IA: NEW IOWA LAW ON DISRUPTIVE STUDENTS
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DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — A new state law addressing student disruptions in the classroom takes effect for the upcoming school year.
Senate File 2428 was passed by lawmakers and signed by the governor this year.
This gives educators rights in the workplace and protects students’ learning, said Joshua Brown, president of the Iowa State Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union.
“One of the things that we feel is really important is that educators deserve to have a safe and healthy work environment. And so this was one step towards addressing that,” Brown said.
Several districts voiced concern in July about the lack of guidance from the state education agency.
The Iowa Department of Education offered a 14-page FAQ to district leaders on Aug. 18.
“There’s also a little bit of concern about just how it’s going to be implemented,” Brown said.
It details the processes for removing students from the classroom when violent or nonviolent incidents happen.
“We’re all working together to try to make sure that we implement this in the best way we possibly can to uplift and protect the rights of our educators, but also protect and uplift the rights of our students,” he said.
That meant addressing students with individual education plans, or IEPs.
There are two main parts to the law: dealing with nonviolent and violent disruptions.
In a nonviolent disruption: the teacher can remove the student into the principal’s oversight for a minimum of 30 minutes. For grades 6-12, students would not return until the next day. If there is a repeated incident, a team of educators, the teacher, a parent or guardian, a guidance counselor and the student meet. “It gives an opportunity to restore the relationship between the educator and the student,” Brown says.
In a violent disruption: a student leaves the classroom into the care of a principal or another designated staff member. Next, the teacher, principal and student meet. The student does not return to the classroom if the teacher has been assaulted or doesn’t agree with the return.
Violent disruptions include injury, property damage or assault such as physical contact, displaying or pointing a weapon, or even pointing a laser at someone with the intent to injure.
State education department data for the last 20 years shows that expulsions and/or suspensions for violent acts by students have gone up.
In 2006, all suspensions or expulsions for fights totaled 6,147.
In 2024-25, the fighting data shows more than 6,255 without injury, 1,115 for fights with injury and 31 with a serious injury.
The categories changed over the 20 years, so they aren’t comparable.
Removals for disruptions also grew in the last decade. That’s how many years that has been tracked.
It goes from more than 3,600 statewide 20 years ago to more than 5,500 in the 2024-25 school year.
School boards are beginning to adopt policies to incorporate the new law at the district level.
KCCI Investigates reached out to the Iowa Department of Education to learn more.
The education department did not have time for an interview Monday.
KCCI Investigates will reach out again.
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