Behavior Team (FSG)
The Positive Behavior Interventions & Support (PBIS) team at FSG is designed to assist students who are experiencing behavioral difficulties that are affecting the child’s academics in the regular education environment. The team consists of, but not limited to, grade level teachers, support staff, school counselor, school nurse, and others depending on the needs of the child. The child’s parents are also vital members of the team and will be kept informed of the procedures put into place to help their child be successful in the school setting. The team meets to determine what strategies and interventions should be implemented to assist the students achieve success in the regular classroom environment.
Behavioral and Consequences
Lunch Detention
Lunch detentions are the lowest level of disciplinary consequences assigned. Lunch detentions require a student to eat lunch outside of the cafeteria under the supervision of a staff member. Lunch detentions may be assigned for cafeteria violations, minor classroom disturbances, general misbehavior. Whether a student is assigned lunch detention or regular detention is at the discretion of the administration based upon the nature of the incident and the discipline history of the student.
Regular Detention
A detention is assigned for misbehavior which impedes orderly classroom procedures or interferes with the orderly operation of the school. Detentions will be scheduled Mondays thru Thursdays in 30-minute increments outside of the regular school day. Failure to serve an assigned detention leads to more serious consequences as outlined in the discipline code. Parents may request a detention be reassigned for emergencies or extenuating circumstances, but a detention will not be rescheduled for practices, games or other programs. If the student is absent the day of the assigned detention, she/he must serve the detention the next day it is held upon their return to school. Transportation arrangement is the responsibility of the parent or guardian.
Suspension
A suspension for actions which fall into Level III on the Discipline Referral may be assigned for acts directed against persons or property which may result in seriously endangering the health or safety of others in school, and/or behavior that seriously disrupts the educational process. It may last from 1-3 days and be either in-school or out-of-school, at the discretion of the administrator based on the nature of the incident and/or history of the offending student. The student is excluded from all extra- curricular activities for the day(s) of suspension. Parents will be notified by telephone or in writing as soon as possible.
In-School Suspension (ISS), Out-of-School Suspension (OSS)
All students serving an in-school suspension are provided direct supervision by a teacher or administrator. In both an ISS and OSS assignment, students are provided with regular coursework and assignments provided by the student’s teachers. Special education students are provided with all accommodations and services outlined in said student’s IEP.
A suspension for actions which fall into level IV on the discipline referral will be assigned by the administration with the possibility of a hearing for expulsion in front of the Board of Directors. It will last four (4) to ten (10) days out-of-school (OSS) under parent or guardian supervision. Student and/or parent will be afforded an informal due process hearing before an administrator prior to the full imposition of punishment. Out- of-School suspension may warrant SAP (Student Assistant Program) referral. The student is prohibited from school property for the day(s) of suspension.
Superintendent Referral
Any student that is suspended for a weapons, drug or threat violation will be referred to the superintendent for a formal hearing. A board referral may result from the hearing.
Expulsion
Expulsion may be imposed only by a vote of the Board of Education. The administration will request a formal hearing before the Board of Education when the situation warrants. All disciplinary hearings will be conducted in compliance with Chapter 12 of the State Board of Education Regulations.
Referral to Civil/Criminal Justice System
Many offenses that occur in the school, during transportation or at school-sponsored activities will result in referral to the police, district attorney or district magistrate. The district has a zero tolerance for these types of offenses. Examples of these offenses include: possession, use, or distribution of tobacco, drugs, alcohol or weapons; assault; theft; fire equipment offenses; vandalism; etc. Many of these offenses may result in harsh fines or other penalties.
BEHAVIORAL CONTRACTS
Behavioral contracts may be used with students. These contracts will define specific behavioral limits to be observed, consequences or strategies to be used that are consistent with the student’s needs.
After School Behavior
Students are expected to follow the guidelines listed below:
- Refrain from throwing objects of any sort on the gym floor.
- Refrain from harassing students, school officials and visitors from other schools.
- Refrain from using obscene gestures or profanities.
- Fighting will not be tolerated.
