Oregon — school discipline
- The lines the state draws
- Local board policies "Must be limited so that: (A) The duration of an expulsion may not be more than one calendar year. (B) The duration of a suspension may not be more than 10 school days." (§339.250(2)(f)) The administrative rule restates the suspension ceiling: "School district boards shall limit suspension to a specific maximum number of days. That maximum shall not exceed ten school days." (OAR 581-021-0065(5)) A student in fifth grade or lower faces narrower grounds still: policies "must limit the use of out-of-school suspension or of expulsion to" nonaccidental conduct causing serious physical harm, a school administrator's determination of a direct threat to health or safety, or a suspension or expulsion required by law. (§339.250(2)(d)) A mandatory floor applies to firearms: the board's firearm policy must "Require expulsion from school for a period of not less than one year of any student who is determined to have" brought, possessed, concealed, or used a firearm at school or a school activity. (§339.250(7)(a))
- Offices and appeal bodies in these sources
- "A school district board may expel, or delegate authority to a hearings officer to expel, a student provided the student is not expelled without a hearing unless the student's parent(s) or guardian, or the student, if 18 years of age, waives the right to a hearing." (OAR 581-021-0070(2)) Where the authority is delegated, "the parent, or student, if age 18 or over, shall have the right upon appeal to a board review of the decision. If the decision is appealed to the board for review, the board shall be provided findings as to the facts and the decision of the hearings officer. This material shall be made available at the same time to the parent or guardian, and to the student, if age 18 or over. When appealed, the board will affirm, modify, or rescind the decision of the hearings officer." (OAR 581-021-0070(2)(b)) "Student expulsion hearings shall be conducted pursuant to ORS 332.061." (OAR 581-021-0070(3))
No state office, phone number, or email for parents appears in the sources; that absence is the finding. - Sources last checked
- Oct 29, 2026
Reproduced from the state's own statutes and rules quoted below: potentially relevant official sources, not a determination of which one governs any situation.
This page assembles what Oregon publishes in statute and administrative rule about K-12 school discipline: who may remove a student and how, the notice and hearing the rules require, what continues during a removal, where the appeal routes run, and, because the statute assigns nearly all of the operative detail to each district school board, a map of the questions answered only in a district's own written rules of pupil conduct and discipline. The fullest single statement runs across ORS 339.240, 339.250, and 339.252, read with OAR 581-021-0050 through 581-021-0075, which implement them. Oregon's own vocabulary appears throughout: the district school board, the written rules of pupil conduct and discipline, the hearings officer, and the student handbook or code of conduct. District rules and handbooks add procedural detail this page does not carry; the delegation map below points at exactly those questions. For a student with an IEP or Section 504 plan, the disability layer lives on this site's Oregon special education page. Confirm applicability with the district and the agency. All dates on this page are quoted from the sources, not a deadline calculation performed for you.
The framework, as the state writes it
State and local rulemaking (§339.240). "The State Board of Education in accordance with ORS chapter 183 shall adopt rules setting minimum standards for pupil conduct and discipline and for rights and procedures pertaining thereto that are consistent with orderly operation of the educational processes and with fair hearing requirements." Each "district school board shall adopt and attempt to give the widest possible distribution of copies of reasonable written rules regarding pupil conduct, discipline and rights and procedures pertaining thereto". Such rules must comply with the state's minimum standards, and "district school board shall enforce consistently and fairly its written rules regarding pupil conduct, discipline and rights." (§339.240(1)-(3))
Grounds for discipline, suspension, or expulsion (§339.250(2)). Board policies "May allow discipline, suspension or expulsion for conduct that includes, but is not limited to" willful disobedience, open defiance of authority, possession or distribution of tobacco, alcohol, drugs, or controlled substances, profane or obscene language, willful damage to school property, threats or harassment, assault, or intentional attempts to place someone in fear of imminent serious physical injury. (§339.250(2)(a)) Policies "Must require consideration of the age of a student and the past pattern of behavior of a student prior to imposing the suspension or expulsion of a student." (§339.250(2)(b)) The administrative rule states the same grounds independently: students "shall be liable to discipline, suspension, or expulsion for misconduct, including but not limited to" theft, disruption, property damage, assault or threats, unauthorized weapons, unlawful drug or alcohol use, or persistent failure to comply with lawful directions. (OAR 581-021-0055(2))
Limits on expulsion (§339.250(2)(c)). Policies "Must limit the use of expulsion to the following circumstances: (A) For conduct that poses a threat to the health or safety of students or school employees; (B) When other strategies to change student conduct have been ineffective, except that expulsion may not be used to address truancy; or (C) When the expulsion is required by law." OAR 581-021-0070(1) restates the same three-part limit for the board policies it requires.
