Prohibited Behavior.  Every studenthas the right to be free from fear, harm, and violence at school, on the schoolbus and at school-related activities. In order to preserve this right, theBoard authorizes the Superintendent to create a Code of Student Conduct thatsets out specific consequences for students violating the following rules:

1.     Students shallobey Board of Education policies, administrative regulations, school rules, andclassroom rules.

2.     Students shall comply with all lawful directions of Principals, teachers, substituteteachers, teacher assistants, bus drivers, and other school personnel who areauthorized to give such directions.

3.     Students shallnot assault, hit, kick, punch, fight, intentionally harm or threaten to harmanother person.

4.     A student shallnot incite or instigate a fight, assault or riot. The terms “incite” and“instigate” mean to urge or direct others by words or actions to engage in afight, assault or riot. A student commits this offense by actively urging ordirecting others to take part in the prohibited behavior or by causing orinstigating the prohibited behavior to occur. Students committing this offenseshould be disciplined in the same manner as those students actually engaging inthe fight, assault or riot.

5.     A student shallnot aid or assist another student to violate any Board Policy, administrative regulation or local school rule. Astudent is guilty of this offense if he/she knowingly advises, induces,encourages, aids or assists another student to commit an offense OR shares inthe purpose of the act (to commit the offense) and aids or is in a position toaid the other student when the offense is committed. A student committing thisoffense may be disciplined in the same manner as those students activelycommitting the offense.

6.     A studentshould avoid a fight by walking away from a threatened conflict and/orreporting the other student’s threats to a teacher or other school employee. Astudent may, in a defensive manner, restrain the other student or blockpunches, kicks etc. but if the student retaliates by kicking, hitting,striking, etc. the other student, that action is considered fighting.

7.     A student shallnot participate in an affray.  An affrayis a fight between more than two people which causes a large publicdisturbance.  Examples of an affray arefights involving multiple students in the school cafeteria or at an athleticevent.  A person who commits an affraymay be guilty of a misdemeanor.

8.     Students shallnot take the property of another person or the school without permission.Theft, larceny, robbery and extortion are forbidden. Students shall notknowingly sell stolen items at school.

9.     Students shallnot engage in extortion.  Extortion isthe act of securing money, favors, or other things of value from another personthrough blackmail, abuse of authority, or intimidation.

10.   Students shallnot intentionally vandalize, scratch, mark, or damage the property of theschool or any person at the school.

11.   Students shalladhere to their school’s dress code.  Ata minimum, the following dress or appearance is prohibited:

a.  Clothing thatcontains advertisements for tobacco, alcohol or drugs; pictures or graphics ofnudity; words that are profane, lewd, vulgar, or indecent;

b.  Halter or baremidriff tops, or bare midriffs;

c.  Spaghettistraps or tank tops;

d.  Straplessshirts or tube tops;

e.  Bare feet;

f.   Short shorts orskirts;

g.  Pants, slacksor jeans that sag below waist; and

h.  Hats, caps,bandanas, or garments which cover the student’s face or conceal the student’sidentity.

i.    Underpants orbras showing or worn as outerwear;

j.    Provocative,revealing attire that exposes cleavage; and

k.  Any symbols,styles or attire frequently associated with gangs, intimidation, violence orviolent groups about which students at a particular school have been notifiedas described in AR 5131.4.

12.   Students shallnot bring to, or have on school property or at any school-related activity, anyweapon, or explosive of any kind, including, but not limited to any BB gun,stun gun, air rifle, air pistol, knife, dirk, dagger, slingshot, leaded cane,blackjack, metallic knuckles, razors and razor blades, destructive devices,firearms, and firecrackers, or any look-a-like weapon, including but notlimited to, plastic guns, water pistols, and rubber knives, or use any weaponor look-a-like weapon to harm or threaten to harm another person. Studentsshall not bring to, or have on school property or at any school relatedactivity any other item which may be used as a weapon, such as a saw orunaltered nail file, unless such item is being used for a school-relatedproject or activity.  (See also AR5131.7, Reporting Prohibited Relationships with Students and Other CriminalActs.)

13.   Students shallnot use an aerosol spray can, bottle or other type container as a weapon tothreaten to injure, to injure, harm, harass or annoy any other person or todisrupt class or any school program or activity.