- If attending a home athletic event, sit on the designated side of the gym for Ridgway Area.
- Walk around the outside of boundaries and not on the competition areas.
- Keep all beverages taken into the gymnasium in a closed container.
- Do not block the doorway into the gym. Consequences:
- 1st Offense – Banned from attending all extra-curricular activities for one (1) week (except practices).
- 2nd Offense – Banned from all extra-curricular activities, including practices, for up to four (4) weeks.
- 3rd Offense – Banned from all extra-curricular activities for up to one (1) year.
If the offense is a Level III or IV behavior as described in the Student Behavior Code, the consequences may accelerate without following the above sequence.
Behavioral Guidelines for After School Activities
Students are expected to follow the guidelines listed below:
- Refrain from throwing objects of any sort on the gym floor.
- Refrain from harassing students, school officials and visitors from other schools.
- Refrain from using obscene gestures or profanities.
- Fighting will not be tolerated.
- If attending a home athletic event, sit on designated side of the gym for Ridgway Area.
- Walk around the outside of boundaries and not on the competition areas.
- Keep all beverages taken into the gymnasium in a closed container.
- Do not block the doorway into the gym. Consequences:
- 1st Offense – Banned from attending all extra-curricular activities for one (1) week (except practices).
- 2nd Offense – Banned from all extra-curricular activities, including practices, for up to four (4) weeks.
- 3rd Offense – Banned from all extra-curricular activities for up to one (1) year.
If the offense is a Level III or IV behavior as described in the Student Behavior Code, the consequences may accelerate without following the above sequence.
Bus Behavior
BUS TRANSPORTATION & DISCIPLINE
Riding a school bus is a privilege, not a right. A child whose behavior places others’ safety in danger will have privileges suspended temporarily or permanently.
- Buses arriving in the morning will unload at the designated entrance. The buses will reload at designated areas beginning at 2:15 at RMHS and 2:55 at FSG . Students riding on buses are under the jurisdiction of school authorities, who are responsible for their conduct from the time they arrive at the bus stop in the morning until the time they are delivered home after school. The bus driver is in charge at all times and is authorized to request assigned seats. Administration has the right to assign seats to a bus in its entirety. Boisterousness endangers everyone’s safety and will not be tolerated. Remember, your driver has a great responsibility for your safe transportation.
- Violators may receive a re-teaching of behavioral expectations for the bus and a written warning for a first offense.
- Any student needing a permanent bus change must complete the alternate transportation request form available in the office
- Any student needing a temporary change for the day must bring a note in from their parent and present it to the office. They will then receive a bus pass for the day that must be given to the driver upon boarding. Changes need to be made prior to 11:00am unless it is an emergency situation.
- Children need to conduct themselves properly while riding a bus. Misbehavior distracts the driver’s attention, thereby placing the safety of passengers, other drivers, etc. in serious jeopardy. Because of the potential danger, misbehavior on the bus will be dealt with as an infraction with consequences. Consequences for additional violations may include lunch or recess detention, after-school detention, and loss of bus riding privileges. The number of bus suspension days may increase with each additional bus offense depending upon the severity of the incident.
- If a student(s) is/are causing a general disturbance the administration will be notified from the bus company.
- The administration reserves the right to remove a student either temporarily or permanently from the bus based on the nature of the offense. Parents/guardians will be responsible for alternate transportation due to suspension from school transportation.
Discipline Philosophy – Goals
School policies, procedures, rules, and regulations are grounded in two basic premises:
- The safety, health, and welfare of all school students and personnel are paramount.
- The educational process must not be disrupted. To provide a safe and effective learning community, the Ridgway Area School District maintains a discipline code. This code will govern circumstances or actions that have impact upon the district, its employees or students, or the educational process. This code gives a general description as to the consequences that the school will impose through its system of discipline.
The discipline outline herein will be carried out in accordance with the laws of Pennsylvania and the policies of the Ridgway Area School District (Board Policy #218). However, this code cannot anticipate every possible circumstance or type of misconduct. It is intended to serve as a general guide applicable to most, but not all, situations.
