Prince William County Public Schools

Prince William County School Board

The Code of Behavior has been established for PWCS. The School Board, acting through the Superintendent, holds all school employees responsible for supervising student behavior while students are legally supervised by the schools. The School Board holds all students responsible for appropriate conduct as defined in the policies and regulations of the School Board and as summarized in the COB. Policies and regulations governing student behavior and student discipline are available online at www.pwcs.edu.

All PWCS employees are held to the highest ethical standards and are accountable for their actions. Therefore, all staff must comply with the policies and regulations established by the School Board.

The School Board requires all parents to read the Code of Behavior (COB) and any policies or regulations mentioned within it to support proper student conduct.

Student Management and Alternative Programs Department (SMAPD)

As delineated in Policy 747, “Student Management and Alternative Programs Department,” the School Board has designated SMAPD to enforce and coordinate the school division’s efforts to provide a safe school environment conducive to teaching and learning. The objectives of SMAPD are as follows:

• To resolve serious student disciplinary offenses.
• To provide a variety of educational opportunities that address the varied needs of students in grades K-12 and adult learners.
• To promote a safe educational environment conducive to teaching and learning and free from violence, conflict, and unnecessary disruptions.
• To decrease the number of long-term suspensions and expulsions through a process that provides increased nontraditional and alternative education opportunities.
• To oversee and conduct the due process procedures applicable to the long-term suspension, expulsion, exclusion, and readmission of students, and to coordinate any appeals to the school board.
• To determine the appropriate educational services, programs, and placements for regular education students who are subject to SMAPD’s disciplinary process.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Compliance Department (DEIC)

DEIC supports the PWCS Strategic Plan through the advancement of access and opportunity, resource equity for positive climate and culture, and emphasis on family community and engagement, as well as intercultural competence and inclusion for all. Our team provides support to school communities through training, coaching, and other resources based on the needs of school sites. The DEIC works to address cultural competency within day-to-day school interactions. Specifically, the DEIC team:

• Supports staff as they operationalize cultural competency in practices for all students and staff through shared language and the use of terms that are non-divisive.
• Supports school-level councils and committees with diversity, equity, and inclusion opportunities at the student and staff level.
• Supports families with navigating and understanding the PWCS discipline, suspension, and expulsion process.

Definitions:

• Diversity – Values and respects differences of each individual person regardless of race, ethnicity, age, gender, ability, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, or political ideology.
• Equity – The fair and impartial provision of resources, access, and opportunities to all students based on their individual needs regardless of. race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, area of residence (rural locations), or sexual orientation.
• Inclusion – Creating conditions for all students and staff to feel welcomed, valued, and positioned for success.

Educational Team

While discipline is ultimately the individual's responsibility, implementing an effective discipline program requires a cooperative team effort. An equitable and preventive approach to discipline shall be taken in an effort to clarify standards of conduct, effectively assess a student’s individual needs, and identify any significant factors that may be contributing to a student’s misconduct. The school principal is the instructional leader responsible for the development of school-based behavior expectations that are consistent with the School Board policies, PWCS regulations, and the COB. Administrators, teachers, and support personnel all work together to ensure the rights and responsibilities of each student in the school division.

The educational team is responsible for:

• Providing a safe and positive school environment.
• Providing a favorable psychological environment for learning.
• Encouraging self-discipline.
• Providing an atmosphere of mutual respect.
• Treating each student as an individual in accordance with one’s needs.
• Encouraging, monitoring, and evaluating the progress of students.
• Initiating and maintaining open lines of communication with parents.
• Discussing the COB with students at the beginning of each school year and providing periodic reviews during the school year.
• Formulating and implementing school rules and regulations in compliance with the policies and regulations of the School Board and the COB throughout the school setting.
• Providing both instruction and access to the COB to all new students upon registration throughout the school year.
• Developing a plan of action, whenever possible, based on the needs of the student and the school environment as a whole.
• Maintaining the educational records of individual students to include a record of disciplinary actions involving the student.
• Such records may contain information on police arrest or court action if the student is involved in unlawful behavior. Whenever charges are placed with juvenile court authorities, it may be considered an “arrest” even if the student is not physically taken into custody by police.
• School administrators are responsible for appropriate follow-up action whenever students report misconduct that violates the COB. Teachers, counselors, and other educational support staff are responsible for helping students obtain the assistance they may need from administrators. Staff response to each student complaint should be documented.

