CODE OF CONSEQUENCES Students are expected to respect the rights of all students to be in an environment free from physical and verbal abuse.
The South Brunswick High School behavior code was designed to assure a safe and orderly environment where all members of the community could work and study with dignity and respect. This discipline code sets forth the consequences for failure to comply with these expectations. The consequences listed are meant to be guidelines for the administrator charged with enacting them.
Any other conduct which is disruptive or which threatens the safe and orderly environment of the school will be subject to immediate administrative action.
Please note: The use of our Community Service for Suspended Students Program (CSSP) can be used for any violation.
For consequences to the following definitions of offenses consult the Student Conduct Offenses and Consequences chart at the end of this section (on pages 12 & 13).
Fighting or physically attacking others will not be tolerated under any circumstances.
The use of any language, gesture, or action that is offensive or insulting to any national, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, or gender group.
Students are expected to respect authority and comply with directions from adults in the building.
Refusal or resistance to comply with the directive of a staff member.
Presence in an area without staff supervision in the building or on school grounds .
The use of any language or gesture which is obscene, profane, or may be considered offensive or inappropriate that is directed at a staff member or fellow student.
Any behavior which is disruptive to the school’s environment in or out of the classroom will not be tolerated. Consequences will be determined by administration after consultation with the teacher and review of student records.
Lack of responsiveness to authority which disrupts the school environment is defiant behavior.
Any statement, gesture or action which can be construed as threatening to the safety or welfare of a staff member.
Any physical attack which can be construed as threatening to the safety or welfare of a staff member.
Students are expected to prepare and complete their own work, and show proper documentation.
Students are expected to prepare and complete all of their own work with the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Cheating, plagiarizing, lying, stealing, forging and giving false testimony are serious infractions. Unauthorized collaboration on any assignment is considered collusion. Cheating is employing any unauthorized source without proper acknowledgment to assist with any assignment. Plagiarism is the use of any source without proper acknowledgment. Teachers are responsible for assigning the level of the infraction. All violations are noted on record.
| Violation | Consequence |
| Level I Cheating or plagiarism on class work or homework. |
Zero for assignment with teacher discretion. Conference with teacher, student, counselor, and parent. |
| Level II Repeat of Level I violation or cheating/plagiarism on any test, paper or project. |
Zero for assignment. Conference with AP/Dean, teacher, student, counselor, and parent. |
| Level III Repeat of Level II violation or a third incident of a Level I violation. |
Zero for assignment. Conference with AP/Dean, teacher, student, counselor, and parent. Probable denial of scholarship, leadership, or Honor Society opportunities. |
| Level IV Repeat of Level III violation or destruction of class information or records. Procuring or sharing unauthorized information about a test or exam. Falsifying records, breaching computer security, or hindering the investigation of an integrity violation claim. |
Zero for assignment. Conference with AP/Dean, teacher, student, counselor, and parent. Denial of or removal from scholarship, leadership, and/or Honor Society opportunities. Failure in class for marking period. Mandatory Community Service. Note: two violations at any level will result in denial or removal from the National Honor Society. |
Students are expected to act and dress in a manner appropriate for work and study in a school setting.
In order to promote a serious learning environment, clothing which is distracting, suggestive or inappropriate is prohibited. Examples of inappropriate attire would include but not be limited to: garments which reveal underwear, midriffs, breasts or buttocks. In addition, the following dress code is to be followed:
Shoulders and backs must be covered.
Garments must cover the midriff.
Shoes, sneakers, or sandals must be worn in school. Slippers, pajamas / lounge pants are not permitted.
With regard to lengths of skirts, dresses, shorts, skorts, etc., the “fingertip rule” will be used to determine appropriateness.
Students are not permitted to wear coats, hats, bandanas, headgear or outerwear of any kind, in school between 7:30 AM and 2:25 PM. Only sweaters, sweatshirts, or sweat suit jackets may be worn in class. All other clothing must be kept in the school locker. Backpacks of any type must be kept in lockers between 7:30 AM and 2:25 PM.
Students may not wear clothing and/or accessories which are violence, alcohol, drug, tobacco or sex related, as well as offensive to any national, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, or gender group. In addition, students are not permitted to wear suggestive clothing of any kind. Students found wearing any prohibited clothing items must change. Items such as head coverings or head gear will be confiscated. See chart for consequences.
Use of electronic devices between 7:30 AM and 2:25 PM is prohibited. Students bringing such items to school must store them in their locker. Refusal to do so will result in the confiscation of the item.
Students in the hall or in other areas during class time must have an official, handwritten pass that is shown to staff members upon request. Students who refuse to show a pass will be considered insubordinate.
