Title 18, Education

[§302A-1004.5] Accurate data reporting. (a) The department shall establish a standardized data collection process for schools and complex areas to maintain records and report data to the department. The department shall implement a process to: (b) The department shall annually re…

[§302A-1005] Reconstituting schools. (a) Notwithstanding collective bargaining agreements, memorandums of agreement, or memorandums of understanding, the superintendent may reconstitute a public school, except a charter school, that has been in restructuring under the No Child Le…

[§302A-1006] Harm to students registry; requirements; due process; immunity. (a) The department shall establish a harm to students registry, which shall be a database of employees found to have inflicted harm on a student in the State. The harm to students registry shall contain:…

PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS A. Miscellaneous §302A-101 Definitions. As used in this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings unless the context indicates otherwise: "Air conditioning" means any mechanical device that cools or heats air. "Attend" or "attendance" mea…

§302A-102 Smoking prohibited. All public schools within the State, from kindergarten through grade twelve, shall prohibit the use of tobacco at public schools or at public school functions. [L 2004, c 87, §2; am L 2014, c 232, §7]

C. Organization §302A-1101 Department of education; board of education; superintendent of education. (a) There shall be a principal executive department to be known as the department of education, which shall be headed by a policy-making board to be known as the board of educatio…

§302A-1102 Department of education; statewide administrative services. The department shall serve as the central support system responsible for the overall administration of statewide educational policy, interpretation, and development of standards for compliance with state and f…

§302A-1106.5 Board of education; community meetings. The board shall hold not less than one community meeting annually in each county in addition to their regular meetings to discuss and receive input from the community on public education and public library issues. The board cha…

§302A-1110 Educational districts not applicable. The educational districts established by section 4-1 shall not be applicable to, nor alter, the school districts established for administrative purposes by the department. [L 1996, c 89, pt of §2; am L 2011, c 5, §16]

§302A-1111 Duties of superintendent. (a) Under policies established by the board, the superintendent shall be designated as the chief executive officer of the public school system having jurisdiction over the internal organization, operation, and management of the public school s…

[§302A-1112] Rules. Subject to chapter 91, the board may adopt rules for the government of all teachers, educational officers, other personnel, and pupils, and for carrying out the transaction of its business. [L 1996, c 89, pt of §2]

[§302A-1113] Seal. The department shall adopt a seal, the impression of which shall be necessary to authenticate all of its appointments, commissions, final acts of the nature of record, and all other documents issued by it. Upon authorization by the superintendent, a facsimile i…

§302A-1114 Power of appointment, removal. The department, from time to time, may appoint and remove such teachers, educational officers, and other personnel as may be necessary for carrying out the purposes of sections 302A-201, 302A-401 to 302A-410, 302A-1001 to 302A-1004, 302A-…

[§302A-1116] Authority to create temporary positions. The department may create temporary positions as it deems necessary; provided that:

[§302A-1117] Records, evidence. The department shall cause all its proceedings, doings, and acts to be recorded, and these records, from time to time, shall be filed in the archives of the department. A certified copy of a record or any portion thereof, when signed by the superin…

[§302A-1118] Publications by department. The department may prepare or cause to be prepared, printed, and published, such reports, pamphlets, duplicate certificates, outlines of courses, etc., as in the discretion of the department may seem advisable, and sell or dispose of the p…

[§302A-1120] Public library system; board control. The board, through the state librarian, shall have direct control of the public library system, but not including school libraries. The board may adopt rules under chapter 91 for the purpose of this section. [L 1996, c 89, pt of …

[§302A-1122] Gifts. The board may receive and manage moneys or other property, real, personal, or mixed, that may be given, bequeathed, devised, or in any manner received from sources other than the legislature or any federal appropriation for the purposes of the department. All …

§302A-1124 Mandate to initiate school community councils. (a) The department, through the board and its superintendent, shall establish a school community council system under which each public school, excluding charter schools, shall create and maintain a school community counci…

§302A-1125 Educational objectives. The board shall formulate policy and exercise control as may be necessary to define a common set of educational goals that the schools shall be responsible for fulfilling. The board shall also be responsible for formulating standards for measuri…

§302A-1126 Waiver of policy, rule, or procedures. Any state agency that may be required to act under state law on a matter affecting an individual school or its school community, shall waive otherwise applicable policies, rules, or procedures when requested to do so by a school c…

§302A-1128 Department powers and duties. The department shall have entire charge and control and be responsible for the conduct of all affairs pertaining to public instruction in the public schools the department establishes and operates, including operating and maintaining the c…

[§302A-1129] Schools; opening and closing. The board may open new schools or close existing schools. [L 1996, c 89, pt of §2]

