The following are behaviors for which students may face significant disciplinary actions:
1. Physical assault or battery, or any threat of force or violence (gesture, verbal, written, or online) directed toward a student, a teacher, or a member of the AMHS community. Continuing to fight after receiving a warning from a staff member. Striking a staff member in any way, even if they do so inadvertently, while the staff member is attempting to break up a fight. Encouraging fighting among peers will result in disciplinary consequences.
2. Deliberately impeding or blocking movement, as well as any intimidating interference with normal work or movement.
3. Any behavior that is degrading, offensive, inflammatory, or devalues the dignity of a person, including Internet communications, the display of posters, cartoons, written words, drawings, symbols, and gestures. Verbal assault/harassment, including derogatory comments and jokes/slurs as well as threatening words spoken to or about any person on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, ancestry, immigrant status, homelessness, economic status, age, gender, sexual orientation, medical condition, physical appearance, or physical or mental disability.
4. Willfully threatening harm to another person, even if there was no intent to carry out the threat, if the circumstances surrounding the incident were such that the person threatened would reasonably fear for his or her safety (this is also a criminal offense).
5. Failure to report to a teacher or administrator knowledge of actions or plans of another student where those actions or plans, if carried out, could result in harm to another person(s) or damage property.
6. Any misconduct of a sexual nature.
7. Unwelcome advances, verbal and/or physical misconduct in the interpersonal relationships between students and any misconduct of a sexual nature that causes discomfort to a student at AMHS. The following are examples of such misconduct (although not limited to these examples):
- Unwelcome sexual advances or physical contact of a sexual nature.
- Verbal, written, typed/Internet requests for sexual favors; sexually demeaning comments; sexual statements, questions, slurs, jokes, anecdotes, or epithets.
- Suggestive or obscene letters, notes, invitations, or electronic communication.
- Sexually suggestive or excessively revealing images or photos posted online or through electronic commication including on social media.
- Unkind and/or unlawful physical touching, contact, assault, deliberately impeding or blocking movements, or any intimidating interference with normal study or movement.
- Leering, gestures, displays of sexually suggestive objects or pictures, cartoons, or posters.
Should a student be the object of behavior that is offensive and unwelcome, he or she should tell the individual causing the harassment that his/her conduct is offensive and must stop. If the objectionable behavior does not cease immediately, the individual should report this to his/her counselor and the Dean of Students.
8. Speeding or reckless driving on or near the school campus. This is a serious threat to both life and property.
9. Theft of property from a member of the school community or from the school itself, or possession of stolen goods. Theft includes the unauthorized possession of school keys. Witnessing or being aware of theft and failing to report it to a school authority may be interpreted as the assistance of theft. Finding an item and not immediately turning it in to a school authority may be interpreted as theft. Identifiable items found around school should be returned to the student who owns them or brought to the Dean’s Office. Intentionally keeping the item for oneself is also considered theft.
Archbishop Mitty High School is not liable for any theft of student property. Any student who is a victim of theft should report the incident to the Dean of Students as soon as possible. However, electronic devices are brought to school at the student’s own risk, e.g. portable music players, cell phones, handheld organizers, laptop computers, and all types of cameras.
10. The possession, use, exchange, distribution, reception, intention to sell, sale, or purchase of controlled or mind-altering substances or paraphernalia at any time and in any place by an AMHS student, or being under the influence of these substances (see Substance Abuse Policy below). In order to provide a safe environment, any student attending AMHS or an AMHS event may be subject to an on-sight breathalyzer test when there is a reasonable suspicion of alcohol consumption. The Dean of Students or her/his designee will administer such a test, and parents will be contacted. A student’s refusal to cooperate with such a test may be considered sufficient reason to suspend the student and to refer him/her for disciplinary action.
11. Defacing school property, including defacing the front of lockers, and other acts of vandalism on or near the school campus.
- For any instance of vandalism in which the students/perpetrators are identified, those individuals, if the situation permits, will be required to perform the necessary corrective tasks, i.e., clean-up and/or repair. The parents of the identified students or the students themselves will assume any financial liability associated with the vandalism.
- For those acts of vandalism where the perpetrators are unknown, student organizations may be required to assist in the response to vandalism by denouncing malicious acts, assisting in clean-up and repair, and identifying the vandals. Any additional costs for the maintenance and repair will be absorbed by the school’s operating budget; this may result in a lack of funds for other projects and improvements.
- Witnessing or being aware of vandalism, and failing to report it to a school authority, may be interpreted as the assistance of vandalism.
