M.T., APPELLANT,
v.
THE SCHOOL BOARD OF MANATEE COUNTY, FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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M.T. was expelled from high school for carrying and firing a pellet gun in his neighborhood, but the Florida Court of Appeal reversed because the incident occurred off school property and outside the school board's jurisdictional authority under its conduct policy.
The school board lacked authority to expel M.T. because the incident occurred in the neighborhood, not on school grounds, school board property, school buses, or at any school-sponsored function as required by Policy 600.
[1] A school board may not expel a student for conduct that occurs off school grounds and is unrelated to any school-sponsored activity.
[2] A school board's authority to discipline a student is limited to conduct occurring on school grounds, school board property, at school-sponsored functions, or during scho…
Previewing 2 of 3 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the school board erred when it expelled M.T. because the incident which prompted the school board's action did not occur at an event or on property subject to the school board's authority”
The court's central holding that the school board lacked jurisdictional authority for off-campus conduct
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceOn January 11, 1999, M.T. left home with a semi-automatic CO-2 pellet gun, met a similarly armed friend, and the two confronted another boy in the nei…
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SALCINES, Judge.
M.T. appeals the final order of the Manatee County School Board expelling him from Bayshore High School in Bradenton, Florida, for the remainder of the 1998-1999 school year and for the entire 1999-2000 school year. We hold that the school board erred when it expelled M.T. because the incident which prompted the school board’s action did not occur at an event or on property subject to the school board’s authority.
On January 11, 1999, at approximately 7:00 a.m.,M.T. left his home carrying a semi-automatic CO-2 pellet gun. He traveled on his bicycle to the home of a friend who similarly armed himself, and the two left to confront another boy with whom they had a previous conflict. The two waited outside the other boy’s home. When the boy emerged from his home and observed M.T. and his friend, he went back inside. Thereafter, M.T. and his friend rode their bicycles around the neighborhood until they observed a group of youngsters walking down the street. M.T. allegedly heard the report of a “BB gun” and fired his pellet gun at the group several times. This incident was the basis of the expulsion petition filed against M.T..
This court notes that the Code of Student Conduct, Policy 600, which allegedly provided the school board with the authority to expel M.T., prohibits the possession or use of any firearm or other dangerous object “while on school grounds, school board property and facilities, buildings, school buses, motor vehicle on school adjacent grounds, or at any school-sponsored function, or any school board sponsored or governed activity.” It is not necessary for this court to determine if the pellet gun could be classified as a firearm or other dangerous object because the evidence is clear that the incident did not occur in a school location as denoted in Policy 600.
Although violence at school and at school functions cannot be tolerated, the school board did not have the authority to expel M.T. under this rule for actions in his neighborhood which were proper for local police action but were unrelated to the school. The final order of the school board is vacated and the school board is ordered immediately to permit M.T. to attend Bayshore High School.
Reversed.
THREADGILL, A.C.J., and BLUE, J., Concur.
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A.B.E. v. Sch. Bd. OF Brevard Cnty., 33 So. 3d 795 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010)…ard’s power to punish student conduct is limited to conduct that occurs either on school premises or during transportation to and from school premises if such transportation is an expense of the public school. See M.T. v. Sch. Bd. of Manatee County, 779 So. 2d 328, 328 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999) (“the school board erred when it expelled M.T. because the incident which prompted the school board’s action did not occur at an event or on property subject to the school board’s authority”). Here, during the expulsion heari…