Reports, guides, handbooks Policy Handbook 2019-20 | Page 5

TABLE OF CONTENTS
GENERAL INFORMATION
Being absent, arriving late and leaving early
Attendance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Compulsory education law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Absent or late to school . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Early dismissal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Unexcused absences and tardies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Release of students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Dropping off items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Unusual happenings
Cancellation of school . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Cold weather questions and answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
In a school emergency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Field trips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Breakfast, lunch and snacks
Breakfast, lunch and after-school snacks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Meal account management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Apply for free or reduced-price meals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Unpaid meal account charges and debt collection procedures . . . . 9
Special diet accommodations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Homemade food and snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Providing healthy food options to classrooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Staying healthy and safe
Make sure your child is immunized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Early childhood screening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Vision and hearing screenings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Is my child well enough for school? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Medication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Minnesota Health Care Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Latex allergies and balloons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Indoor air quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Pesticide use notification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Asbestos notification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Lead in the water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Bicycles and bicycle rack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Scooters, skateboards, in-line skates, and roller tennis shoes . . . . 14
Nuisance and hazardous items (toys, electronic devices, etc.). . . . 14
Searching lockers and desks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Canine building and grounds sweeps at the secondary level . . . . . 15
Dress code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Special programs and services
Alternative programs for middle and high school students. . . . . . . 15
Right to free education until 21 years of age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Options for success in high school
or to return and earn a diploma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Special education services for early childhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Special education services for kindergarten through 21. . . . . . . . . 16
What about parent support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Section 504. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
School-age care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Parents, visitors and volunteers
Parents’ role in homework at the secondary level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Media center accommodations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Parenting is challenging... resources for you . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Visitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Volunteers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Procedures for concerns, complaints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2019-20 School Handbook
ahschools.us/policies
Student information
Guidelines for use of student photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Do you need student data? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
What my child will learn this year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
State and district test information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Calendars for the 2019-20 school year
Grades 1-12 and everyday kindergarten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Elementary Digital Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
POLICIES, PROCEDURES AND GUIDELINES
Bullying/Cyberbullying, Policy 514.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Chemicals/Controlled Substances, Policy 533.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Policy in Practice: Chemicals/Controlled Substances . . . . . . . . 25
Discipline, Policy 506.0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Violations or unacceptable acts:
Attire/grooming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Controlled substances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Criminal activity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Disruption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28, 29, 33
Electronic devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28, 29, 33
Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 28
School rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 28
Slanderous materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Tobacco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Traffic rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Truancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28, 29, 32
Policy in Practice: Physical Aggression/Fighting. . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Policy in Practice:
Guidelines for Student Threats to Staff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Policy in Practice:
School Bus Discipline Rules and Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Equal Educational Opportunity, Policy 102.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Harassment, Policy 413.0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Policy in Practice: The Language of Harassment . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Hazing, Policy 526.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Non-discrimination of Individuals
with Disabilities, Policy 402.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Parental Contact, Policy 903.2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Pledge of Allegiance, Policy 531.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Pupil Fair Dismissal Act, MN Statute 121A.46 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Reasonable Force Standard, MN Statute 121A.582 . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Student Records, Policy 515.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Use of Peace Officers and Crisis Teams to Remove Students
with IEPS From School Grounds, Policy 532.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Staff Notification of Violent Behavior, Policy 529.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Technology, Policy 524.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Guidelines for Acceptable Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Video Surveillance, Policy 712.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Visitors, Policy 903.1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Wellness, Policy 533.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Unpaid meal account charges and debt collection procedures. . . 61
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