- Where it has been determined that a particular student is responsible for vandalism or accidental damage to school property, a financial charge will be levied against the student’s tuition account to pay for the repair/replacement of the damaged property and to pay for any extra maintenance service or security needed.
12. Gang-related conduct/activity, which includes, but is not limited to, symbols, graffiti, apparel (e.g. excessively baggy pants), colors, hazing/initiations, and hand signals commonly associated with gangs. Students who engage in gang-related activity shall be subject to expulsion.
13. Plagiarism and Cheating are serious violations of the AMHS Academic Integrity Policy
Plagiarism: The presentation in one's own work of another's ideas, methods, research or words without proper acknowledgement constitutes plagiarism. This includes close paraphrasing as well as quoting entire lines of another's work, either verbatim or nearly verbatim.
This principle applies of violations of academic integrity that include:
a. Submitting a paper as your own, in toto or in part, when it was created by another; this includes:
b. Word-for-word copying of portions of another's writing without enclosing the copied passage in quotation marks or in an indented box and acknowledging the source of the quotation, [including copying and pasting from online sources] (using MLA style).
c. Using a unique term or concept which one has come across in reading, without acknowledging its author or source.
d. Paraphrasing or restating someone else's ideas without acknowledging that this other person's text was the basis for that paraphrasing.
e. Presenting false data--for example, data that were fabricated, altered, or borrowed from someone else, without the instructor's permission to do so.
Signorella, Margaret. Introduction to Social Psychology. Penn State, Fall, 2012. Web. 16 Oct. 2012.
Cheating: refers to an immoral way of achieving a goal. It is generally used for the breaking of rules to gain advantage in a competitive situation. Cheating is the getting of reward for ability by dishonest means.
This principle applies to violations of academic integrity that include:
a. Submitting academic work that is not one’s own
b. Not complying with the academic policies governing testing, including sharing answers with other students or obtaining answers from other students
14. Alteration of records, falsifying or altering school records, or communication between home and the school. The forging of a parental note by a student and making or having someone else make a phone call to the school in which the caller falsely claims to be the parent/guardian.
15. Refusal to follow teacher or administrator instructions and failure to comply with any written or verbal communication from a teacher or administrator. A student who has been given a Call Notice to report to the Dean of Students and does not do so at the indicated time. Any student found to be disrespectful to a teacher, staff member, or administrator. Any student found guilty of insubordination, or a malicious, willful, and publicly defiant disobedience.
16. Initiating a fire alarm, bomb scare, anthrax or other threat, or calling 9-1-1 when no emergency exists.
17. Violation of the rules and code of ethics of the Archbishop Mitty High School Technology Use Policy.
18. Participation in any form of a “senior prank.”
19. Gestures, verbal and written threats of violence. Use or possession of firearms (loaded or unloaded), replica weapons, or other potentially injurious weapons or objects. These include, but are not limited to, the following: matches and lighters; laser pointers; chain hanging from pocket or wallet; any knife (including pocketknife, Swiss Army knife); BB guns; shurikens and dirks; icepicks and screwdrivers; razors; stunguns and tasers; metal knuckles; nanchaku sticks; explosives/fireworks.
20. Possession, sale, promotion, or engagement in Internet activity with pornographic or other offensive material.
21. Using the AMHS name, initials, or logo without direct permission. It is unacceptable to display pictures of staff, students, the school, or school activities without direct permission from the parties involved. Deliberate publication on the Internet, or anywhere else, may result in disciplinary action. It goes without saying that anything that is digitally altered, degrading, lewd, threatening, or violent in relationship to the above will result in serious disciplinary action, including the possibility of dismissal.
A student who commits a serious behavioral infraction of the student code of conduct is subject to immediate dismissal from school. However, most serious behavioral infractions, committed during the regular academic year, are referred to the Student Review Board or assigned Disciplinary Monitoring.
When a student is disenrolled or dismissed from AMHS, parents are responsible for tuition for all months a student was in attendance, including partial months. Any residual paid tuition, beyond the last month in attendance, will be refunded through the Business Office.
For serious disciplinary reasons, the Dean of Students may suspend a student from attending school. During suspension the student may not come to school without the permission of the Dean, and the student loses the right to participate in any school activity during the suspension period. The student will not return to class until his or her parent/guardian has had a conference with the Dean.
Suspension is considered an unexcused absence, for which detention is assigned. Teachers will inform the student of missed work upon return to class, and the student is expected to make up that work.
