To Students and Parents:
Welcome to school year 2005-2006! Teachers and other school staff members want
this year to be an especially good one for each child, with many interesting
learning experiences. For this to
happen, we all have to work together - students, parents, and teachers. This Student Handbook is designed to help us
do this.
The Paradise Junior and Senior High School Student
Handbook contains information that you are likely to need during the school
year. The handbook is divided into three
sections:
·
The first for
parents, with information all parents will need about assisting their child and
responding to school-related issues; Section 1, page 6.
·
The second for
students, to provide information about courses to take, extracurricular and
other activities; Section 2, page 16.
·
The third,
general information regarding school operations and requirement; Section 3,
page 25.
We have attempted to make the language as informal as
possible, particularly in the first two sections. However, in parts of the handbook please be
aware that the term “the student’s parent” is used to refer to the parent,
legal guardian, or other person who has agreed to assume school-related
responsibility for a student.
Both students and parents also need to be familiar
with the Paradise Student Code of Conduct, where you will find the consequences
for inappropriate behavior. The Student
Code of Conduct is required by state law and is intended to promote school
safety and an atmosphere for learning.
That document may be found as an attachment to this handbook, posted in
the school offices, and on the PISD website at www.pisd.net.
The Student Handbook is designed to be in harmony with
Board policy and the Student Code of Conduct that is adopted by the Board. Please be aware that the handbook is updated annually, while policy adoption
and revision takes place throughout the calendar year. Changes in policy that affect Student
Handbook provisions will be made available to students and parents through
newsletters and other communications.
In case of conflict between Board policy or the
Student Code of Conduct and any provisions of student handbooks, the provisions
of Board policy or the Student Code of Conduct that were most recently adopted
by the Board are to be followed.
Please note that references to alphabetical policy
codes are included so that parents can refer to current policy. A copy of the District’s Policy Manual is
available in the school office.
Title IX Compliance
Coordinator Section 504 Compliance Coordinator
Mr.
Monty Chapman
Services for
the Homeless and for Title I Participants
Other designated staff you
may need to contact include:
Liaison for Homeless Children and Youths, who coordinates services for homeless students:
Mr. Monty Chapman
Parent Involvement Coordinator, who works with parents of students participating in
Title I programs:
Mr. Monty Chapman
Students with
Disabilities
Parents of students with learning difficulties or
who may need special education services may request an evaluation of special
education at any time. For more
information, see the counselor.
Si
necesita una interpretación de este material en español, puede ir a la oficina,
o pueda llamar 940-969-5010
Section I – Critical Information for
Parents................................. 1
Parental Involvement................................................................ 1
Corporal Punishment................................................................ 3
Grading Guidelines.................................................................... 3
Law Enforcement Agencies
Questioning
of Students..................................................... 3
Students
Taken into Custody.............................................. 4
Notification
of Law Violations............................................ 4
Options and Requirements for Providing Assistance to
Students Who Have Learning Difficulties or Who Need Special Education................................................................................. 4
Personal
Graduation Plan.......................................................... 4
Promotion
and Retention........................................................... 5
Report Cards, Progress Reports, and Conferences..................... 5
Semester Exam Exemption Policy............................................. 5
Student Fees............................................................................ 6
Student of Parent Complaints and Concerns............................... 6
Student Records....................................................................... 7
Special Education Records........................................................ 8
Testing.................................................................................... 8
Withdrawal from School........................................................... 9
Section II – Curriculum Related Information.............................. 9
Career and
Technology Programs............................................. 9
Class Rank
/ Top Ten Percent.................................................. 9
Class
Schedules....................................................................... 10
Computer
Resources
Acceptable
Use Policy...................................................... 10
Internet
Safety Policy........................................................ 11
Correspondence
Courses.......................................................... 12
Counseling
Academic
Counseling........................................................ 12
Personal
Counseling.......................................................... 12
Credit by
Exam........................................................................ 12
Distance Learning / Dual Credit Courses / College
Course Work 13
Extracurricular Activities, Clubs, and Organizations.................... 13
Grade Classification.................................................................. 13
Graduation............................................................................... 14
Homework............................................................................... 14
Promotion................................................................................ 14
Special Programs..................................................................... 15
