Vermont § 11 - Classifications and definitions

§ 11. Classifications and definitions

• (a) As used in this title, unless the context otherwise clearly requires: (1) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Education. (2) “Electorate” means the qualified voters in a school district voting at a properly
  warned school district meeting. (3) “Elementary education” means a program of public school education adapted to the needs
  of students in prekindergarten, kindergarten, and the first six grades. (4) “Grades” means the division of the educational work of the public schools into 13
  school year units beginning with kindergarten and thereafter numbered from one to
  12 beginning with the lowest. The first six grades and kindergarten are the elementary
  grades. The last six grades are the high school grades. This classification is not
  a limitation of the character of work, the organization of school facilities, or the
  studies that may be carried on in either the elementary or the high schools. (5) “Secondary education or high school education” means a program of public school education
  of six years adapted to the needs of students who have completed their elementary
  education. (6) “Kindergarten” means an educational program for children of one year adapted to the
  needs of students who will attend first grade the following year. (7) “Public school” means an elementary school or secondary school operated by a school
  district. A public school may maintain evening or summer schools for its students
  and it shall be considered a public school. (8) “Independent school” means a school other than a public school, which provides a program
  of elementary or secondary education, or both. An “independent school meeting education
  quality standards” means an independent school in Vermont that undergoes the education
  quality standards process and meets the requirements of subsection 165(b) of this title. (9) “School board” means the board of school directors elected to manage the schools of
  a school district, the prudential committee of an incorporated school district, the
  supervisory union board of directors, and the supervisors of unorganized towns and
  gores. (10) “School district” means town school districts, union school districts, interstate
  school districts, city school districts, unified union districts, and incorporated
  school districts, each of which is governed by a publicly elected board. (11) “School district meeting” means a duly warned meeting of a school district at which
  questions are presented to the electorate. (12) “School year” means the year beginning July 1 and ending the next June 30. (13) “Superintendent” means the chief executive officer of a supervisory union and each
  school board within it. (14) “Agency of Education” means the Secretary and staff necessary to carry out the functions
  of the Agency. (15) “State Board” means the State Board of Education established by chapter 3 of this
  title. (16) [Repealed.] (17) “Adult education and literacy” means a program of public education adapted to the
  needs of persons who are beyond compulsory school age, and who have not completed
  high school education. (18) [Repealed.] (19) “Recognized independent school” for any school year means an independent school that
  meets the requirements for recognized independent schools in section 166 of this title and that is not a home study program. (20) “Approved independent school” means an independent school that is approved under section 166 of this title. (21) “Home study program” means an educational program offered through home study that
  provides a minimum course of study and that is offered to not more than: (A) children residing in that home; and (B) children not residing in that home who either are two or fewer in number or who are
  from one family. (22) [Repealed.] (23) “Supervisory union” means an administrative, planning, and educational service unit
  created by the State Board under section 261 of this title, that consists of two or more school districts; if the context clearly allows, the
  term also means a supervisory district. (24) “Supervisory district” means a supervisory union that consists of only one school
  district, which may be a unified union district. (25) “Remedial” and “compensatory” services mean educational services, not including special
  education services, for children who require additional assistance in order to benefit
  from general classroom instruction and include education services for children at
  risk of school failure. (26)(A) “Harassment” means an incident or incidents of verbal, written, visual, or physical
  conduct, including any incident conducted by electronic means, based on or motivated
  by a student’s or a student’s family member’s actual or perceived race, creed, color,
  national origin, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability
  that has the purpose or effect of objectively and substantially undermining and detracting
  from or interfering with a student’s educational performance or access to school resources
  or creating an objectively intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment. (B) “Harassment” includes conduct that violates subdivision (A) of this subdivision (26)
  and constitutes one or more of the following: (i) Sexual harassment, which means conduct that includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests
  for sexual favors and other verbal, written, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual
  nature when one or both of the following occur: (I) Submission to that conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition
  of a student’s education. (II) Submission to or rejection of such conduct by a student is used as a component of
  the basis for decisions affecting that student. (ii) Racial harassment, which means conduct directed at the characteristics of a student’s
  or a student’s family member’s actual or perceived race or color, and includes the
  use of epithets, stereotypes, racial slurs, comments, insults, derogatory remarks,
  gestures, threats, graffiti, display, or circulation of written or visual material,
  and taunts on manner of speech and negative references to racial customs. (iii) Harassment of members of other protected categories, which means conduct directed
  at the characteristics of a student’s or a student’s family member’s actual or perceived
  creed, national origin, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity,
  or disability and includes the use of epithets, stereotypes, slurs, comments, insults,
  derogatory remarks, gestures, threats, graffiti, display, or circulation of written
  or visual material, taunts on manner of speech, and negative references to customs
  related to any of these protected categories. (27) “Tutorial program” means education provided to a student who is placed in a short-term
  program for evaluation and treatment purposes. (28) “State-placed student” means: (A) a Vermont student who has been placed in a school district other than the district
  of residence of the student’s parent, parents, or guardian or in an approved residential
  facility by a Vermont State agency, a Vermont licensed child placement agency, a designated
  community mental health agency, any other agency as defined by the Secretary, or by
  a court of competent jurisdiction in another state, territory, or country; or (B) a Vermont student who: (i) is 18 years of age or older; (ii) is living in a community residence as a result of placement by a Vermont State agency,
  a Vermont licensed child placement agency, a designated community mental health agency,
  or by a court of competent jurisdiction in another state, territory, or country, and
  whose residential costs are paid for in whole or in part by one of these agencies;
  and (iii) resides in a school district other than the district of the student’s parent or parents;
  or (C) [Repealed.] (D) a Vermont student who: (i) is in either: (I) the legal custody of the Commissioner for Children and Families; or (II) the temporary legal custody of an individual pursuant to 33 V.S.A. § 5308(b)(3) or (4), until a disposition order has been entered pursuant to section 5318 of that
  title; and (ii) is determined by the Secretary of Education to be in particular need of educational
  continuity by attending a school in a district other than the student’s current district
  of residence; (E) but does not mean a student placed within a correctional facility or in the Woodside
  Juvenile Rehabilitation Center. (29) [Repealed.] (30)(A) “Hazing” means any act committed by a person, whether individually or in concert with
  others, against a student in connection with pledging, being initiated into, affiliating
  with, holding office in, or maintaining membership in any organization that is affiliated
  with an educational institution; and that is intended to have the effect of, or should
  reasonably be expected to have the effect of, humiliating, intimidating, or demeaning
  the student or endangering the mental or physical health of a student. Hazing also
  includes soliciting, directing, aiding, or otherwise participating actively or passively
  in these acts. Hazing may occur on or off the campus of an educational institution.