Disciplinary monitoring is a most serious status that is assigned to students who have violated the school’s behavioral rules or have repeatedly not complied with school policies. This is a trial period in which a student must conduct himself or herself in a way that meets the school disciplinary code. A student who violates the school rules while on Disciplinary Monitoring may not be allowed to participate in or attend school-sponsored extracurricular activities and is subject to dismissal from Archbishop Mitty. A student may be required to receive professional, medical, or psychiatric assessment and/or help as a condition of monitoring, at parent expense.
While a student is on Disciplinary Monitoring, all fees and tuition must be paid when due; outstanding debt will result in the student’s being suspended or dismissed from school.
At the end of each semester, the Administration will review the case of each student on monitoring. If problems continue, the student may be dismissed. However, a student need not be on Disciplinary Monitoring to be dismissed from AMHS. In particular, serious, situations students on Disciplinary Monitoring can be moved to Disciplinary Probation.
The purpose of the Student Review Board is to review and recommend to the Principal whether a student should continue membership in the Mitty student body and under what circumstances. Options for its recommendation to the Principal include the student’s dismissal, suspension, monitoring, loss of privileges, and/or detention. The Principal has the final jurisdiction over the recommendations of the Board.
Members of the Student Review Board are elected by the faculty and students. The Associate Principal chairs the Student Review Board.
As a Catholic coeducational high school, AMHS respects and promotes the dignity and worth of each human being. As such, we find the student use and abuse of alcohol and drugs incompatible with our mission and philosophy. Such use also jeopardizes the safety of everyone in this educational community. AMHS expects students to avoid any use of, involvement with, or possession of alcohol or drugs. Therefore, in responding to the use and abuse of drugs and alcohol by students at AMHS, the school’s actions will always be guided by the following norms delineated in the Administrative Handbook of the Department of Education of the Diocese of San Jose:
Possessing, selling, giving away, using, or being under the influence of drugs and/or hazardous substances on the campus, at school functions, or at a time and place that directly involves the school, renders a student liable to expulsion. (5177.1)
In keeping with the directives of the Diocese and our own experience, Archbishop Mitty addresses student drug/alcohol use in three ways:
- Education: Through our curriculum in science and religious studies, students are programmatically educated regarding the importance of health and issues surrounding use of drugs and alcohol. Through the joint efforts of the Religious Studies Department, Science Department, and the Counseling and Guidance Department, an annual mandatory Freshmen Student-Parent Education Night is held to address this issue. Our extracurricular programs in Student Activities, Campus Ministry, and Athletics also promote education regarding drugs and alcohol.
- Intervention: AMHS recognizes substance abuse as a treatable illness and will make every effort to assist students involved with the problem. Any student who comes forward of his/her own initiative and volition with an alcohol or drug problem will be met with pastoral care. Strict confidentiality will be observed in providing assistance, and every effort will be made through the Counseling and Guidance Department to remediate the problem and enable students who are actively seeking help for themselves or others to continue their education at AMHS.
- Discipline: The possession, use, exchange, distribution, reception, intention to sell, sale, or purchase of controlled or mind-altering substances or paraphernalia, at any time and in any place by a Mitty student, or being under the influence of these drugs is a serious breach of the student code of conduct.
In order to provide a safe environment, any student attending AMHS or an AMHS event may be subject to an on-sight breathalyzer test when there is a reasonable suspicion of alcohol consumption. The Dean of Students or her/his designee will administer such a test, and parents will be contacted. A student’s refusal to cooperate with such a test may be considered sufficient reason to suspend the student and to refer him/her for disciplinary action.
Student behavior off campus is also subject to school disciplinary action. Appropriate behavior is expected of all Mitty students at all times and in all places. This is especially true at school-related activities and events off-campus. Archbishop Mitty students are expected to comply with all civil laws.
AMHS reserves the right to contact local law enforcement when a student is found to have used, been in possession of, sold, or distributed any illegal substances.
It is important for students and parents to understand the legal ramifications of drug involvement. A person who spends time with a person who sells drugs can be convicted of aiding and abetting in a felony. Referring a customer to a seller is a form of drug trafficking. A homeowner can be criminally prosecuted for hosting a party at which drugs are used or sold.
The school clearly educates students and parents regarding the school’s disciplinary policy in this area through the school Website, the Principal’s Newsletter, curriculum and divisional meetings, and especially prior to Junior Prom, Senior Ball, and Graduation.
