Office of Accreditation & Teacher Quality

Student Rights & Responsibilities

School Rules

The school board and staff may legally make reasonable and necessary rules governing the conduct of students in school.  The rule-making power, however, is not unlimited; it must operate within statutory and constitutional restraints.  A board of education has only those powers which are enumerated in the laws of the state, or which are necessarily implied for the orderly operation of the school.

The First Amendment spells out the constitutional rights of all Americans to freedom of religion, association, speech and press, peaceable assembly, and petition.  The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal protection of the law and due process of law.  The greater the loss of freedom through the operation of a board rule, the more careful the board must be in assuring due process protections to students.  School boards may not make rules which are arbitrary, capricious, or outside the authority given to them by the Legislature.  Board rules must stand the test of fairness and reasonableness.  While there is no hard and fast definition of what is reasonable, a rule is generally considered so if it utilizes a rational means of accomplishing some legitimate school purpose. 

Constitutionally protected activity may not be infringed upon unless school officials can show that the failure to regulate would create a material and substantial disruption of school work and discipline, invade the rights of others, or would result in a clear and present danger to the health, morals, safety, or general welfare of others.  Whether such a restraint is necessary is for the board and its representatives to prove through factual evidence and not through opinions.  School rules are assumed to be "reasonable" until they are rescinded or waived.  The first priority of the student should, therefore, be to obey the rules while working through channels to help change those which do not meet student approval.