§302A-1130 Public schools special fees and charges. (a) The department may assess and collect special fees and charges from students for co-curricular activities. (b) Special fees and charges collected from students for co-curricular activities shall be deposited into insured che…

§302A-1130.6 Curricular materials fee special account. There is established within the department a curricular materials fee special account, into which shall be deposited all fees and charges collected from students or their parents or guardians for the loss, destruction, breaka…

§302A-1132 Attendance compulsory; exceptions. (a) Unless excluded from school or excepted from attendance, all children who will have arrived at the age of at least five years on or before July 31 of the school year, and who will not have arrived at the age of eighteen years, by …

[§302A-1133] Emergency measures. The department of health may implement emergency measures to refuse, modify, or limit attendance at any school in the State pursuant to section 321-1 if it is determined that there is imminent danger of an epidemic or serious outbreak of communica…

§302A-1133.5 Parent and guardian accountability for compliance with student code of conduct. (a) The department shall inform all parents and guardians of the student code of conduct and of their responsibilities with respect to ensuring that their children comply with the code. T…

§302A-1134 Exclusion from school. (a) If for any reason a child becomes a detriment to the morals or discipline of any school, the child may be precluded from attending school by the principal, with the approval of the complex area superintendent; provided that this section shall…

§302A-1134.6 Zero tolerance policy. (a) Any child who possesses, sells, or uses a dangerous weapon or switchblade knife, while attending school or while attending department-supervised activities held on or off school property, may be excluded from attending school for up to nine…

[§302A-1135] Penalty. If any child of school age persists in absenting oneself from school, the family court judge, upon a proper petition, citation, or complaint being made by the schoolteacher or any other officer or agent of the department, or police officer, or any other pers…

[§302A-1136] Enforcement. The department shall be charged with the enforcement of sections 302A-1132 to 302A-1135. Nothing in this section shall relieve any chief of police or police officer of the chief's or officer's responsibility for the enforcement of these sections, but the…

[§302A-1137] Attendance records; availability to authorized police officers. Dates of attendance of a student shall be made available to authorized police officers upon request. [L 1996, c 89, pt of §2]

[§302A-1138] Permit to leave grounds. All principals in the public schools, upon the written request of the parent, guardian, or other person having the care and control of any pupil attending any public school, shall permit any such pupil to leave the school grounds during inter…

[§302A-1139] Religious education. (a) The department shall provide for the release of, and shall release, any pupil in any public school from attendance at the public school for a period not to exceed sixty minutes each week during the school year, on such days and during such sc…

[§302A-1140] Religious holy days. The board shall release any public school student from school attendance for the purpose of observing religious holy days that fall on regularly scheduled school days, when the release is requested in writing by a parent, guardian, or other perso…

§302A-1141 Punishment of pupils limited. No physical punishment of any kind may be inflicted upon any pupil, except as provided for under sections 302A-1141.4 and 703-309(2). [L 1996, c 89, pt of §2; am L 2014, c 206, §3]

[§302A-1141.3] Use of seclusion, chemical restraint, or mechanical restraint prohibited. The use of seclusion, chemical restraint, or mechanical restraint shall be prohibited in public schools regardless of any consent of the student, parents, or guardians. [L 2014, c 206, pt of …

[§302A-1141.4] Use of physical restraint limited; notification; policies and procedures; training; review. (a) The use of physical restraint shall be prohibited in public schools unless a student's behavior poses an imminent danger of property damage or physical injury to the stu…

§302A-1143 Attending school in what service area. A person of school age shall be required to attend the school of the service area, as determined by the department, in which the person resides, unless:

[§302A-1143.5] Career and technical education programs; enrollment. (a) Any school having a career and technical education program shall enroll all students who submit a timely application for participation in the program and who: provided that if enrolling all students pursuant …

§302A-1145 Transfer to another school. No school shall receive any student under eighteen years of age, unless the student's parent or legal guardian produces to the school in which the student is to be enrolled, a certificate of release of the school last attended by the student…

[§302A-1147] Use of school grounds by county recreation departments. The board, upon request by a county, shall make school grounds available after school hours in the county where the request is made, for use by the county requesting the same whenever this can be done without in…

§302A-1148 Use of school facilities and grounds. (a) All public school buildings, facilities, and grounds shall be available for general recreational purposes, and for public and community use, whenever these activities do not interfere with the normal and usual activities of the…

[§302A-1148.5] Use of school grounds; assumption of risk. Any person who enters school grounds for the purpose of using the school's grounds, facilities, or equipment for recreational purposes, and who is not a student or member of the faculty or administration of that school, is…

[§302A-1149] Use of school facilities for after-school child care. The department may enter into agreements and contracts with individuals, organizations, or agencies for the use of public school buildings, facilities, and grounds for the operation of after-school child care prog…