Professional Teaching Staff

According to Virginia’s Standards of Accreditation (8VAC20-131-220), “The professional teaching staff shall be responsible for providing instruction that is educationally sound in an atmosphere of mutual respect and courtesy…” Teachers are responsible for establishing and maintaining a safe, supportive developmentally, and culturally appropriate environment that promotes student academic, behavior, and social-emotional development. Developing positive relationships with students built on mutual trust and respect has demonstrated some of the highest positive effects on student achievement and behavior. Developing relationships requires “specific skills of the teacher such as the skills of listening, empathy, caring, and having a positive regard for others.” The impact of teacher-student relationship variables includes gains in positive behavior, critical/creative thinking, math skills, verbal skills, and overall grades.

Given the correlation between student behaviors, a positive school climate, academic achievement, and keeping students in the classroom with uninterrupted instruction, teacher responsibilities include:

• Developing positive relationships.
• Developing a safe and positive physical environment.
• Teaching (and reteaching when necessary) behavioral expectations.
• Reinforcing positive behavior.
• Providing instructional feedback on behaviors.
• Utilizing the school’s tiered framework of interventions and supports for students who are not meeting behavioral expectations.
• Recognizing personal stress, reactions that may escalate negative student behavior, and personal bias.
• Using individual and classroom data to monitor student behavior and the teacher’s responses to behavior.

If a student is not meeting the behavioral expectations and the teacher has implemented classroom or school-based interventions as outlined in school procedures, the teacher may request that a student be removed from a class.

Specialized Instructional Support Personnel

The Virginia Board of Education’s Model Guidance for Positive and Preventive Code of Student Conduct Policy and Alternatives to Suspension recognizes that these professionals have a direct role in promoting and supporting a positive school climate that focuses on prevention, intervention, and support to assist students in meeting the behavioral expectations of the COB.

School Counselors

School counseling programs support the Virginia Standards of Learning by guiding students in their academic, career, personal, and social development. School counselors collaborate with parents, teachers, administrators, and others to promote learning and to help students establish and achieve their education, career, and personal goals using the following standards:

• Academic Development – Students will acquire the academic preparation essential to choose from various educational, training, and employment options upon completion of secondary school.
• Career Development – Students will investigate the world of work to make informed career decisions.
• Social-Emotional – Students will acquire an understanding of and respect for self and others, and the skills needed to be responsible citizens.

School Social Workers

School social workers have special expertise in understanding family and community systems and linking students and their families with the community services that are essential for promoting student success.

They work to remedy barriers to learning created because of poverty, inadequate health care, and neighborhood violence. School social workers often focus on providing support to vulnerable populations of students who have a high risk for truancy and dropping out of school, such as homeless and foster children, migrant populations, students transitioning between school and treatment programs or the juvenile justice system, or students experiencing domestic violence.

They work closely with teachers, administrators, parents, and other educators to provide coordinated interventions and consultation designed to keep students in school and help their families access the support needed to promote student success.

School Psychologists

School psychologists have specialized training that enables them to understand and work with students in relation to their academic progress, behavior, social-emotional development, and relationships.

School psychologists specialize in analyzing complex student and school problems and selecting and implementing appropriate evidence-based interventions to improve outcomes at home and school.

They may consult with teachers and parents to coordinate services and supports for the students’ academic, social, and behavioral needs.

Their training in conducting risk and threat assessments and in evaluation, data collection, and interpretation can facilitate identifying and implementing the support that students may need to ensure their success.

Behavior Specialists

Behavior specialists conduct assessments to identify the underlying causes of student behaviors and support school staff in developing strategies to address challenging student behavior.

Behavior specialists coach teachers to strengthen proactive classroom management strategies and appropriate behavioral responses to maintain the momentum of high-quality instruction.

They consult with school teams to strengthen PBIS and Restorative Practices as part of a comprehensive MTSS framework.

They collaborate with school administration and division support staff to provide ongoing professional learning around the best practices for supporting student behaviors.

School Nurses

The school nurse provides emergency care assessments and interventions, management of acute and chronic health conditions, referral and support to access primary care, preventive services, communicable disease control measures, counseling for health promotion, and identification and management of health-related barriers to student learning.

Non-Certified Staff

All school community members should be engaged in and responsible for establishing a positive school climate and every school employee is responsible for ensuring a safe, supportive, and effective learning environment.