Opinion ID: 1829579
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Clear and Definite

Text: Busch also argues that rule 1(b) is not clear and definite as required by § 79-262(1), which provides, in relevant part: The school board or board of education shall establish and promulgate rules and standards concerning student conduct which are reasonably necessary to carry out or to prevent interference with carrying out any educational function, if such rules and standards are clear and definite so as to provide clear notice to the student and his or her parent or guardian as to the conduct prescribed, prohibited, or required under the rules and standards. Busch concedes that she and her mother had been provided a copy of the student code of conduct at the beginning of the 1998-99 semester and that rule 1(b) was clear in providing that students may not use violence or force to cause personal injury to a school employee. Busch's argument is that it is unclear and indefinite as to whether or not that force must be intentional to warrant expulsion under the rule. We disagree. Rule 1(b) does not address whether an injury to a school employee attempting to prevent or break up a physical altercation must be intentional in order to warrant expulsion. The plain language of the rule simply provides that causing injury to a school employee who is attempting to prevent or break up a fight will be punished by expulsion for the remainder of the semester. In the absence of anything to the contrary, language contained in a rule or regulation is to be given its plain and ordinary meaning. Vinci v. Nebraska Dept. of Corr. Servs., 253 Neb. 423, 571 N.W.2d 53 (1997). The determinative factor set forth by the plain language of the rule is not whether injury was intended, but is simply whether injury was caused by force or violence while the school employee was breaking up or preventing a physical confrontation. In the context of constitutional due process, the U.S. Supreme Court has stated that [g]iven the school's need to be able to impose disciplinary sanctions for a wide range of unanticipated conduct disruptive of the educational process, the school disciplinary rules need not be as detailed as a criminal code which imposes criminal sanctions. Bethel School Dist. No. 403 v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675, 686, 106 S.Ct. 3159, 92 L.Ed.2d 549 (1986). This reasoning applies equally to our analysis of rule 1(b). Rule 1(b) plainly states that a student who causes injury (by violence or force) to a school employee attempting to prevent or break up a physical altercation will be punished by expulsion-period, end of discussion. The language of rule 1(b) could not be more clear or definite and provided sufficient notice to Busch and her mother of the conduct prohibited under the rule. Busch's second assignment of error is without merit.