Every year, Duval County Public Schools updates its code of conduct after months of review. A number of changes are possible this year:
- The district plans to sharpen how it reports crimes and misconduct.
- The dress code could become more gender-neutral.
- New punishments could be added for students who use a restroom or locker room that does not align with their gender assigned at birth.
The changes come, in part, in response to criticism from the state about how the district has reported misconduct. The rules also enforce a new state law on bathroom use.
Administrators will be required to file a formal police report for certain crimes, not just notify school police, said Anna DeWese, executive director of the district's Office of Student Discipline and Support Services.
"We no longer have the behavior threat assessment team. We are changing that terminology to threat management," DeWese said. "And if there's any indication of police notification or consultation required, we're changing all of that verbiage to report to law enforcement."
State officials chastised the district this spring for failing to report 50 cases of teacher misconduct dating back to 2020. Separately, a grand jury report last fall accused Duval Schools of failing to report more than 500 alleged student crimes.
School Board members said they plan to have further discussions about school safety. "If you make an arrest, that is now putting a student in a different category and path," School Board member Darryl Willie said. "We're educating students, so there's that balance we have to strike."
DeWese said the district also modified its dress code to make it more gender-neutral. Under the proposed changes, it would no longer ban "tank tops" or "tops with thin straps," and it would newly restrict students from wearing sweatshirt hoods over their heads.
And there are also new punishments for students who use a restroom unaligned with their gender assigned at birth — ranging from parent notification to in-school suspension for repeated incidents. The changes follow a new Florida law and recent district policy change.
See the full proposed changes below. The School Board is set to vote on them later this summer.
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