Managing threats of violence or harm (§339.250(4)). Each board's policy "shall include all of the following:" "Staff reporting methods" is the first. (§339.250(4)(a)) Among the options an administrator may implement: "Immediately removing from the classroom setting any student who has threatened to injure another person or to severely damage school property." Also available is placing the student where the behavior "will receive immediate attention," or "Requiring that a school obtain an evaluation of a student by a licensed mental health professional before allowing the student to return to the classroom setting." A student removed for evaluation "may not be removed for more than 10 school days unless the administrator is able to show good cause".
Firearms (§339.250(7)). The mandatory one-year expulsion is quoted in the docket. The policy shall "Allow a superintendent of a school district to: (A) Modify the expulsion requirement for a student on a case-by-case basis." and must "Require a referral to the appropriate law enforcement agency of any student who is expelled under this subsection." (§339.250(7)(c)-(d))
Corporal punishment prohibited (§339.250(9); OAR 581-021-0060(2), 581-021-0061). "The authority to discipline a student does not authorize the infliction of corporal punishment. Every resolution, bylaw, rule, ordinance or other act of a district school board, a public charter school or the Department of Education that permits or authorizes the infliction of corporal punishment upon a student is void and unenforceable." (§339.250(9)(a)) The rule adds: "No student in Oregon shall be subjected to corporal punishment in any public elementary or secondary school. A school administrator is not authorized to waive the prohibition against corporal punishment based upon the request of a parent or guardian." (OAR 581-021-0060(2))
Students with disabilities (§339.252). "A child with a disability continues to be entitled to a free appropriate public education if the child has been removed for disciplinary reasons from the child's current educational placement for more than 10 school days in a school year." A removal beyond that threshold, consecutive or cumulative and patterned, "is considered a change in educational placement and the school district shall follow special education due process procedures under ORS 343.155 (5) if" the removal meets the stated consecutive- or cumulative-day condition. (§339.252(2)-(3)) The fuller disability-discipline process — manifestation determination, services during removal, and the dispute routes — lives on this site's Oregon special education page; it is not restated here.
No agency guidance document on student discipline published by the Oregon Department of Education, beyond the administrative rules themselves, was located in this review; that absence is the finding.
The published process
- Notice and hearing before exclusion
- "Students may be suspended when such suspension contains within its procedures the elements of prior notice (OAR 581-021-0075), specification of charges, and an opportunity for the student to present his or her view of the alleged misconduct. The suspending official shall notify the student's parent or guardian of the suspension, the conditions for reinstatement, and appeal procedures, where applicable. These procedures may be postponed in emergency situations relating to health and safety." (OAR 581-021-0065(1)) "Emergency situations shall be limited to those instances where there is a serious risk that substantial harm will occur if suspension does not take place immediately." Separately, boards "shall provide students suspended under emergency conditions with the rights outlined in section (1) of this rule as soon as the emergency condition has passed." (OAR 581-021-0065(2)-(3)) Before an expulsion, "Notice to the student and to the parent or guardian shall be given by personal service or certified mail of the charge or charges and the specific facts that support the charge or charges. The notice shall include the statement of intent to consider the charges as reason for expulsion." (OAR 581-021-0070(4)(a)) At the expulsion hearing, "The student may be represented by counsel or other persons". The student "shall be permitted to introduce evidence by testimony, writings, or other exhibits" and "shall be permitted to be present and hear the evidence presented by the district". Where the student or parent "cannot understand the spoken English language, an interpreter shall be provided by the district". (OAR 581-021-0070(4)(b)-(e))
- Services during exclusion
- "School district boards or designated representatives shall specify the methods and conditions, if any, under which the student's school work can be made up. Students shall be allowed to make up school work upon their return from the suspension if that work reflects achievement over a greater period of time than the length of the suspension." (OAR 581-021-0065(8)) Where an out-of-school suspension is imposed on a student in fifth grade or lower, the district must "take steps to prevent the recurrence of the behavior that led to the out-of-school suspension and return the student to a classroom setting so that the disruption of the student's academic instruction is minimized." (§339.250(2)(e); OAR 581-021-0065(7)) Policy must "Propose, prior to a student's expulsion or leaving school, alternative programs of instruction or instruction combined with counseling for the student that are appropriate and accessible to the student" following a second or subsequent severe disciplinary problem within three years, among other circumstances. (§339.250(5)(h))
- The record made, and the appeal route
- "In all suspensions ordered by the executive officer of the school district or designated representative, the district school board shall have the right of final review if the action is not taken by the school board itself." (OAR 581-021-0065(4)) For expulsion, where a hearings officer conducts the hearing, "the hearings officer shall provide to the board the findings as to the facts, the recommended decision and whether or not the student is guilty of the conduct alleged. This material shall be made available at the same time to the parent or guardian, and to the student, if age 18 or over". (OAR 581-021-0070(2)(a)) The board-review route on appeal from a hearings officer's decision is quoted in the docket. "The hearings officer or the student may make a record of the hearing." (OAR 581-021-0070(4)(g))
- If the student has an IEP or Section 504 plan
- The disability layer — evaluations, the IEP team, manifestation determination, services during removal, and the dispute routes — lives on this site's Oregon special education page. The discipline statute itself states: "A child with a disability shall not be removed for disciplinary reasons under subsection (3) of this section for misconduct that is a manifestation of the child's disability, except as provided under ORS 343.177." (§339.252(4))
The four rows above answer the questions an experienced adviser raises first, from the state's own statutes, or record that a question is not answered in them.
