve student outcomes and conditions of learning. The Common Core Standards and implementation of a Multi-Tiered System of Supports were intended to act as a foundation to promote and support robust strategies for engagement.

In 2020, the California Department of Education, in partnership with the State Board of Education and the Office of the First Partner, launched the Advance SEL Campaign, which encourages California schools to take a more proactive stance in addressing negative trends in student behavior by looking to prosocial strategies such as restorative justice training for students and school site staff, and embedding SEL into the instructional day.

Despite foundational efforts to improve school climate by incorporating SEL into the curriculum and instruction and expanding outreach into the community, the conditions impacting student life outside of the school day can be triggers for the types of behavioral excess that disrupt the learning environment and/or threaten the safety and security of a school community. Administrators must be aware of policies that support student well-being, including fulfilling the local educational agency’s responsibilities to meet the needs of students with disabilities and avoid the discriminatory use of student discipline.

In July 2022, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) released guidance that “reflects the concern, particularly in light of the prevalence of student mental health issues associated with the pandemic, that some students with disabilities are not receiving the supports and services necessary to address their educational needs, including their disability-based behavior.”

In accordance with the OCR and OSERS’ recent guidance, and in anticipation of California schools opting to devote more discussion and review of current discipline-related policies and procedures, CSBA is revising its relevant sample policies in the upcoming March Update Packet publication. Once released, boards are encouraged to review the following updated policy materials when discussing policy and procedures surrounding school discipline:

• Administrative Regulation 5131.41 – Use of Seclusion and Restraint
• AR 5144.1 – Suspension and Expulsion/Due Process
• AR 5144.2 – Suspension and Expulsion/Due Process (Students with Disabilities)

For discussions focused on effective strategies for minimizing the need for exclusionary discipline practices that would remove students from the classroom and result in lost instructional time, the following CSBA sample policies and regulations may provide useful guidance:

• Board Policy 6120 – Response to Instruction and Intervention (offers guidance on universal screening and continuous classroom monitoring to determine student need)
• AR 6141 – Curriculum Development and Evaluation (offers guidance on the adaptation or creation of curriculum to meet a specific need for a district’s student population)
• AR 6163.2 – Animals at School (offers guidance on Use of Service Animals by Individuals with Disabilities)
• BP 6164.2 – Guidance and Counseling (offers guidance on Personal or Mental Health Counseling, Crisis Counseling)
• BP/AR 6164.5 – Student Success Teams (offers guidance on early intervention and strategizing for maximizing student potential)