14.   Students shallnot start fires or ignite explosives or threaten to do so. 

15.   Students shallnot wrongfully break and/or enter into school buildings, school buses,classrooms, storerooms, or lockers.

16.   Students shallnot trespass on school grounds when told not to do so by authorized schoolpersonnel. During the term of assignment to an alternative school, students areprohibited from being present on any WS/FCS campus or at any school-sponsoredevent other than the campus of the alternative school to which the students areassigned. During the term of a suspension or expulsion, students are prohibitedfrom being present on any WS/FCS campus or at any school-sponsored event.

17.   Students shallnot engage in a disorderly conduct. Disorderly conduct is defined in N.C. Gen. Stat. §14-288.4 asintentionally creating a public disturbance that disrupts, disturbs orinterferes with the teaching of students at any public or private educationalinstitution or engaging in conduct which disturbs the peace, order ordiscipline on a school bus, at any public or private educational institution oron the grounds adjacent thereto.

18.   Students shallnot possess, use, give away, attempt to sell or purchase, or be under theinfluence of any illegal narcotic drug, hallucinogenic drug, amphetamine,barbiturate, marijuana, malt beverage (including beer and other malt beveragesthat contain less than .5 of one percent of alcohol), wine, alcoholic beverage,or any other controlled substance as defined by North Carolina law.  Students shall not possess, use, give away,attempt to sell or purchase a counterfeit substance such as those described inthis paragraph, or an otherwise legal substance that is intended to mimic theeffects of one of the substances described in this paragraph.  (See policy 5131.6, Student Behavior – Drugsand Alcohol.)

19.   Students shallnot insert a foreign substance in the food or drink of another person with theintent of injuring or harming the other person or causing an adverse reaction including but not limited to,hallucinations, sleep, or euphoria. Students shall not knowingly bringcontainers of urine or any other bodily fluid or substance to school unlessrequired for an academic or other required assignment or activity.

20.   Students maynot possess, display or use tobacco products at any time in any building,facility, or vehicle owned, leased, rented or chartered by the Board or aschool, on any school grounds and property, including athletic fields andparking lots, owned, leased, rented or chartered by the Board, or at anyschool-sponsored or school-related event on-campus or off-campus.

21.   Students shallnot possess drug or chemical paraphernalia at any time in any building,facility, or vehicle owned, leased, rented or chartered by the Board or aschool, on any school grounds and property, including athletic fields andparking lots, owned, leased, rented or chartered by the Board, or at anyschool-sponsored or school-related event on-campus or off-campus.  (See policy 5131.6, Student Behavior – Drugsand Alcohol.)

22.   Students shallnot park motor vehicles on campus in student parking areas unless allowed byPolicy 5131.3, Parking on School Grounds. Parking privileges may be revoked for violation of the Code of StudentConduct.

23.   Students shallnot engage in sexual or intimate conductat school, on the school bus or school-related activities, including but notlimited to: taking or attempting to take immoral or indecent liberties withanother student, exposing private body parts (genitals, buttocks and/or femalebreasts) or engaging in consensual sexual misconduct or engaging ininappropriate public displays of affection including but not limited to, prolonged hugging or embracing, kissing, petting, and/or making out.

24.   Students shallnot gamble; they shall not possessand/or use playing cards unless approved by a teacher or school officials foran educational purpose.

25.   Students shallnot use or possess electronic devices such as MP3/4 players, portable radios,recording devices, tape/CD/DVD/MP3 players, digital cameras, laser pens, orother similar electronic equipment in school during regular school hours exceptas approved by a Principal or his designee. Students shall not use any type ofelectronic device on school property or during a school activity, whether on oroff school property, for the purpose of immoral or pornographic activities,including, but not limited to, sexting. Sexting shall be defined as thesending, taking, disseminating, transferring, sharing, or receiving of obscene,pornographic, lewd, indecent, or otherwise sexually explicit messages,photographs or images on or by electronic devices. 

26.   Students shallnot possess a portable communication device of any kind, including, but notlimited to, a cellular telephone, at any school that has expressly prohibitedsuch items. 

27.   If schoolsallow students to possess a portablecommunication device of any type, including but not limited to, a cellulartelephone, students shall not use or display such devices during regular school hours except as approved by a Principal orhis designee. “Regular school hours” means from the beginning of the student instructionalday to the end of the student instructional day.