Timelines, as stated in the sources
All quoted; none calculated. From ORS 339.240, 339.250, and 339.252 and OAR 581-021-0050 through 581-021-0075 as retrieved Sep 4, 2026.
On the suspension ceiling: "That maximum shall not exceed ten school days." (OAR 581-021-0065(5))
On the expulsion ceiling: "The duration of an expulsion may not be more than one calendar year." (§339.250(2)(f)(A))
On notice before an expulsion hearing by certified mail: "Where notice is given by certified mail to a parent of a suspended student the notice shall be placed in the mail at least five days before the date of the hearing". (OAR 581-021-0070(4)(a))
On the evaluation-based classroom removal: a student "removed from the classroom setting for an evaluation may not be removed for more than 10 school days unless the administrator is able to show good cause that an evaluation could not be completed in that time period." (§339.250(4)(b)(C))
On the change-of-placement threshold for a child with a disability: "removed for disciplinary reasons from the child's current educational placement for more than 10 school days in a school year". A change of placement is triggered specifically where "The removal is for more than 10 consecutive school days" or a patterned accumulation "for more than 10 cumulative school days in a school year". (§339.252(2)-(3))
On alternative-program notice recurrence: information must be provided "in writing to the student and the parent, legal guardian or person in parental relationship with the student at least once every six months, unless the information has changed because of the availability of new programs." (§339.250(6))
What any of this means for a particular situation is for the district, the agency, and their processes to determine.
Assigned to district policy by the quoted provision
The statute writes the frame and expressly hands nearly all of the operative detail to each district school board. Each entry below is a question a district's own documents answer, with the delegating text quoted. No district's written rules of pupil conduct and discipline are captured or quoted here.
The written rules of pupil conduct and discipline themselves. "Every district school board shall adopt and attempt to give the widest possible distribution of copies of reasonable written rules regarding pupil conduct, discipline and rights and procedures pertaining thereto." (§339.240(2)) The rule adds required topics: "School district boards shall prepare written rules of pupil conduct and discipline that shall include, but not necessarily be limited to" assembly, dress and grooming, vehicles, search and seizure, attendance, expression, alcohol/drugs/tobacco, student records, and "Discipline, suspension, and expulsion." (OAR 581-021-0050(1))
The discipline, suspension, and expulsion policy itself. "Each district school board shall adopt written policies for the discipline, suspension or expulsion of any refractory student." (§339.250(2))
The student handbook or code of conduct. "Pursuant to the policies adopted as provided by subsection (2) of this section, each school district shall develop a student handbook, code of conduct or other document that" defines the learning environment, acceptable norms of behavior, threat-response procedures, and a system of consequences. (§339.250(3))
The threat-of-violence policy. "Each district school board shall adopt written policies on managing students who threaten violence or harm in public schools." (§339.250(4))
The firearms policy. "Each district school board shall adopt a written policy involving firearms, as defined in 18 U.S.C. 921." (§339.250(7))
The physical-force policy. "Each district school board shall adopt and disseminate written policies for the use of physical force upon a student." (§339.250(8))
Discipline procedures generally. "School district boards shall establish fair and reasonable procedures for discipline, suspension, or expulsion." (OAR 581-021-0060(1))
Make-up work methods. "School district boards or designated representatives shall specify the methods and conditions, if any, under which the student's school work can be made up." (OAR 581-021-0065(8))
Alternative-program notification procedures. "District school boards shall adopt policies and procedures for notification to students and parents, or guardians of the availability of appropriate and accessible alternative programs." (OAR 581-021-0071(2))
Records access, as stated in the sources
The rules governing education records generally (implementing FERPA) permit, without requiring, a district to note discipline in a student's record: nothing in those rules "shall prevent an educational agency or institution from: (a) Including in the education records of a student appropriate information concerning disciplinary action taken against the student for conduct that posed a significant risk to the safety or well-being of that student, other students, or other members of the school community; (b) Disclosing appropriate information maintained under paragraph (2)(a) of this section to teachers and school officials in other schools who have been determined to have legitimate educational interests in the behavior of the student." (OAR 581-021-0380(2)) Separately, "Except as limited under FERPA and IDEA, each educational agency or institution shall permit a parent, an eligible student, or a representative of a parent if authorized in writing by the parent, to inspect and review the education records of the student." Expungement of discipline records specifically is not stated in the sources reviewed (ORS 339.240, 339.250, 339.252, and OAR 581-021-0050 through 581-021-0075 and 581-021-0380 were searched). Federal records rights under FERPA are not restated here beyond the cross-reference above.
