5020 Visitors To The Schools DCVPA

The school encourages the community and parents to be involved in and support the school and the educational program of the school.

A. Opportunities to Visit the School

To encourage involvement, the following opportunities are provided to visit the schools.

1. Visitors are welcome to observe and learn about the educational program at the school subject to reasonable rules developed by school administrators.
2. Visitors are invited to attend school events that are open to the public, such as athletic events, musical programs, and dramatic productions.

B. Requirements of Visitors to the School

While the school welcomes visitors to the school, the paramount concern of the school is to provide a safe and orderly learning environment in which disruptions to instructional time are kept to a minimum. The principal shall establish and enforce reasonable rules to address this concern.

1. All school visitors during the school day must report immediately to the administrative office at the school to request and receive permission to be in the school. Each principal shall ensure that signs are posted in the school to notify visitors of this requirement.
2. School visitors are expected to comply with all school rules and school board policies, including policy 5025, Prohibition of Drugs and Alcohol; policy 7250, Smoking and Tobacco Products; and policy 7275, Weapons and Explosives Prohibited.
3. Persons who are subject to North Carolina’s Registered Sex Offenders laws, must comply with them.

C. Additional Requirements of Juvenile Court Counselor

To minimize disruption to student learning and school operations, the school establishes the following additional requirements for visits by Juvenile Court Counselors during the school day:

1. Visits by Juvenile Court Counselors must be authorized in advance by the school principal or designee or be the result of a request for assistance by a guidance counselor or school resource officer. The principal or designee at each school shall coordinate with probation officers to plan and schedule visits to occur at times least disruptive to the student’s academic schedule and to school operations.
2. To protect the privacy of students, to the extent possible, the principal or designee shall designate a private area for Juvenile Court Counselors to meet with students away from contact with the general student population. Initial contact with the student will be made by a designated school employee, who shall direct the student to the private area to meet with the probation officer.
3. Juvenile Court Counselors may not initiate direct contact with any student while the student is in class or between classes.
4. All visits must be conducted in accordance with this policy and any additional guidelines developed by the superintendent or designee.

D. Unauthorized, Disruptive, or Dangerous Visitors

If a school employee becomes aware that an individual is on a school property without having received permission or that an individual is exhibiting unusual, threatening, or dangerous behavior, the employee must either direct the individual to the administrative office or notify the principal, designee, or school resource officer, depending on the circumstances. If a school employee suspects that an individual is on school property in violation of North Carolina’s Registered Sex Offenders laws, the employee must immediately notify the principal, designee, or school resource officer.

Students will be instructed to notify a school employee of any unusual or suspicious behavior by visitors. School employees shall inform the principal or designee immediately of a student’s report of suspicious behavior on the part of a school visitor.

When an individual disrupts the educational environment, acts in a disorderly manner, damages school property, or violates board policy or the law, the principal or designee has authority to:

1. order the individual to leave school property;
2. notify law enforcement; and/or
3. take any other action deemed appropriate under the circumstances.

Failure to comply with a request to leave school grounds may result in the filing of trespass charges or other charges as appropriate against the offending individual.

The Chief of the University’s Police Department, upon recommendation from the principal, may deny an individual permission to come onto school grounds or enter a school facility for up to one school year if the individual is found responsible of disrupting the educational environment, engaging in dangerous behavior, acting in a disorderly manner, damaging school property, or violating board policy or the law on school grounds.

Issued: October 16, 2018