Stevensville School District

COMMUNITY RELATIONS

Relations With Law Enforcement and Child Protective Agencies

The staff is primarily responsible for maintaining proper order and conduct in the schools.
Staff shall be responsible for holding students accountable for infractions of school rules, which may include minor violations of the law, occurring during school hours or at school activities. When there is substantial threat to the health and safety of students or others, such as in the case of bomb threats, mass demonstrations with threat of violence, individual threats of substantial bodily harm, trafficking in prohibited drugs, or the scheduling of events where large crowds may be difficult to handle, the law enforcement agency shall be called upon for assistance. Information regarding major violations of the law shall be communicated to the appropriate law enforcement agency.

The District will strive to develop and maintain cooperative working relationships with the law enforcement agencies. Procedures for cooperation between law enforcement, child protective, and school authorities will be established. Such procedures will be made available to affected staff and will be periodically revised.

County and/or Regional Interdisciplinary Child Information and School Safety Team

The District will participate in the Ravalli County and/or Missoula Regional interdisciplinary child information and school safety team established by Section 52-2-211, MCA. This team consists of county-level representatives of the youth court, the county attorney, the department of public health and human services, the county superintendent of schools, the sheriff, the chief of any police force, the superintendents of public school districts in the County, and the department of corrections.

The purpose of the team is “to facilitate the exchange and sharing of information that one or more team members may be able to use in serving a child in the course of their professions and occupations, including but not limited to abused or neglected children, delinquent youth, and youth in need of intervention, and of information relating to issues of school safety.”

The Superintendent is authorized to participate in the formation of and request information from the interdisciplinary child information and school safety team regarding students in the School District. The Superintendent shall utilize this authority on a regular basis to ensure the safety and security of the District.

Cross Reference:
4313 Disruption of School Operations

Legal Reference:
§ 20-1-206, MCA Disturbance of school – penalty
§ 52-2-211, MCA County Interdisciplinary Child Information and School Safety Team

Policy History:
Adopted on: February 12, 2002
Reviewed on: October 11, 2016; July 2020
Revised on: November 8, 2016; September 2020