Source map
| Document | Location | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| ORS 339.240, 339.250, 339.252 (Chapter 339) | oregonlegislature.gov | "2025 EDITION"; amended in the 2026 regular session per the chapter's own notice; retrieved Sep 4, 2026 |
| OAR 581-021-0050 through 581-021-0075 (division 21) | secure.sos.state.or.us | each rule's own history line (most recently amended: OAR 581-021-0065, "ODE 5-2016, f. & cert. ef. 2-5-16"); retrieved Sep 4, 2026 |
| OAR 581-021-0380 (records; health and safety emergencies) | same division as above | history "ODE 8-2007, f. & cert. ef. 3-1-07" and later; retrieved Sep 4, 2026 |
| ORS 332.061 (expulsion hearing procedure, cited by OAR 581-021-0070(3)) | cited in OAR 581-021-0070(3) | capture pending |
| ORS 343.155 and 343.177 (special education due process and manifestation, cited by §339.252) | cited in §339.252(3)-(4) | capture pending |
| Oregon Department of Education guidance on student discipline | — | not located beyond the administrative rules themselves; capture pending |
| District written rules of pupil conduct and discipline, student handbooks, and codes of conduct | each district school board, per §339.240(2) and §339.250(2)-(3) | never captured; see the delegation map |
Change log
Sep 1, 2026 · Baseline page created (discipline-layer breadth sprint). Captured first-party under recipe tools/recipes/oregon-discipline.json: ORS Chapter 339 (whole chapter, windows-1252 decoded) and OAR chapter 581, division 21 (whole division) from their respective legislative and administrative-rules sites. Findings recorded: (1) the chapter page states "2025 EDITION" and separately notes 2026-session amendments and additions, so both are recorded as the source's own currency statement; (2) neither source publishes a per-provision effective date beyond each OAR rule's own amendment history line; (3) no state office or contact for parents appears in the sources. Capture note: the ORS chapter must be decoded as windows-1252 or its apostrophes and indents corrupt to replacement characters. Not yet built, pending the deepening pass: sections 01–02 (framework, hoisted rows, timelines), the district delegation map, and records access.
Sep 4, 2026 · Deepened to full depth (discipline-layer deepening pass). Re-verified both sources through the same recipe by curl; both confirmed byte-identical to the Sep 1, 2026 capture. Built section 01 (the framework: state and local rulemaking under §339.240, the grounds and limits on suspension and expulsion under §339.250(2), the threat-of-violence-management policy, the mandatory firearm expulsion, the corporal-punishment prohibition, and the disability-discipline cross-reference at §339.252), section 02's four hoisted rows drawn primarily from OAR 581-021-0065 and -0070, a timelines block, a district delegation map with nine entries, and a records-access section built from the division's general FERPA-implementing rules (OAR 581-021-0380). Findings recorded rather than smoothed: (1) this state's discipline scheme is unusually delegation-heavy — ORS 339.250 itself repeatedly instructs "each district school board shall adopt" rather than stating the operative rule directly, so the delegation map here is the longest built in this layer to date at nine entries; (2) the notice-and-hearing content that answers this page's first hoisted row comes almost entirely from the administrative rule (OAR 581-021-0065 and -0070) rather than the statute, which states only that boards must adopt "fair and reasonable procedures"; (3) three statutes the discipline scheme cross-references — ORS 332.061 (expulsion hearing procedure), 343.155, and 343.177 (special education due process and manifestation) — are named but not separately captured, and are listed in the source map as capture pending; (4) no agency guidance document on student discipline beyond the administrative rules themselves was located in this review; (5) expungement of discipline records specifically is not stated in either source, though the division's general FERPA-implementing rules address disciplinary notations and inspection rights. No case law quoted anywhere on this page. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.
Oct 16, 2026 · Internet Archive captures recorded. Captures requested this date by an automated capture pass; no human review is claimed for this entry. No quotation, date, finding or link above was changed by it. Each capture below was requested through Save Page Now and then confirmed to play back. Captures added: ORS Chapter 339 → https://web.archive.org/web/20261016044348/https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors339.html. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.