4. STUDENT MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION OF TEACHERS

4.1 LEGAL AID AND LIABILITY INSURANCE

4.1.1 The Board will retain independent legal counsel for any teacher sued in court wherein such conduct was reasonable in carrying out his duties in accordance with the policy of the Board, the rules and regulations of the State Department of Education, and the laws of the State of Florida.

4.1.2 The Board shall maintain a liability policy for teachers while carrying out their duties and responsibilities with the exclusion of corporal punishment.

4.2 TEACHER PHYSICAL ASSAULT

4.2.1 Any teacher who has suffered an assault in connection with his/her employment shall immediately make a written report, within seventy-two hours, of the circumstances thereof to his/her administrator in triplicate on the appropriate form. The administrator must verify the facts connected with the assault including names of those involved and submit the original report of assault to the Assistant Superintendent for Administration and Operations, and send a copy of the report to Risk Management within seventy-two hours of the event being reported. A copy of the assault report shall be retained by the principal, and a copy furnished the individual assaulted.
4.2.2 In addition, a teacher who has suffered an assault may be requested to submit supplemental written reports.

4.2.3 School Security shall investigate any reported teacher assault and make a full report, within three workdays to the Office of Risk Management. Such reports shall be available to the Association and the individual who suffered the assault.

4.2.4 A student accused of assault and/or battery upon a school employee shall be immediately removed from the classroom setting and placed in an alternative school setting pending disposition of the allegation.

4.2.5 Confirmation of assault and/or battery upon a school employee shall result in said student being expelled and placed in an alternative school setting for at least one year.

4.3 SAFETY OF STUDENTS AND TEACHERS

4.3.1 Teachers shall not be required to serve as security personnel during a period of civil disobedience, bomb threats, or assaults on students or teachers by trespassers. Teachers will make a reasonable effort to see that their students are protected while under their supervision. A teacher shall perform a visual inspection of his or her classroom for suspicious objects as a result of a bomb threat.  Teachers may volunteer to serve on search teams after appropriate training.

4.3.2 Each teacher at any school shall assume such authority for the reasonable control of pupils as may be assigned to him/her by the administrator and shall keep good order in the classroom and in other places in which he/she is assigned to be in charge of students.

4.3.3 The school administrator shall ensure the safety of the students and faculty.

4.3.4 Corporal punishment shall be administered only by the principal of the school or a person within the school designated by the principal (example: Assistant Principal for Student Affairs).

4.3.5 A teacher may send a student to the office to maintain effective discipline in the classroom. The teacher shall provide the administration with all necessary information concerning the student's behavior and previous action taken by the teacher. Student referral forms shall include space where a teacher can provide input and/or submit recommendations regarding disciplinary action.

4.3.6 The principal or the principal's designee shall consider the recommendation for discipline made by a teacher, or another member of the instructional staff, when making a decision regarding student referral for discipline.

4.3.7 Teachers shall normally receive a written report on the county referral form of action taken within three (3) workdays after a student is referred to the administration for disciplinary action. If the report is not issued, the responsible administrator shall inform the teacher as to the reason(s) why.

4.3.8 A teacher may have a student removed from class who has been documented by the teacher to have repeatedly interfered with the teacher's ability to teach, or may immediately remove a student whose behavior the teacher determines is so unruly, disruptive, or abusive that it seriously interferes with the teacher's ability to communicate effectively or with the ability of the student's classmates to learn.

4.3.9 The principal may not return the student to that teacher's class without the teacher's consent unless the Placement Review Committee determines that such placement is the best or only available alternative.

4.3.10 The teacher and the Placement Review Committee must render decisions within five (5) workdays of the removal of the student from the classroom.

4.3.11 The Placement Review Committee membership must include at least two teachers selected by the faculty, and one school staff member selected by the principal. The teacher who withheld consent to readmitting the student may not serve on the committee.

4.3.12 A continuous record of student discipline cases shall be maintained in a place available for staff use.

4.3.13 Teachers shall be informed, when the district is informed, of any student in his/her classroom involved in serious types of offenses. This information is of a confidential nature, protected by State and Federal acts insuring privacy, and shall be used only on a "need to know" basis.

4.3.14 The Department of Education is presently developing technical assistance papers on this subject. Therefore, the parties agree to establish a task force for further clarification of the provisions in Article 4, Student Management and Protection of Teachers. The task force will begin deliberations by September 1, 1996, for completion by December 31, 1996.