28.   If a portablecommunication device rings¸ vibrates or is otherwise used or in use during class or instruction without permission fromthe Principal or his designee, it may be confiscated and the student may bedenied the privilege of possessing a communication device at school for up tothe remainder of the school year. The confiscated device shall be returned tothe student’s parent/guardian.

29.   If a schooladministrator has reasonable suspicion a device has been used to violate theCode of Student Conduct, the school administrator may search the device forevidence of such misconduct.

30.   By virtue ofthe ringing, vibration, or other evidence of use of a portable communicationdevice during regular school hours in contravention of this Policy, the ownerof the device thereby consents to the search of such portable communicationdevice by a school administrator.

31.   Students andtheir parent(s)/guardian(s) are solely responsiblefor any loss or damage to their portable radio, tape recorders, tape/CD/DVD/MP3players, cell phone or any other similar electronic equipment in school whileit is in their care, custody or control. WS/FCS accepts no responsibility fortheft, loss or damage to a student’s personal electronic equipment.

32.   Commercialsolicitation of or by students is prohibited on school grounds or atschool-sponsored events. Charitable solicitation of students is permittedsubject to the provisions of Policy 1324.

33.   Students shallnot engage in hazing. Hazing is defined in state law as to subject anotherstudent to physical injury as part of an initiation, or as a prerequisite tomembership, into any organized school group, including any society, athleticteam, fraternity or sorority, or other similar group.

34.   Students shallnot engage in gang activity as described in AR 5131.4.

35.   Students shallnot litter or loiter on school property.

36.   Students shallnot make false statements to teachers and school officials or forge a signatureon any papers or documents.

37.   Students shallnot make or publish false statements on the internet, by Fax or by any othermeans of communication that defame the character or reputation of a schoolemployee or student. While students have a constitutional right to criticizeschool personnel or students, that right does not include making falsestatements accusing school personnel or students of engaging in criminal orimmoral acts that are intended to injure, harass and/or harm an individual.

38.   Students shallnot download to or otherwise place upon a computer owned and/or maintained bythe school or school system any software or computer program which enables thestudent and/or others to load content or programs to school system computerswhich would otherwise be prohibited by school system policy. Students are notto download software or programs or view content prohibited by AR 6161.1.

39.   Due to the riskor injury to the student and others, students shall not ride a skateboard,roller skate or in-line skate on school property, unless approved in advance bythe Principal or designee as a school sponsored program or activity.

40.   Students shallnot skip/leave class or school without permission.

41.   Students shallnot knowingly make a false report to law enforcement (i.e. a false 911 call).

42.   Students shallnot make a bomb threats or a false fire alarm.

43.   Students shallnot make terrorist threats.  A studentviolates this rule when he or she:

a.  By any means ofcommunication to any person or group of persons, makes a report, knowing orhaving reason to know the report is false, that there is located on educationalproperty or at a school-sponsored curricular or extracurricular activity offeducational property any device, substance, or material designed to causeharmful or life-threatening illness or injury to another person;

b.  With intent toperpetrate a hoax, conceals, places, disseminates, or displays on educationalproperty or at a school-sponsored curricular or extracurricular activity offeducational property any device, machine, instrument, artifact, letter,package, material, or substance, so as to cause any person reasonably tobelieve the same to be a substance or material capable of causing harmful orlife-threatening illness or injury to another person;

c.  Threatens tocommit on educational property or at a school-sponsored curricular orextracurricular activity off educational property an act of terror that islikely to cause serious injury or death, when that threat is intended to causea significant disruption to the instructional day or a school-sponsoredactivity or causes that disruption;

d.  Makes a report,knowing or having reason to know the report is false, that there is about tooccur or is occurring on educational property or at a school-sponsoredcurricular or extracurricular activity off educational property an act ofterror that is likely to cause serious injury or death, when that report isintended to cause a significant disruption to the instructional day or aschool-sponsored activity or causes that disruption; or

e.  Conspires tocommit any of the acts described in this subsection.

44.   Students shallnot possess on school property or on a school activity or use counterfeitcurrency, unless such item is being used for a school-related project oractivity.

45.   Students shallnot cheat.  Students shall not copyanother student’s answers to a test, homework or any other school work andsubmit it as their own work for evaluation and grading. In addition, unlesspermitted in advance, students shall not bring any materials in any form withthem for use in answering questions on a test, such as a “cheat sheet.”