All forms of gambling are prohibited. Card and dice playing are not permitted at any time. Items will be confiscated and police notified for instances of gambling. Items may be kept indefinitely. Students are expected to care for their property and the property of others.
Students will pay for any damage they have done to the building or property of others. School personnel will file a report regarding any incident of vandalism. Depending on the severity of the vandalism, students will be suspended from school and/or scheduled for an administrative hearing.
Students are expected to maintain the condition of books, materials, and equipment that they are issued. If items are lost or damaged, students will be responsible for repair or replacement costs. If there are outstanding debts for the above or for fundraising activities, students will not be issued working papers, transcripts, or a diploma. Books and materials left in lockers will be considered UNRETURNED, and students will be fully responsible for their replacement value. Lockers must remain locked and combinations should not be shared with others. Students are expected to conduct themselves with the highest standards of honesty and integrity, and adhere to the laws of the community, state and nation.
Students are required to carry their school photo IDs with them at all times. Photo ID cards are necessary to purchase lunch and snack items from the school cafeterias. There is a fee to replace lost cards.
The Board of Education recognizes that a pupil’s dependency on, or use, and abuse of harmful substances such as drugs, alcohol and tobacco, seriously impedes that pupil’s education and threatens the welfare of the family and the entire school community. The board further recognizes that this is a treatable health problem, and is committed to the rehabilitation of substance users by educational and therapeutic means. The complete drug policy for South Brunswick schools is under review and will be made available to all students as soon as it is approved.
N.J. State Statute 2C:39-1: Any item known to be a weapon or any item used in such a way as to intimidate or physically hurt another person is prohibited from school. In all cases, the student will be suspended and a police complaint filed.
The complete Board policy and procedures are provided to students in September.
Any act which one reasonably expects or knows is likely to be observed by other non-consenting persons who would be affronted or alarmed is considered lewdness and will result in suspension and notification of police. (N.J.S.-2C:14-4)
Setting off a false alarm, the use of a stink bomb or fireworks will result in suspension and notification of the police. These acts are considered disorderly conduct. An act of disorderly conduct is committed when an individual creates a condition which causes a public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creates a risk to others. (N.J.S.-2C:33-2).
Unauthorized removal of school or any personal property of another will be subject to administrative and/or police action. (N.J.S.-2C:20) All instances of theft will be reported to the police for police action and appropriate administrative consequences will follow.
All students have the responsibility to use computer resources in an ethical and legal manner. Every student will sign an Acceptable Use Policy at the beginning of each school year.
In addition to our district’s Acceptable Use Policy, any willful tampering of school technology (hardware or software) will be treated as destruction of school property. The disciplinary action will be determined by the appropriate administrator. In addition, parents will be held liable for damages (N.J.S.A. 18A:37-3). The cost of the damages may also include the hourly wages of the in-district personnel or the fees charged by an outside vendor to repair or replace the damaged technology.
Student Conduct Offenses and Consequences:
| Type of Offense | 1st Offense | 2nd Offense | 3rd Offense |
| Defiant Behavior | 3 days OSS: Anger management, counseling and police notification |
5 days OSS: parent conference and police notification |
10 days OSS: administrative hearing, and police notification |
| Threatening School Personnel | 5 days OSS: administrative hearing, and police notification |
10 Days OSS: dministrative hearing, and police notification |
OSS : expulsion consideration |
| Physical Assault School Personnel | 10 Days OSS: police notification, expulsion consideration |
OSS: police notification, expulsion consideration |
|
| Dress Code | Inappropriate clothing changed, head wear or head gear confiscated and returned at the end of the day | Inappropriate clothing changed, head wear or head gear confiscated and returned only to parent/guardian | Parent must pick up confiscated item(s) and consequences at discretion of AP |
| Substance Abuse Violations | A complete copy of the policy and procedures will be available for each student | ||
| School Bus Safety | Any student written up for a school bus safety or procedure violation will be removed from the bus for a specified period of time at the discretion of the AP |
| Type of Offense | 1st Offense | 2nd Offense | 3rd Offense |
| Vandalism of Technology Resources | Review of Student Actions with administrator, parent and student. Cost of damage assessed. | Formal police complaint and removal of student from course. Possible referral to Board of Ed. For additional action. Cost of damages assessed. | |
| False Alarms/Pollution of School Environment | 10 days OSS: police complaint filed and administrative hearing | ||
| Fighting/Physical Assault | 5 days OSS: parent conference and police notification | 10 day Suspension: parent conference and police notification | OSS : administrative hearing and police notification |
| Bias Incident | 2 days OSS: police notification | 4 days OSS: training in issues and police notification | Consequences per administrative recommendations |
| Disrespect to Staff | 1 day ISS | 2 days ISS | Discretion of AP |
| Insubordination | 2 days Community Service | 1 day ISS: counselor intervention and parent contact | 2-5 days OSS: counselor intervention and parent contact |
| Unauthorized Area on School Grounds | 1 day ISS | 2 days ISS | Discretion of AP |
| Unacceptable Language | 1 day ISS: parent and counselor contact | 2 days ISS: parent and counselor contact, counseling services | 3 days ISS: parent and counselor contact, counseling services |
| Language Directed at Staff Member | 1 day OSS | 2 days OSS | 3 days OSS |
Adhering to Board of Education Policy 5200, enrolled students must attend class regularly and participate in the instructional activities. Absences from school limit a student’s ability to receive vital classroom instruction.
