Discipline Policy

Discipline Collection

CDE manages an annual collection of discipline and behavior data that is related to discipline incidents that resulted in students missing regular classroom instruction (this is typically actions that resulted in in-school or out-of-school suspension or expulsion).

• School Discipline Collection Behavior Statutes & Clarifications: This document provides guidance to Colorado school districts and the Charter School Institute, referred to in this resource as Local Education Providers (LEPs), on how to report discipline incidents and subsequent actions taken as required by C.R.S. 22-32-109.1(2)(b): Safe school reporting requirements.

• Additional information about the collection by contacting studentdiscipline@cde.state.co.us.

Disproportionate Discipline Task Force

Task Force Page

The School Discipline Task Force was created as part of the 2023 legislative session (S.B.23-029) to study and make recommendations regarding school district discipline policies and practices, State and Local discipline reporting requirements, and local engagement.

Expulsion Hearing Officers

Expulsion Hearing Officer Training Page

Legislation passed in 2023 (H.B.23-1291) updated requirements for the expulsion hearing process and requires a new training for individuals who are acting as Expulsion Hearing Officers, starting in January 2025. The following requirements must be met as part of the training:

• Initial 5-hour training will be required when starting work as an expulsion hearing officer. CDE is developing the online modules which will be available starting July 2024.

• Training Topics

  • Child and adolescent brain development

  • Restorative justice

  • Alternatives to expulsion

  • Trauma-informed practices

  • Conflict and bias in discipline, suspension, and expulsion

  • The requirements and implementation of applicable federal and state laws

• Hearing officers must complete annual training to stay informed on school discipline updates

In addition to the training requirements, other requirements were added to the expulsion process in statute, including that schools must provide all records in advance of the expulsion hearing.

If you have questions, please reach out to Tricia Walz.

Learning Environment District Profile Reports

Learning Environment District Profile Reports Page

In accordance with HB 22-1376, district profile reports that are easily accessible and user-friendly must be created for each school district and the charter school institute. The reports must be disaggregated by gender, grade, ethnicity, disability, ELL status, free and reduced-price lunch status, and homeless status. In addition, the dashboard must be updated annually and the data must be changed in the 2023-2024 school year to be collected at the student level. Various measures are required to be represented in the district profile reports, which include the following: the number and type of disciplinary incidents and actions taken in response at a student level; chronic absenteeism rates; number of in-school suspensions, out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, referrals to law enforcement, school-related arrests, students handcuffed, students physically restrained, students placed in seclusion; mental health provider ratios; school climate surveys; and any other existing district-level measures that CDE determines relevant and related to school climate.

The reports will be published here as they are available.

If you have questions or would like to provide input regarding the data visualizations, please reach out to Jewel Sale at sale_j@cde.state.co.us and 720-948-7998.