Summer School........................................................................ 15
Section III – Other General Information and Requirements...... 15
Attendance.............................................................................. 15
Drivers
License Attendance Verification............................ 16
Release
of Students from School........................................ 16
Drivers
Education Classes........................................................ 16
Communicable
Diseases / Conditions......................................... 16
Bacterial
Meningitis........................................................... 16
Conduct................................................................................... 17
Academic
Dishonesty........................................................ 18
Applicability
of School Rules.............................................. 18
Radios, CD
Players.................................................................. 19
Harassment............................................................................. 19
Harassment on the Basis of Race, Color, Religion............... 19
Sexual
Harassment / Sexual Abuse.................................... 19
Distribution of Published Materials of Documents....................... 20
Dress and
Grooming................................................................. 20
Fund
Raising............................................................................ 20
Immunization............................................................................ 20
Medicine
at School................................................................... 21
Psychotropic
Drugs.................................................................. 21
Prayer..................................................................................... 21
Safety...................................................................................... 21
Accident
Insurance........................................................... 22
Drills – Fire, Tornado, and Other Emergencies.................... 22
Emergency Medical Treatment.......................................... 22
School
Facilities........................................................................ 22
Use
by Students Before and After School........................... 22
Conduct
Before and After School...................................... 22
Conduct
at Parties and Social Events.................................. 22
Cafeteria
Services............................................................. 22
Library............................................................................. 23
Meeting
of Non-curriculum Related Groups........................ 23
Asbestos.......................................................................... 23
Vandalism........................................................................ 23
Searches.................................................................................. 23
Searches
of Students’ Desks and Lockers.......................... 23
Vehicles
on Campus.......................................................... 23
Drug
Detection Dogs........................................................ 24
Textbooks................................................................................ 24
Transportation.......................................................................... 24
School
Sponsored Transportation........................................ 24
Buses
or Other School Vehicles......................................... 24
Visits to
the School................................................................... 25
Section IV – Student Code of Conduct........................................ 26
Acknowledgement
Form.............................................................. 48
CRITICAL
INFORMATION FOR PARENTS
This section of the Paradise Junior and Senior High
School Student Handbook is intended to give information on procedures of
particular interest to you as a parent.
It includes information about working with the school in guiding your
child’s education, such as:
·
Your child’s
grades and progress reports
·
Records
pertaining to your child
·
Conferences with
your child’s teacher
·
The District’s
procedure to follow if you have a concern that isn’t resolved by a conference,
and
School events and school-related groups that would
welcome your attendance or participation.
We strongly recommend that you review the entire
handbook with your child and keep it as a reference during this school
year. If you or your child have questions
about any of the material in this handbook, please contact a teacher, the
counselor, or the principal. Also,
please complete and return the acknowledgement form, so that we have a record
of your choices listed there.
Parental Involvement
A child’s education succeeds best when there is a
strong partnership between home and school, a partnership that thrives on
communication. Your involvement in this
partnership may include:
·
Encouraging your
child to put a high priority on education and working with your child on a
daily basis to make the most of the educational opportunities the school
provides. Ensure that your child completes all homework assignments and special
projects.
·
Becoming familiar
with all of your child’s school activities and with the academic programs,
including special programs, offered in the District. Discuss with the counselor or principal any
questions you may have about the options and opportunities available to your
child. Monitor your child’s academic
progress and contact teachers as needed.
If your child is entering the ninth grade, review the requirements of
the graduation programs with your child.
(See Academic Counseling)
·
Attending
scheduled conferences and requesting additional conferences as needed. To schedule a telephone conference with a
teacher, counselor, or principal, please call the High School office at 940-969-5010
or the Junior High School office at 940-969-5028 for an appointment. A teacher will usually return your call or
meet with you during his or her conference period or at a mutually convenient
time before or after school. See Report Cards, Progress Reports and
Conferences.
·
Exercising your
right to review teaching materials, textbooks, and other aids, and to examine
tests that have been administered to your child.
