Behavior Expectations
Saddleback Valley Unified School District (SVUSD) students are held to high standards of behavior at all times;
SVUSD students are to be respectful of themselves and others
SVUSD students are to be responsible for themselves, their actions, and their healthy choices
SVUSD students are to be exemplary representatives of themselves, the programs in which they participate, the schools in which they attend, and the greater community in which they thrive
We believe in a positive approach to behavior intervention and expect students to accept responsibility for their actions and subsequent consequences. SVUSD High schools and Intermediate schools use demerits to account for detention hours accrued by students for a variety of school rule violations. Seniors MUST be at 0 demerits in order to participate in commencement ceremonies.
Demerits: 1 demerit = 1 hour of detention. Students can remove demerits by serving the assigned consequences through detention, Saturday school, etc. on or before the date assigned. Failure to serve the discipline consequences will result in earning additional demerits and intervention counseling as well as the loss of privileges.
One- Hour Detention: A one (1) hour detention = One (1) demerit earned. One (1) demerit will be removed from the student’s record if the detention is served on or before the date assigned. Failure to serve the detention will result in one (1) additional demerit being assigned.
Two-Hour Detention: A two (2) hour detention assignment = Two (2) demerits earned. Two (2) demerits will be removed from the student’s record if the detention is served on or before the date assigned. Failure to serve the detention will result in two (2) additional demerit being assigned.
Saturday School: A four (4) hour Saturday School assignment = Four (4) demerits earned. Six (6) demerits will be removed from the student’s record if the Saturday school is served on the date assigned. Failure to serve the Saturday School will result in the Saturday School being rescheduled and two (2) additional demerits being assigned.
School Service: Students may also recover demerits earned through hours of school service. School service must be coordinated and approved by the Assistant Principal of Supervision prior to being completed. Two (2) demerits will be removed for each hour of school service being completed.
Privileges Program
Privileges within SVUSD are defined as, but are not limited to:
1.Dances
2.On-campus parking
3.Promotion & senior activities
4.Commencement ceremony
Students with ten (10) or more demerits will be placed on the loss of privileges list until they have zero (0) TOTAL demerits. Students that are placed on the following contracts will also be on the loss of privileges list and will remain on the list for the duration of the contract term noted below.
Tardy contract. A student is placed on a tardy contract by earning 6 tardies in a single class. The student will be placed on the Loss of Privileges list when the student reaches the 10th tardy in that class. The student will remain on the Loss of Privileges list until the end of the semester that the contract is assigned.
Attendance Contract. A student is placed on an attendance contract by getting 7 or more single period truancies throughout the school day. The student will be placed on the Loss of Privileges list when the student reaches 16 total period truancies. A student will remain on the Loss of Privileges list until the end of the semester that the contract is assigned.
Behavior contract. A student may be placed on a behavioral contract for suspendable offenses and/or inappropriate behavior in a classroom or throughout campus. A student will remain on the loss of privileges list throughout the duration of the contract.
Ethics violation. If a student violates an ethics contract by getting a third ethics violation during their probationary period, the student will be placed on the loss of privileges list for the remainder of current semester and all of the subsequent semester.
The loss of privileges list will be generated quarterly in conjunction with the co-curricular eligibility cycle. The list will also be updated prior to every school dance (when tickets go on sale). To prevent students from being placed on the loss of privileges list, students with one (1) or more demerits will receive notification from the discipline office of their demerit total two times per month.
Students will be removed from the loss of privileges list by the Assistant Principal of Supervision as soon as they have zero (0) TOTAL demerits.
Activities. Students placed on the loss of privileges list are NOT permitted to participate in any of the activities listed above until they have zero (0) TOTAL demerits.
Dances. Students placed on the loss of privileges list are NOT permitted to purchase dance tickets until they reduce their TOTAL demerits to zero (0). Students will have until the day before the last day of tickets sales to reduce their total demerits and be permitted to purchase a ticket to attend the dance.
On-campus Parking. Students placed on the loss of privileges list will have their parking pass taken away (without refund), until they reduce their TOTAL demerits to zero (0). As soon as the student is removed from the loss of privileges list, the parking pass will be reinstated.
*** Demerits that are not cleared will carry over year to year***