Administrative Discipline Committee

Authority

The Administrative Discipline Committee hears cases of students who admit to breaking School rules, including cases of dishonesty involving academic matters and cases of excessive unexcused class absences, and makes recommendations to the Head of School or his designee. A student coming before the Administrative Discipline Committee should expect a penalty of suspension. In some cases, the committee may recommend the addition of an educational component to the disciplinary response. 

The head of school or his designee, may accept, reject, or modify in whole or in part, the recommendation from the committee. It is the head of school’s prerogative to determine the disciplinary response without a Discipline Committee being convened.

Membership

The Administrative Discipline Committee is comprised of the dean of students, the upper school principal and the academic dean. If any of those members is unavailable another dean may serve in that person’s place.

Review of the Facts

  1. The presiding dean will personally direct or delegate to others the responsibility for making a thorough review of the facts surrounding any case(s) referred to the Discipline Committee.
  2. In matters of academic integrity, any suspected breach of academic integrity will be reported by the teacher to the appropriate department head. The department head will then investigate the matter and, if a concern exists about possible cheating, will consult the academic dean. The department head and the academic dean will decide together if a case of cheating has taken place and thus merits a student’s appearance before the Discipline Committee. Alternatively, the department head and academic dean might view a matter as a breach of academic integrity that merits an appearance before a Dean’s Committee.
  3. A statement of each student’s case will be prepared in the three parts listed below:
      i. A specific charge or charges
      ii. A listing of the previous disciplinary record(s) of the student(s) involved
      iii. Two descriptions of the case; one should be written by the student charged and one should be written by the faculty member most closely involved with the particular offense. Both descriptions should include details regarding time, place, persons involved and other circumstances including how the offense came to light.
      iv. Copies of these statements will be given to the members of the Discipline Committee and to the student(s) involved before the hearing of the case.
  4. Parents of the student(s) involved will normally be apprised of the situation as soon as possible prior to the hearing of the case by the Discipline Committee.

Meetings and Procedure

  1. Meetings of the Administrative Discipline Committee will be called at the discretion of the dean of students or academic dean after consultation with the head of school whenever the facts and circumstances surrounding the case dictate this sort of hearing.
  2. The facts of the case will be presented to the committee by the chair and other informed members. Relevant information that is not part of the case statement but is likely to be raised in discussion, will be catalogued by the chair. A statement of the student’s case as described above will be shared with the committee and the student.
  3. The student(s) will appear before the committee to discuss the case and to answer questions from the Administrative Discipline Committee members. A statement of the student’s case as described above will be shared with the committee and the student. The student will then be asked to wait in a nearby room.
  4. A student’s advisor should be present during the hearing. The advisor will share a personal perspective and provide a character reference for the student. The advisor will be asked to leave prior to the committee’s discussion of disciplinary response.
  5. The Discipline Committee will determine a recommended penalty after review of the charge(s), the student’s previous record, and the circumstances of the case, including how it came to light. Items of fact not included in the previous record may not be considered unless the student is granted an opportunity to comment upon them. The committee is guided by the chair to reach a consensus in recommending a particular response to the head of school.
  6. In the occasional case when the committee exonerates a student, the meeting is not considered an “appearance” before the committee.
  7. The School will not assume travel expenses for a student suspended or dismissed by decision of the Discipline Committee. Parents assume full responsibility for the oversight of the destination of their child during a suspension. In the event that a parent is not available to oversee a child’s suspension, the student must designate a School-approved adult who will act in loco parentis until the student is permitted to return to the School.
  8. The dean of students, academic dean or designee will designate one member of the Administrative Discipline Committee to act as secretary and record the proceedings. A statement of the charge and of the penalty will be placed in the student’s folder. This information will be removed from the folder at the time of the student’s graduation.
  9. A statement of the charge, penalty and other brief comments that may be used for announcements to the community should be discussed by the Discipline Committee.
  10. At the end of the meeting, the chair will remind committee members about the kinds of information they may share with others in the community. The chair will also make clear what is inappropriate to share and therefore should be considered confidential. Students who break the confidentiality of the committee will lose their leadership positions and may face a disciplinary response.

Fact-Finding

If there is a significant disagreement as to the facts, and if the case requires resolution of the disagreement, the principal, or his designee, together with any other dean, will hear the case through a strictly internal process and then make a binding determination as to fact.