When off-campus behavior gets out of hand with students at Fossil Ridge High School, Fossil is quick to deal with the issues within days. Fossil authorities have the right to suspend students for their behaviors, including off-campus behaviors. Etched in Stone sat down with the Deans of students, Mr. Wulff and Mrs. Jones, to interview them about circumstances that allow them to suspend students. Mrs. Jones references page 37 of  the Poudre School District Code of Conduct handbook, where the circumstances of which students will get suspended is stated. Page 37 says that students can get suspended due to inappropriate behaviors that happen off of school grounds. Mr. Wulff references the Colorado School law book that discusses the term “nexus,” which says that administration can enact the Code of Conduct if there is reasonable connection between the behavior and the school.

In addition to the Code of Conduct, athletes can have additional consequences that will affect their playing time. The Deans brought up pages 25 and 26 in the Poudre School District Code of Conduct, which state if you are a part of a sports team at Fossil Ridge, your first suspension will be from 30%  of sport competitions, then 50% suspension, and then on the last violation the athlete will lose all right to participate in interscholastic athletics for the rest of their high school career. During these suspensions, the athlete is still required to participate in the practices, so that when they are eligible to participate in athletics they are still good standing.

Additionally, “FERPA Law” is a law that allows counselors, the administrative team, and mental health teachers to get involved in the situation with the student. Another law is the “Claire Davis Act,” and that law makes the school, especially in Colorado, liable for violence within the school. This means that if the administration knows about a student’s inappropriate behaviors and chooses not to say anything about it, that teacher can get sued if that student goes through with their behaviors. There are many laws that give schools the right to deal with behaviors that happen off-campus involving students from the school. Whether that student is a athlete or just a normal student, the school is able to deal with the issue happening off campus because of these laws.