·
Offering to serve
on the School Health Advisory Council, assisting the District in ensuring local
community values are reflected in health education instruction.
Obtaining
Information and Protecting Student Rights
Your child will not be required to participate without
parental consent in any survey, analysis, or evaluation – funded in whole or in
part by the
§
Political
affiliations or beliefs of the student or the student’s parent.
§
Mental and
psychological problems of the student or the student’s family
§
Sexual behavior
and attitudes
§
Illegal,
antisocial, self-incriminating, and demeaning behavior
§
Criticism of
other individuals with whom the student or the student’s family has a close
family relationship
§
Relationships
privileged under law, such as relationships with lawyers, physicians, and
ministers.
§
Religious
practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the student or parents.
§
Income, except
when the information will be used to determine the student’s eligibility to
participate in a special program or to receive financial assistance under such
a program.
You will be able to inspect any teaching materials
used in connection with such a survey, analysis or evaluation. For further information, see policy EF.
Opting Out
of Surveys and Activities
As
a parent, you also have a right to receive notice and opt your child out of
participating in:
·
Any survey concerning the private information listed above, regardless
of funding.
·
School activities involving the collection, disclosure, or use of
personal information collected from your child for the purpose of marketing or
selling that information.
·
Any non-emergency, invasive physical examination or screening
required as a condition of attendance, administered and scheduled by the school
in advance and not necessary to protect the immediate health and safety of the
student. Exceptions are hearing, vision,
or scoliosis screenings, or any physical exam or screening permitted or
required under state law. See policies
EF and FFAA.
As
a parent, you also have a right:
·
To request information regarding the professional qualifications
of your child's teachers, including whether the teacher has met state
qualification and licensing criteria for the grade levels and subject areas in
which the teacher provides instruction; whether the teacher has an emergency
permit or other provisional status for which state requirements have been
waived; and undergraduate and graduate degree majors, graduate certifications,
and the field of study of the certification or degree. You also have the right to request
information about the qualifications of any paraprofessional who may provide
services to your child.
·
To review teaching materials, textbooks, and other teaching aids
and instructional materials used in the curriculum, and to examine tests that
have been administered to your child.
·
To inspect a survey created by a third party before the survey is
administered or distributed to your child.
·
Reviewing your
child’s student records when needed. You
may review
·
attendance
records,
·
test scores,
·
grades,
·
disciplinary records,
·
counseling records,
·
psychological records
·
applications for admissions,
·
health and immunization records,
·
other medical records,
·
teacher and counselor evaluations,
·
report of
behavioral patterns
·
state assessment
instruments that have been administered to your child (See Student Records)
·
Granting or
denying any written request from the District to make a videotape or voice
recording of your child. State law,
however, permits the school to make a videotape or voice recording without
parental permission for the following circumstances:
§
When it is to be
used for school safety
§
When it relates
to classroom instruction or a co-curricular or extracurricular activity; or
§
When it relates
to media coverage of the school.
·
Remove your child
temporarily from the classroom, if an instructional activity in which your
child is scheduled to participate conflicts with your religious or moral
beliefs. The removal cannot be for the
purpose of avoiding a test and may not extend for an entire semester. Further, your child must satisfy grade-level
and graduation requirements as determined by the school and by the Texas
Education Agency.
·
To request that your child be excused from
participation in the daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance to the United
States flag and the Pledge of Allegiance to the state flag. The request must be in writing. State law does not allow your child to be
excused from participation in the required moment of silence or silent activity
that follows.
·
To request that your child be excused from reciting a portion of
the text of the Declaration of Independence during Celebrate Freedom Week. The request must be in writing. State law requires the recitation as part of
social studies classes in grades 3-12 unless (1) you provide a written
statement requesting that your child be excused, (2) the District determines
that your child has a conscientious objection to the recitation, or (3) you are
a representative of a foreign government to whom the
·
Becoming a school
volunteer. For further information, see
policy GKKG and contact the campus principal.
Why have
volunteers in
Paradise ISD school board, administration, and faculty
are committed to parent and community involvement as a means to improve
How do I get
involved with VIP?