  Hazing shall not include any activity or conduct that furthers legitimate curricular,
  extracurricular, or military training program goals, provided that: (i) the goals are approved by the educational institution; and (ii) the activity or conduct furthers the goals in a manner that is appropriate, contemplated
  by the educational institution, and normal and customary for similar programs at other
  educational institutions. (B) The definitions of “educational institution,” “organization,” “pledging,” and “student”
  shall be the same as those in section 570i of this title. (31) “Early childhood education,” “early education,” or “prekindergarten education” means
  services designed to provide developmentally appropriate early development and learning
  experiences based on Vermont’s early learning standards to children who are three
  to four years of age and to five-year-old children who are not eligible for or enrolled
  in kindergarten. (32) “Bullying” means any overt act or combination of acts, including an act conducted
  by electronic means, directed against a student by another student or group of students
  and that: (A) is repeated over time; (B) is intended to ridicule, humiliate, or intimidate the student; and (C)(i) occurs during the school day on school property, on a school bus, or at a school-sponsored
  activity, or before or after the school day on a school bus or at a school-sponsored
  activity; or (ii) does not occur during the school day on school property, on a school bus, or at a
  school-sponsored activity and can be shown to pose a clear and substantial interference
  with another student’s right to access educational programs. (33)(A) “Pregnant or parenting pupil” means a legal pupil of any age who is not a high school
  graduate and who: (i) is pregnant; or (ii) has given birth, has placed a child for adoption, or has experienced a miscarriage,
  if any of these has occurred within one year before the public or approved independent
  school or the approved education program receives a request for enrollment or attendance;
  or (iii) is the parent of a child. (B) “Pregnant or parenting pupil” does not include a person whose parental rights have
  been terminated, except if the person has placed the child for adoption or has voluntarily
  relinquished parental rights, within one year before the public or approved independent
  school or the approved education program receives a request for enrollment or attendance. (34) “Approved education program” means a program that is evaluated and approved by the
  State Board pursuant to written standards, that is neither an approved independent
  school nor a public school, and that provides educational services to one or more
  students in collaboration with the student’s or students’ school district of residence.
  An “approved education program” includes an “approved teen parent education program.” (35) “Teen parent education program” means a program designed to provide educational and
  other services to pregnant pupils or parenting pupils, or both. (b) Each school district shall be known by the name of the municipality in which it lies,
  or in the case of union, incorporated, and interstate school districts, by a number
  and by a name given the district by its school board and approved by the Secretary. (Added 1969, No. 298 (Adj. Sess.), § 10; amended 1975, No. 48, § 1, eff. April 15, 1975; 1975, No. 147 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 1981, No. 151 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1981, No. 170 (Adj. Sess.), § 10a, eff. April 19, 1982; 1983, No. 248 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1985, No. 71, § 2; 1987, No. 68, § 2; 1987, No. 97, § 1, eff. June 23, 1987; 1987, No. 228 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1, 2; 1989, No. 44, § 2, eff. June 1, 1990; 1989, No. 230 (Adj. Sess.), § 5; 1991, No. 24, § 1; 1993, No. 162 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 1995, No. 157 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1997, No. 71 (Adj. Sess.), § 107, eff. March 11, 1998; 1999, No. 120 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2001, No. 8, § 1; 2003, No. 66, § 188a; 2003, No. 68, § 25, eff. June 18, 2003; 2003, No. 91 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2003, No. 117 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2007, No. 41, § 17; 2007, No. 62, § 2; 2007, No. 66, § 1; 2009, No. 44, §§ 1, 14, 29, 32, 33, eff. May 21, 2009; 2011, No. 58, §§ 35, 36, eff. May 31, 2011; 2011, No. 129 (Adj. Sess.), § 32; 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Feb. 14, 2014; 2013, No. 179 (Adj. Sess.), § E.500.6; 2015, No. 23, §§ 17, 31; 2015, No. 48, § 1.)