When a student must be absent from school, the parent or guardian must call the attendance office (732) 329-4044 Ext. 3225 before 9 a.m. on the day of the absence or provide appropriate documentation for the absence upon returning to school. This documentation must be presented to the appropriate grade level office when the student returns to school. In the high school, with the appropriate documentation, absences and tardies may be excused for the following reasons:
religious observation, doctor’s appointments, court appearance, death in the family, school, school sponsored trip, driver’s test, and chronic illness.
A student may lose credit if absences exceed the following:
13 for a full year course (5 credits)
6 for a semester course
20 for a daily course (full year = 10 credits)
3 for a marking period course
Parent notification will be made when the number of student absences approaches these limits.
Students who come to school between 7:40 AM and 9:00 AM must sign in at their grade level office. Sign in officials will track all lates to school and notify attendance when the student is in danger of losing credit. Students signing in after Block 1 must do so in the Attendance Office.
Family vacations and other non-school activities should be planned so they do not interfere with school attendance.
Since a student's presence and participation in class is essential to his or her success, the potential impact of an extended absence must be seriously considered. Teacher-students and student-student interactions, as well as activities such as cooperative grouping, long-term projects and "hands on" laboratories can not be replicated in a make-up situation.
Prior to their absence, students planning to take an extended absence, for a non-medical reason, must complete an extended absence form. This form can be found each grade level office and must be signed and returned. The student is solely responsible for the make up of work missed.
Work assigned prior to an absence is due the day the student returns to the missed class. Work assigned or completed during the student’s absence must be made up in the same number of class days that the student was absent.
Non-attendance in school without prior parent knowledge and/or consent will result in student consequences.
Students who leave school grounds or are in an unauthorized area without supervision without properly signing out through their grade level office will be held accountable for their actions (See student conduct offenses and consequences chart.) The first offense is zeros in all classes and ISS.
Class attendance is important to successful learning. All instances of cutting class, lateness to school, truancy from class will be dealt with by the teacher and the administration.
The following are minimum consequences for student attendance offenses. In particular circumstances, a dean, an assistant principal, or the principal may assign more extensive consequences.
In cases when consequences are assigned for attendance violations, parents will be notified, and the student’s counselor/case manager will be informed as well.
HAP privileges may be restricted for any 9th or 10th grade student as part of their consequences for the attendance violations noted on the following pages.
| Type of Offense | 1 st Offense | 2 nd Offense | 3 rd Offense | 4 th Offense |
| Cutting class (absent for more than 10 minutes) | Grade level office contacts parent 1 detention assigned per cut | Grade level office contacts parent 2 after school detentions | Grade level office contacts parent ISS | Grade level office contacts parent Saturday detention |
| Leaving building without permission during school day | Grade level office contacts parent ISS | Grade level office contacts parent Saturday detention or Community Service | Parent conference with counselor and AP 2 days ISS | Mandatory re-entry meeting with Principal, AP, parent, and student OSS |
| Truancy from school (cutting 3-4 periods in one day or absence without prior parent knowledge) | Grade level office contacts parents ISS | Grade level office contacts parents Saturday detention or Community Service | Parent conference with counselor and AP 2 days ISS | Mandatory re-entry meeting with Principal, AP, parent, and student OSS |
| Type of Offense | 1 st Offense | 2 nd Offense | 3 rd Offense | 4 th Offense |
| Failure to attend teacher assigned detention | Grade level office contacts parent 2 detentions assigned by Dean or AP | Grade level office contacts parent Saturday detention or Community Service | Grade level office contacts parent ISS | AP contacts parent Saturday detention |
| Failure to attend Saturday Detention | Grade level office contacts parent 2 days OSS or ISS | Grade level office contacts parent 2 days OSS | Mandatory re-entry meeting with Principal, AP, parent and student 3 days OSS | Mandatory re-entry meeting with Principal, AP, parent and student 3 days OSS |
| 1 st & 2 nd tardies | 3 rd tardy | 4 th & 5 th tardies | 7 or more tardies |
| Tardy to class (10 minutes or less) Teacher contacts parent on 2 nd tardy | Detention assigned Grade level office contacts parents | Teacher assigned consequences for 4 th – 5 th tardies 2 detentions on 6 th tardy | Detention, Community Service, ISS HAP, Lunch Detention, or Saturday Detention for each tardy |
Notes: Except for students with more than five tardies, students will have a clean slate at the end of the second marking period in year-long classes.Students may be assigned to credit recovery for excessive absences and/or tardies. STUDENT RIGHTS All students have the right to be treated with dignity and respect and they are expected to treat others accordingly.