Each school office has brochures with sign-up sheets
if you are interested in being involved in the Volunteers in Paradise Schools
program. Just fill out the volunteer
forms, send them to school with your child, mail them in, or bring them by a
school office. Somebody from the school
will contact you on how you can get involved and get you started.
You are encouraged to participate in these parent
organizations:
·
Parent Teacher
Organization
·
Athletic Booster
Club
·
Band Booster Club
·
Offering to serve
as a parent representative on the District-level or campus-level planning
committees assisting in the development of educational goals and plans to
improve student achievement. For further
information, see policies BQA and BQB, and contact the campus principal.
·
Attending Board
meetings to learn more about District operations, including the procedure for
addressing the Board when appropriate.
See policies BE and BED for more information.
Corporal
punishment—spanking or paddling the student—may be used as a discipline
management technique in accordance with the Student Code of Conduct and policy
FO(LOCAL) in the District’s policy manual.
Corporal punishment will be governed by the following conditions:
·
The student will
be told the reason for the corporal punishment.
·
The punishment
may be administered only by the principal, assistant principal, or a teacher.
·
The instrument to
be used will be approved by the principal.
·
The punishment
will be administered in the presence of one other District professional
employee and out of view of other students.
A
record will be maintained of each instance of corporal punishment.
Each
portion of a student’s activities is important.
The
grading policy for 7th – 12th grades will be as follows:
daily grades 40%; tests 40%; and the six weeks test 20% of each six weeks.
At
the Junior High level, reading grades will be counted as follows: daily grades
40%; test grades 30%; AR grades 20%; and
six weeks tests grades 10%.
When
law enforcement officers or other lawful authorities wish to question or
interview a student at school:
·
The principal
will verify and record the identity of the officer or other authority and ask
for an explanation of the need to question or interview the student.
·
The principal
ordinarily will make reasonable efforts to notify parents unless the
interviewer raises what the principal considers to be a valid objection.
·
The principal
ordinarily will be present unless the interviewer raises what the principal
considers to be a valid objection.
·
If the event is
part of a child abuse investigation, the principal will cooperate fully
regarding the conditions of the interview.
State
law requires the District to permit a student to be taken into legal custody:
·
To comply with an
order of the juvenile court.
·
To comply with
the laws of arrest.
·
By a law
enforcement officer if there is probable cause to believe the student has
engaged in delinquent conduct or conduct in need of supervision.
·
By a probation
officer if there is probable cause to believe the student has violated a
condition of probation imposed by the juvenile court.
·
To comply with a
properly issued directive to take a student into custody.
·
By an authorized
representative of Child Protective Services, Texas Department of Family and
Protective Services, a law enforcement officer, or a juvenile probation
officer, without a court order, under the conditions set out in the Family Code
relating to the student's physical health or safety.
Before
a student is delivered to a law enforcement officer or other legally authorized
person, the principal will verify the officer's identity and, to the best of
his or her ability, will verify the official's authority to take custody of the
student. The principal will immediately notify the Superintendent and will
ordinarily attempt to notify the parent unless the officer or other authorized
person raises what the principal considers to be a valid objection to notifying
the parents. Since the principal does
not have the authority to prevent or delay a custody action, notification will
most likely be after the fact.
The
District is also required by state law to notify:
·
All instructional
and support personnel who have responsibility for supervising a student who has
been arrested or referred to the juvenile court for any felony offense or for
certain misdemeanors.
·
All instructional
and support personnel who have regular contact with a student who has been
convicted, received deferred prosecution, received deferred adjudication, or
adjudicated of delinquent conduct for any felony offense or certain
misdemeanors.
If a Child is experiencing
learning difficulties, the parent may contact the person listed below to learn
about the district’s overall general education referral or screening system for
support services. This system links
students to a variety of support options, including referral for a special
education evaluation. Students having
difficulty in the regular classroom should be considered for tutorial,
compensatory, and other support services that are available to all students.