46.   Students shallnot plagiarize.  Students shall not copyan author’s work and submit it as their own original work for evaluation andgrading.

47.   Students shallnot use profanity, obscenity, fighting or abusive words, or otherwise engage inspeech that disrupts (written, symbolic or verbal) which materially andsubstantially disrupts the classroom or other school activities. 

48.   Students shallnot communicate a threat to another person. Students shall not bully, harass,or discriminate against others. Incidents of misbehavior that do not rise tothe level of bullying, discriminating, threatening or harassing may stillviolate Policy 1170, Civility Policy. Bullying, discrimination, and harassment are defined in policy5131.1.  Communicating threats, isdefined as a person without lawful authority who:

a.  willfullythreatens to physically injure the person or that person's child, sibling, spouse,or dependent or willfully threatens to damage the property of another.

b.  The threat iscommunicated to the other person, orally, in writing, or by any other means;

c.  The threat ismade in a manner and under circumstances which would cause a reasonable personto believe that the threat is likely to be carried out; and

d.  The personthreatened believes that the threat will be carried out

49.   Students areprohibited from engaging in behavior (whether on or off campus) thatconstitutes a clear threat to the safety of other students or employees.  Pursuant to AR 5131, Code of Student Conduct,such behavior may subject a student to expulsion.  Behavior constituting a clear threat to thesafety of others includes, but is not limited to:

a.  theft orattempted theft by a student from another person by using or threatening to usea weapon;

b.  the intentionaland malicious burning of any structure or personal property, including anyvehicle;

c.  an attack orthreatened attack by a student against another person wherein the student usesa weapon or displays a weapon in a manner found threatening to that person;

d.  an attack by astudent on any employee, adult volunteer or other student that does not resultin serious injury but that is intended to cause or reasonably could causeserious injury;

e.  an attack by astudent on another person whereby the victim suffers obvious severe oraggravated bodily injury, such as broken bones, loss of teeth, possibleinternal injuries, laceration requiring stitches, loss of consciousness, orsignificant bruising or pain; or whereby the victim requires hospitalization ortreatment in a hospital emergency room as a result of the attack;

f.   anyintentional, highly reckless or negligent act that results in the death ofanother person;

g.  confining,restraining or removing another person from one place to another, without thevictim’s consent or the consent of the victim’s parent, for the purpose ofcommitting a felony or for the purpose of holding the victim as a hostage, forransom, or for use as a shield;

h.  the possessionof a weapon on any school property, including in a vehicle, with the intent touse or transmit for another’s use or possession in a reckless manner so thatharm is reasonably foreseeable;

i.    taking orattempting to take anything of value from the care, custody or control ofanother person or persons, by force, threat of force, or violence, or byputting the victim in fear;

j.    anyunauthorized and unwanted intentional touching, or attempt to touch, by oneperson of the sex organ of another, including the breasts of the female and thegenital areas of the male and female;

k.  the possession,manufacture, sale or delivery, or any attempted sale or delivery, of acontrolled substance in violation of Chapter 90 of the North Carolina GeneralStatutes;

l.    any behaviorresulting in a felony conviction on a weapons, drug, assault or other chargethat implicates the safety of other persons; and

m. any otherbehavior that demonstrates a clear threat to the safety of others in the schoolenvironment.

Aiding or Assisting.  A student shall not aid or assistanother student to violate board policy, administrative regulation, schoolrules, or classroom rules. A student commits this offense if he or sheknowingly advises, induces, encourages, aids or assists another student tocommit an offense OR shares in the purpose of the act (to commit the offense)and aids or is in a position to aid the other student when the offense iscommitted. A student committing this offense may be disciplined in the samemanner as those students actively committing the offense.

Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances.  When considering the appropriate sanction forspecific student conduct, the Principal, Assistant Principal, or teacher shouldconsider circumstances relating to the offense, including but not limited tothe following:

1.     The student’sage;

2.     The student’smental capacity;

3.     The student’sintent;

4.     The student’sdisciplinary history;

5.     The student’sacademic history;

6.     The potentialbenefits to the student of alternatives to suspension;

7.     How thestudent’s misconduct impacted others;

8.     Whether thestudent displayed an appropriate attitude and gave respectful cooperationduring the investigation and/or after the offense occurred;

9.     What otherconsequence(s) the student may be experiencing outside of school;

10.   What action thestudent and/or the student’s parent(s) have taken since the offense occurred.