If a student's violent behaviour at school poses a severe risk to student and staff safety, it could give grounds for expulsion.
When a principal is deciding whether or not to expel a student from their school for any reason, they must accurately follow school policy and procedure, through a fair and transparent process, but also ensure that they are compliant with any prescribed requirements of state and territory legislation. In addition, they must ensure that the offending behaviour is not directly associated with any known disability or special need of the student.
The complexities of dealing with a violent student were recently highlighted by an incident in the the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The ACT Police and workplace authorities announced they were commencing an investigation into an incident where a student allegedly threatened a teacher and destroyed school property.
The Facts
According to the Canberra Times, a Tuggeranong government school student allegedly threatened a teacher and destroyed school property causing ACT Police and workplace authorities to investigate the incident. The school has made several attempts to transfer the student to another Tuggeranong high school. However, the transfer of the student to another school has been met with resistance due the student’s known history of violent behaviour and safety concerns for other students and staff.
ACT Police were able to confirm that they responded to a report of property damage at the school on 20 February 2017. Police also confirmed there were no reports of any injuries and an investigation into the incident has commenced. WorkSafe ACT refused to provide any further information while an investigation is underway.
ACT situation
In the ACT, if a principal deems it appropriate to expel a student, the school must make sure that they follow the provisions of the Education Act 2004 (ACT) (the Act) and follow the procedure set down by the ACT Education Directorate. In the ACT, expulsion is referred to as exclusion.
Under the Dictionary section of the Act, student exclusion is separated into three categories: government schools; Catholic systemic schools; and non-government schools; being exclusion by each type of school.
Under sections 36, 104 and 105 of the Act, a student can only be excluded from a government, Catholic systemic or a non-government school if they:
- are persistently and wilfully noncompliant; or
- threaten to be violent or is violent to another student attending the school, a member of the staff of the school or anyone else involved in the school’s operation; or
- act in a way that otherwise threatens the good order of the school or the safety or wellbeing of another student attending the school, a member of staff of the school or anyone else involved in the school’s operation; or
- display behaviour that is disruptive to the student’s learning or that of other students; and
- the principal of the school is satisfied that action should be taken.
The principals of government and Catholic systemic schools must pass on their recommendations to exclude a student to the Chief Executive of the Education Directorate. For non-government schools the decision to exclude a student from their school is left at the discretion of the principal and the school is not required to pass on the recommendation to the Chief Executive of the ACT Education Directorate. It is instead a matter of internal policy and procedure. The Chief Executive or principal (for non-government schools) must the comply with the additional procedures to ensure that the principals of natural justice are followed.
Additionally for ACT government schools they must follow the Suspension, Exclusion or Transfer of Students in ACT Public Schools policy. When following this policy they must adhere to the principals of procedural fairness and natural justice. This means giving the parents of the student and the student an opportunity to be heard and a right to a unbiased and impartial decision.
Health and safety of teachers and students
When considering the expulsion or exclusion of a student from school for violent behaviour, one of the concerns that principals have is for the safety and wellbeing of other students and staff.
As mentioned in a previous School Governance article, the Principal Health and Wellbeing Survey (Survey) 2016 reported that 51.79 per cent of ACT principals experienced threats of violence last year. This was quoted as being 'a concerning upward trend'. Within the Survey it was also noted that actual physical violence against principals across the country has risen from 27 per cent in 2011 to 34 per cent in 2016. This represents one in three principals surveyed and it is 8.6 times greater than that of the general population.
This is becoming a systemic problem in schools around Australia where not only principals but teachers have experienced violence by either a student or a parent at some point in their careers. In Western Australia, the Department of Education has reported a rise in alleged physical assaults over the last three years: 165 in 2014; 444 in 2015; and 558 in 2016. Returning to the ACT, in 2015 there was a total of 264 reported incidents of physical violence and as of July 2016 there was 194 reported incidents of physical violence. In South Australia, there was a total of 549 violent incidents that occurred against teachers in 2015.
The health and safety of students and staff should be a high priority in all schools. If a student regularly compromises the provision of a safe environment for others students and staff, then principals should act, in line with legislative and policy requirements, to discipline the student appropriately and, if necessary, expel or exclude them from the school.
Lessons for schools
When a principal is considering whether or not to expel or exclude a student, they should be aware of any process and procedure that may be set out in state or territory legislation. In addition to this, they would be wise to refer to respective state and territory Department of Education policies and procedures that may have to be in place to deal with the expulsion or exclusion of students.
Principals almost always see expulsion or exclusion as a last resort and not a first. Invariably there are many other steps that usually take place before such a drastic process would begin. These steps often include interviews with the student, interviews with the parents/carers, periods of suspension, alternative behaviour strategies, counselling or involvement of psychologists, contracts of behaviour and so forth. Expulsion, except in cases of extreme misbehaviour, is nearly always seen as the absolute last resort - when the needs of the many must take precedence over the single student. Above all, if an expulsion or exclusion seems inevitable, school principals should follow their school policies and processes to the letter and adhere to the principles of procedural fairness and natural justice throughout the whole process.
