Shelton schools discipline policy

The Shelton School District’s policies on student discipline aren’t changing, but the language in the rules is being updated and clarified.

The Shelton School Board on Tuesday evening gave preliminary approval to revisions to its student discipline policy at its meeting in the Mountain View Elementary School cafeteria. The board can make the changes official with a vote at an upcoming meeting.

Dusti Trickle, the district’s director of student wellness, told the board the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction filed emergency rules clarifying and updating the Washington Administrative Codes on student discipline. The emergency rules are effective immediately and permanent rules are anticipated to be in effect by the 2025-26 school year, she said.

“The procedures for classroom exclusions hasn’t changed at all, for how teachers are able to remove students from classrooms,” Trickle said.

Trickle added, “Updating older WACs is a common practice and these updated rules better align with RCWs and maintain focus on the disproportionality in discipline. These rules are generally updated each year.”

A couple of the key changes are clarifications for classroom exclusions, Trickle said.

“Another change in the new rules takes the definition of discipline and breaks them into two different definitions, so they now separate discretionary discipline and nondiscretionary discipline,” she said. “Discretionary discipline is a disciplinary action taken by a school district for student behavior that violates rules of student conduct. Nondiscretionary discipline really goes into all the illegal things that are outlined in the RCWs.”

Another change is changing the term “emergency expulsion” to “emergency removal” throughout the policy, Trickle said.

The proposed changes include four added purposes for the student discipline policy and procedure:

■ Providing a safe and supportive learning environment for all students.

■ Providing a due process to students.

■ Implementing culturally responsive discretionary and nondiscretionary discipline policies and procedures that provide opportunity for all students to achieve personal and academic success.

■ Ensuring fairness and equity in the administration of discretionary and nondiscretionary discipline.

The policy also adds new definitions for cultural competency, diversity, equity and inclusion.