At anytime, a parent is
entitled to request an evaluation for special education services. Within a reasonable amount of time, the
district must decide if the evaluation is needed. If evaluation is needed, the parent will be
notified and asked to provide consent for the evaluation. The district must complete the evaluation and
the report within 60 calendar days of the date of the district receives the
written consent. The district must give
a copy of the report to the parent.
If the district determines
that the evaluation is not needed, the district will provide the parent with a
written notice that explains why the child will not be evaluated. This written notice will include a statement
that informs the parent of their rights if they disagree with the
district. Additionally, the notice must
inform the parent how to obtain a copy of the Notice of Procedural Safeguards –
Rights of Parents of Students with Disabilities.
The designated person to
contact regarding options for a child experiencing learning difficulties or a
referral for evaluation for special education is:
Keri Barnett, Counselor
(940) 969-2501
A Personal Graduation Plan
(PGP) will be prepared for any student in a middle school or beyond who did not
perform satisfactorily on a state-mandated assessment test or is determined by
the District as not likely to earn a high school diploma before the fifth
school year following enrollment in grade 9.
The PGP will be designed and implemented by a guidance counselor, teacher,
or other staff member designated by the principal. The plan will identify the student’s
educational goals and include consideration of the parent’s educational expectations
for the student. [For additional
information, see the counselor.]
A
student may be promoted only on the basis of academic achievement or
demonstrated proficiency of the subject matter of the course or grade
level. To earn credit in a course, a
student must receive a grade of 70 based on course-level or grade-level
standards.
High School credit courses:
Credit will be earned by a
student who fails one semester, but passes the other semester and has an
average of 70 or greater by combining both semester grades.
Credit for an individual
semester shall be earned by a student who earns a passing grade for one
semester, but whose combined grade for the two semesters is lower than 70. In this circumstance, the student shall be
required to retake only the semester in which the failing grade was earned.
Please
be aware that, effective in the school years set out below, a student’s
satisfactory performance on state exams, called the Texas Assessment of
Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), will be required for promotion. This requirement will be effective for the
following students:
·
Third graders in
the 2002-2003 school year
·
Fifth graders in
the 2004-2005 school year, and
·
Eighth graders in
the 2007-2008 school year
A student who does not
perform satisfactorily will participate in special instructional programs
designed to help improve performance and will also have additional
opportunities to take the test. If the
student fails a second time, a grade placement committee, consisting of the
principal or designee, the teacher, and the student’s parent, will determine
the additional special instruction the student will receive. After a third failed attempt, the student
will be retained; the parent can appeal this decision, however, to the grade
placement committee. Whether the student
is retained or promoted, an educational plan for the student will be designed
for the next school year to enable the student to perform at grade level.
For further information,
see policies EHBC, EI AND EIE.
Written
reports of absences and student grades or performance in each class or subject
are issued to parents at least once every three
weeks.
At
the end of the first three weeks of a grading
period, parents are notified if the student's grade average is near or below
70, or below the expected level of performance.
If a student receives a grade of less than 70 in any class or subject
during a grading period, the parents will be requested to schedule a conference
with the teacher of that class or subject.
The report card or unsatisfactory progress report will state whether
tutorials are required for a student who receives a grade below 70 in a class
or subject.
Unsatisfactory
report cards and progress reports must be signed by the parent and returned to
the school.
Remember
that under Education Code 29.084, if the District offers tutorials, students
whose grades fall below 70 in a grade-reporting period must attend.
Students in high school may be exempt from semester exams provided they meet the following criteria:
· Students with an average of 90 – 100 may have no more than 3 excused absences.
· Students with an average of 80-90 may have no more than 2 excused absences.
· Students with an average of 79 or below will not be allowed to exempt from the semester exam.
· Students with more than 3 cumulative tardies in the semester may not be exempt from the semester exam.
· Students with an unexcused absence in ANY class during the semester will not be exempt from any semester exam.
· Students may not be exempt from semester exams if they have served any ISS or AEP in that semester.
· Students must meet the standards in all areas of the TAKS test.
· Freshman, sophomores, and juniors will be allowed to exempt half of their finals each semester. The same course