Parents have the responsibility to be aware of the school’s Behavior Code and to work with the school in reinforcing appropriate behavior. Communication between the school and the home must be open and supportive in both directions.
Students have the responsibility to be familiar with the limits and consequences defined in the code and to behave in a positive manner.
Due Process
Any student charged with a violation of the discipline code will be informed of the violation and provided the reasons for any discipline action. Students charged with a violation of the discipline code are afforded an opportunity to be heard prior to the assigned consequence by school personnel/building administration.
Disciplinary action may result in:
- Loss of privileges of membership in any student organization.
- Loss of eligibility for athletic competition.
- Loss of privilege of participation in any student activity including recess, clubs, publications, trips, musicals or dramatic productions and any extracurricular.
In each discipline situation it is a primary aim of the school officials to impress on each student, by effective faculty counseling and guidance, the need, value, and advantage of good conduct. Students, regardless of age or marital status, are subject to all rules and regulations as set forth in this handbook and district policies.
Discipline Referral Form (FSG)
The Ridgway Francis S. Grandinetti Elementary School Discipline Referral Form is used by staff and administration to document behavioral infractions, track interventions, and maintain transparent communication with families. The form records incident details, relevant state offense codes, prior interventions, and required administrative actions, ensuring a consistent and structured approach to student discipline. Click here to view the form.
Discipline Referral Form (RMHS)
The Ridgway Area Middle-High School Discipline Referral Form is used by staff and administration to document behavioral infractions, track interventions, and maintain transparent communication with families. The form records incident details, relevant state offense codes, prior interventions, and required administrative actions, ensuring a consistent and structured approach to student discipline. Click here to view the form.
Tobacco/E-Cigarette Possession or Use
Tobacco or vaping products possession or use (Level IV), in any form, has been made a summary offense by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Any student caught or observed with tobacco on school property, at school events or on the school- contracted transportation system will be referred to local law enforcement and may be subject to charges, court appearances, and/or fines. Referral to SAP will be made and the completion of restorative activities in Schoology must be completed before a student returns to school.
Title IX Information
It is the policy of the District to maintain an environment for learning and working that is free from discrimination and harassment as defined herein and as defined with more specificity in Board Policy 103 and Board Policy 104, and associated Attachments (including Grievance Processes) to those Policies.
Students are specifically notified that the District does not discriminate on the basis of sex, and prohibits sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, in any education program or activity that it operates, as required by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1618 ed seq., and its regulations, 34 C.F.R. Part 106, including in admission and employment.
Inquiries about Title IX may be referred to the District’s Title IX Coordinator, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”), or both.
The District’s Title IX Coordinator is:
Noel Petrosky
62 School Drive Ridgway, PA 15853
814-773-3146
petroskynoel@rasd.us
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights may be contacted at:
U.S. Department of Education
Office for Civil Rights
Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Bldg
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-1100
Telephone: 800-421-3481
FAX: 202-453-6012; TDD: 800-877-8339
Email: OCR@eg.gov
https://orcas.ed.gov/contact-ocr
To report information about conduct that may constitute discrimination or harassment, including Title IX sexual harassment, or make a complaint of discrimination or harassment, including Title IX sexual harassment, please refer to the District’s Nondiscrimination Policies and Grievance Procedures, which can be located on the District’s Website under Board Policies, Policy 103 (Students) and Policy 104 (Employees):
RASD.us or contact the District’s Title IX Coordinator.
In the event of a conflict between this section and Board Policies 103 and 104, and associated Attachments, the language of Board Policies 103 and 104 and associated Attachments shall prevail.
Definitions
“Discrimination” shall mean to treat individuals differently, or to harass or victimize based on a protected classification including race, color, age, religious creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, ancestry, national origin, marital status, pregnancy and/or handicap/disability.
