Know Your Rights: New Student Code of Conduct

By Michael Romo
UTLA Professional
Development Specialist

This is the second column in a series on the changes in the LAUSD-UTLA
contract and how they affect your
professional rights.

As recent unrest on LAUSD campuses shows, student misbehavior can have a detrimental effect not only on the classroom learning environment but on school safety in general. Most LAUSD schools that experience major discipline problems seem to have the same thing in common: no or inconsistent enforcement of discipline at the school. That’s why UTLA put a priority during negotiations on strengthening the student conduct rules outlined in the UTLA-LAUSD contract.

One of the most important elements of the new agreement is the requirement that the District develop, with UTLA’s participation, a Districtwide Code of Student Conduct. The goal is a set of clearly articulated rules that will be consistently applied across LAUSD. The contract also now recognizes that there are three sources for student disciplinary rules: the District, the local School Leadership Councils, and, of course, classroom teachers.

The contract language in Article XXIV will be amended (additions are underlined) as follows:

1.0 Codes of Student Conduct: It is the intention of the parties that teachers and administrators work in a mutually supportive manner to maintain proper student discipline. There are three levels or sources of student disciplinary rules:

a. In order to improve consistency and accountability in student discipline, the District shall develop and issue (and may revise from time to time) a District-wide Code of Student Conduct. UTLA shall be one of the principal participating stakeholders in that process;

b. Local School Leadership Councils shall, pursuant to Article XXVII, Section 2.4, issue local rules of student conduct, supplemental to and consistent with the District-wide Code of Student Conduct; and

c. A teacher shall also have the right to issue and enforce reasonable rules of classroom conduct applicable to students in the teacher’s classes, supplemental to and consistent with the District-wide and local school rules.

1.1 Schools shall annually, at or soon after the start of the school year, post and distribute the District and local school rules of student conduct to students, parents, teachers and staff. Any later changes to such rules shall also be posted and distributed.

1.2 Before a student is transferred by the school from a teacher’s class for disciplinary reasons or due to a parental request, the site administrator or designee shall give to the teacher an explanation for the transfer. The teacher may attach a written reply for the record.

The above language comes from the Memorandum of Understanding reached in March between LAUSD and UTLA. Finalized language may vary slightly. Copies of the new contract will be distributed to all UTLA members once completed.

For more information: See Article XXIV, Section 1.0 to 2 and Article XXVII, Section 2.4 of the UTLA-LAUSD contract. Our contract is one of the most comprehensive in the United States and it protects a wide variety of your professional rights. For the full text of the collective bargaining agreement, both old and new, log on to www.utla.net.