Utah Code § 53G-8-205 — Utah Code / Title 53G / Chapter 53G-8 / § 53G-8-205
§ 53G-8-205. Grounds for suspension or expulsion from a public school.
Status: in_force

(1) A student may be suspended or expelled from a public school for the following reasons: (a) frequent or flagrant willful disobedience, defiance of proper authority, or disruptive behavior, including the use of foul, profane, vulgar, or abusive language; (b) willful destruction or defacing of school property; (c) behavior or threatened behavior which poses an immediate and significant threat to the welfare, safety, or morals of other students or school personnel or to the operation of the school; (d) possession, control, or use of an alcoholic beverage as defined in Section 32B-1-102; (e) behavior proscribed under Subsection (2) which threatens harm or does harm to the school or school property, to a person associated with the school, or property associated with that person, regardless of where it occurs; or (f) possession or use of pornographic material on school property. (2) (a) A student shall be suspended or expelled from a public school for the following reasons: (i) a serious violation affecting another student or a staff member, or a serious violation occurring in a school building, in or on school property, or in conjunction with a school activity, including: (A) the possession, control, or actual or threatened use of a real weapon, explosive, or noxious or flammable material; (B) the actual use of violence or sexual misconduct; (C) the actual or threatened use of a look alike weapon with intent to intimidate another person or to disrupt normal school activities; or (D) the sale, control, or distribution of a drug or controlled substance as defined in Section 58-37-101, an imitation controlled substance defined in Section 76-18-401, or drug paraphernalia as defined in Section 76-18-301; (ii) the commission of an act involving the use of force or the threatened use of force which if committed by an adult would be a felony or class A misdemeanor; or (iii) making a false report of an emergency at a school under Subsection 76-9-105.5(2)(b). (b) A student who commits a violation of Subsection (2)(a) involving a real or look alike weapon, explosive, or flammable material shall be expelled from school for a period of not less than one year subject to the following: (i) within 45 days after the expulsion the student shall appear before the student's superintendent, the superintendent's designee, chief administrative officer of a charter school, or the chief administrative officer's designee, accompanied by a parent; and (ii) the superintendent, chief administrator, or designee shall determine: (A) what conditions must be met by the student and the student's parent for the student to return to school, including any provided for in the policies described in Section 53G-8-203; (B) if the student should be placed on probation in a regular or alternative school setting consistent with Section 53G-8-208, and what conditions must be met by the student in order to ensure the safety of students and faculty at the school the student is placed in; and (C) if it would be in the best interest of both the LEA, and the student, to modify the expulsion term to less than a year, conditioned on approval by the local governing board and giving highest priority to providing a safe school environment for all students. (3) A student may be denied admission to a public school on the basis of having been expelled from that or any other school during the preceding 12 months. (4) A suspension or expulsion under this section is not subject to the age limitations under Subsection 53G-6-204(1). (5) A local governing board shall prepare an annual report for the state board on: (a) each violation committed under this section; and (b) each action taken by the LEA against a student who committed the violation.