General News

Schools must have plan for removing students from class

Feb 15, 2008 10:33 AM

In a survey of UFT chapter leaders last fall, more than 300 reported that their schools do not have a student removal process — even though every school is required to have one.

As part of the union’s “Safe Secure Schools” Campaign, chapter leaders are asking principals to provide their school’s written student removal procedures and plans for training staff in those procedures.

If the chapter leader’s school does not have specific procedures for student removal, the chapter leader is supposed to ask for an immediate meeting with the principal and school safety committee to develop a plan and train the staff. If the principal refuses, the chapter leader can file a Step 1 grievance under Articles 20 and 22 stating that the school does not have the requisite procedures.

State and local laws as well as Chancellor’s Regulation A-443 stipulate that every school must have a written plan for how to proceed if a student needs to be removed from a class. The Department of Education gave clear guidance regarding student removals to principals in the Jan. 15 issue of the Principal’s Weekly.

“In accordance with state education law, a student may be removed from the classroom by the teacher when the student engages in behavior that is substantially disruptive of the educational process or substantially interferes with a teacher’s authority over the classroom,” said the notice in the Weekly.

Prompting the creation of a SAVE room in two schools so far, the DOE instructions also state, “You should provide all students who have been removed from a classroom with instruction during the period of removal. You should also establish policies and procedures for providing these students with continued educational services.”