“Harassment” is a form of discrimination based on the protected classifications listed above consisting of unwelcome conduct such as graphic, written, electronic, verbal or nonverbal acts including offensive jokes, slurs, epithets and name-calling, ridicule or mockery, insults or putdowns, offensive objects or pictures, physical assaults or threats, intimidation or other conduct that may be harmful or humiliating or interfere with a person’s school or school-related performance when such conduct is:
- sufficiently severe, persistent or pervasive; and
- a reasonable person in the complainant’s position would find that it creates an intimidating, threatening or abusive educational environment such that it deprives or adversely interferes with or limits and individual or group by the ability to participate in or benefit from the service, activities or opportunities offered by the District or a school.
It shall be a violation of this policy to harass a student or District employee. Bullying can be a form of harassment. A student’s sending, sharing, viewing, selling, purchasing or otherwise disseminating of obscene, pornographic, lewd, sexually explicit or nude images, photographs or video content of another student may be considered harassment.
“Title IX Sexual Harassment” – means conduct on the basis of sex that satisfies one or more of the following:
- Quid pro quo harassment – a district employee or other person authorized to provide a district aid, benefit or service explicitly or impliedly conditioning the provision of a district aid, benefit, or service on an individual’s participation in unwelcome sexual conduct.
- Hostile environment harassment – unwelcome sex-based conduct that determined by a reasonable person to be, is so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to a district education program or activity.
- Sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence or stalking.
o Dating violence means violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim and where the existence of such a relationship is determined by the following factors:
- Length of relationship
- Type of relationship
- Frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship
o Domestic violence includes felony or misdemeanor crimes committed by a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner, by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction receiving federal funding, or by any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction.
o Sexual assault means a sexual offense under state or federal law that is classified as a forcible or nonforcible sex offense under the uniform crime reporting system of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
o Stalking, under Title IX means stalking on the basis of sex, for example when the stalker desires to date a victim. Stalking means to engage in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to either:
- Fear for their safety or the safety of others
- Suffer substantial emotional distress
Such conduct must have taken place during a district education program or activity and against a person in the United States to qualify as sexual harassment under Title IX. An education program or activity includes the locations, events or circumstances over which the district exercise substantial control over both the respondent and the context in which the harassment occurs. Title IX applies to all of the district’s programs or activities, whether such programs or activities occur on-campus or off-campus.
Violations of this Discrimination/Harassment Policy, as set forth more fully Board Policy 103, and 104 and associated Attachments, including acts of retaliation as described in the Policy, or knowingly providing or submitting false information during the Title IX grievance process outlined in Attachment 3 of Policy 103 and/or during other grievance or hearing processes established by Board policy and/or the Student Code of Conduct, may result in disciplinary consequences under applicable Board policy and procedures up to including referral for expulsion from the District.
Reports of Title IX Sexual Harassment and Other Discrimination and Retaliation and Grievance Procedure:
The Board encourages students and the third parties who believe they or others have been subject to Title IX sexual harassment, and any other form of discrimination or harassment or retaliation, to promptly report such incidents to any District employee (but preferably the building principal) or the Title IX Coordinator. A person who is not an intended victim or target of discrimination, but who is adversely affected by the offensive conduct may file a report of discrimination.
The student’s parents/guardian or any other person with knowledge of conduct that may violate this Policy is encouraged to immediately report that matter to any District employee (but preferably the building principal) or the Title IX Coordinator.
The complainant (the alleged victim) or the individual making the report may use the Discrimination/Harassment/Bullying/Hazing/Dating Violence/Retaliation Report Form (an Attachment to Policies 103/104) which has been developed for purposes of reporting an incident or incidents in writing; however, verbal reports of an incident or incidents shall be accepted, documented and the procedures of this Policy and the relevant attachments followed. A copy of this Report Form can be accessed on the District’s website at RASD.US and through the building principal or the Title IX Coordinator. The rights of complainants and respondents (the accused) are outlined in detail in Policies 103/104 and associated Attachments, which outline the District’s applicable Grievance Procedures and Processes.
Video Surveillance
Video monitors are utilized throughout the school building and buses to monitor student and visitor actions. The administration has the ability to view and review all images throughout the building and school buses at any given time.