Whenever students believe they have experienced bias, sexual harassment, or discrimination based on their race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, abilities, or gender, they should report the situation to their counselor, any staff member or the appropriate grade level office.
All students have a right to due process and appeal:
South Brunswick High School recognizes that individual students or groups of students often have concerns, complaints or grievances that need consideration or resolution.
In every instance, the problem should be discussed with the school staff member immediately concerned. If the matter is not resolved through these discussions, the student should take his or her complaint to any school administrator or supervisor.
If the problem is still not resolved, the administrator or supervisor will convene a review panel. The panel, chaired by an administrator or supervisor, will include a student or adult chosen by the student bringing the complaint, a classroom teacher and a representative from Student Council. The decision of the panel will be final.
Public school pupils in grades K-12 have the right to refuse to dissect, vivisect, incubate, capture or otherwise harm or destroy animals or any parts thereof as part of a course of instruction. Schools are required to notify students and parents of the anticipated dissection curriculum and their right to “opt-out” of participating in such activities. In turn, parents have two weeks from the receipt of this notice to notify the school of their child’s desire to be exempt from participation and be provided with an alternate educational project.
Students and parents should note that non-emergency messages cannot be delivered to students during the school day. Emergency messages should be directed to the grade level office.
Students leaving school for any reason (medical or personal) must sign out through their grade level office. Student must provide a note with phone number of parent/guardian, early on the day in question.
No food deliveries for students will be accepted at the front desk. If a student calls home for a forgotten item, it is the student’s responsibility to go to the front desk and pick it up during passing time or lunch. Classrooms will not be interrupted.
Adult visitors to the building must sign in at the Receptionist Desk. Persons in the building without an approved Visitor Pass will be considered to be trespassing.
Visitors accompanying students to class are not permitted. Any requests for exceptions to this policy must be directed to the Assistant Principal in the appropriate grade level office 5 days in advance.
The South Brunswick High School Library Media Center is open daily before and after school with hours as posted. Loans of materials are as follows: Books - two weeks; Magazines - one week. All materials are renewable as long as no one has placed a request for that specific item. Overnight loans must be returned before the beginning of the first class. Fines for late materials: Books and magazines: 5 cents per day when school is in session. Overnight loans: 25 cents per period per day will be charged. (Maximum $1.00 per day)
Each student is assigned an individual hall locker for storage of books and outerwear. Students are advised not to share locker combinations with anyone and should not keep any valuables in lockers. The school is not responsible for lost or stolen articles. Lockers are the property of the Board of Education. Lockers can and will be opened for inspection.Problems with lockers should be reported to grade level office. All lockers, including gym lockers, must be kept locked. Lockers are to be emptied at the end of the school year or as required by the school.
Riding the school bus is a privilege and failure to maintain proper behavior will result in loss of bus privileges. School buses may only transport students from home to school and school to home. No visitors will be permitted on any school buses. No unscheduled stops will be permitted. Students who wish to ride a different bus must receive prior permission from their assistant principal at least forty-eight hours in advance. Any student found to be in violation of school bus safety rules will be removed from the bus for a period of time, and appropriate consequences will be administered.
Driving to school and parking on campus is a privilege afforded only to senior students. Application for a parking permit must be submitted to the 12th grade office and permits will be allocated based on selection by lottery. A review of a senior’s record will be done prior to issuing a permit for the year. That review will include the student’s attendance, academic standing and discipline record. Priority for parking permits will be given to work-study students upon request from the business department. Keep in mind, the number of permits is limited.
All our students are encouraged to drive carefully and to avoid excessive speed or reckless driving when going to and from school. Students are specifically encouraged to avoid reckless driving on school grounds and on streets of the adjoining residential neighborhoods. Parking in an unauthorized area, using a vehicle to leave school grounds without permission, reckless and unsafe driving on campus, as well as poor discipline are all reasons to revoke a student parking permit.
Additionally, cars parked on neighboring streets may be subject to police action.