THE ADELPHI COLLEGE, INC.

Lingayen, Pangasinan

Reporter: EDNAMAE D. CEREZO

Date: March 16, 2024, Saturday

Course Title: EDM 212 – Legal Bases of Education

Professor: Rafael Irwin G. Nicolas, EdD

AN ACT INSTITUTIONALIZING MEASURES

GOVERNING STUDENT DISCIPLINE AND

MECHANISMS FOR CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT,

ESTABLISHING SUPPORT FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL

TEACHERS AND SCHOOL PERSONNEL AND

PROVIDING FOR THEIR PROTECTION IN CASES

RELATED THERETO (HOUSE BILL NO. 5735)

Be it enacted in the Senate and the House of Representatives in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. This Act shall be known as the Student Discipline and

Teacher Protection Act.

SECTION 2. Declaration of State Policies. In all actions relating to children, the

State shall accord special protection to children from all forms of abuse, exploitation,

cruelty, and other conditions prejudicial to their development. Furthermore, the State

has the duty to establish and maintain a complete and adequate system of public basic

education geared towards the holistic development of a child.

These policies are henceforth understood to encompass the State’s responsibility to

provide appropriate instruction to students about school discipline, their duties and

responsibilities with respect to their peers, to their teachers and other persons of

authority, and to members of their community.

To this end, the State shall institutionalize measures to implement in all public schools

clearly defined regulations on appropriate student behavior towards other students,

teachers, and school staff, during classes, and within and outside school premises,

The State is also hereby bound to establish and maintain support systems, including

training on classroom management and child discipline and legal assistance for

teachers and school staff, who daily stand in direct contact with students and thus find

themselves in situations that could expose them to allegations of child abuse in the

course of the discharge of their duties.

It is hereby also declared that the State shall promote and improve the working

conditions of public school teachers and other school personnel, which are understood

to determine whether or not the physical and emotional environments of children and

teachers are conducive to learning and teaching.

SECTION 3. Code of discipline or student manual. Within one hundred and

twenty (120) days from the effectivity of this Act, the Department of Education

(hereinafter, the Department) is hereby tasked to issue policies and principles on

student discipline and classroom management.

For purposes of this Act, a student manual is a written document detailing:

(1) the school’s rules and regulations to be observed by students with respect to fellow

students and school personnel and property, whenever inside its premises or outside it,

in cases where conduct would interfere with the operation of the school or endanger

the safety of other students and school staff;

(2) the rights and responsibilities of students in relation to school rules and

regulations, to the end1 of fostering a positive school climate and safe environment

conducive to instruction and learning;

(3) permissible, appropriate, and effective responses and interventions that will

address violation of school rules and regulations, including but not limited to

communication to parents, counseling, reprimand, and detention, at each level and

repetition of offense, to be administered by teachers, the school head, and other school

staff; and

(4) a clear description of the disciplinary procedure and clear designation of the

authorities competent to investigate, propose, and apply the responses and

interventions.

The Department shall formulate a student manual to be implemented in all schools

under its jurisdiction, which shall conform to the guidelines so established.

SECTION 4. Consultation of involved sectors in the drafting of student

manual. Students, parents, teachers, other school personnel, and the community,

represented by their respective organizations, as well as professionals in child

behavior and social work, shall each have meaningful involvement in the formulation

of the guidelines and the student manual.

SECTION 5. Information dissemination of the student manual. The Department

shall provide explanations, training, and workshops in order to familiarize students

and families with the student manual, explain the expectations of various sectors

involved, and describe the various preventive and positive responses and interventions

that may be used.

At the beginning of each school year, copies of the student manual shall be provided

to each student as well as their parents or legal guardians.

SECTION 6. Training of teachers and school personnel on the student

manual. All employees of the Department shall also annually receive instruction and

training related to the specific contents of the student manual.

SECTION 7. Professional development relating to student discipline and

classroom management. The Department shall provide teachers the appropriate pre-

service and inservice training on child behavior and psychology, classroom

management techniques, positive discipline, and other related fields, as well as the

Department’s policies and principles governing student manual and the scope of their

duties and responsibilities with respect to student discipline and classroom

management.

SECTION 8. Support personnel. The Department, with the Department of Budget

and Management, shall also ensure that there is a sufficient number of items for
guidance counselors who will serve as support personnel to teachers and school

administrators in matters of student discipline.

For purposes of this Act, the Department shall endeavor to meet the recommended

ratios of one guidance counselor for every 200 students in public elementary and high

schools.

SECTION 9. Other support mechanisms for student discipline and classroom

management

The Department shall provide such other mechanisms necessary to capacitate its

teachers and other personnel on matters regarding child behavior and psychology,

classroom management techniques, positive discipline, and other related fields. These

measures shall include but are not limited to the conduct of periodic training and

formulation of primers and other explanatory materials.

SECTION 10. Protection of teachers and school personnel in cases related to

student discipline and classroom management. In all cases related to student

discipline and classroom management, including criminal and administrative charges

of child abuse, the Department shall extend to its teachers and other personnel the

necessary protection, including but not limited to legal assistance and representation.

The Department shall ensure that respondents, in all stages of the disciplinary

proceedings, are amply represented by the accredited union, or registered union,

where there is no existing accredited union, of teachers or non-teaching employees, as

the case may be,

Violation of this Section is a violation of due process and shall render the proceedings

void and all responsible persons administratively, civilly, and criminally liable.
SECTION 11. Confidentiality of identity of parties and proceedings under this

Act. No person, whether public or private and whether a party to the case or

otherwise, shall publicize a case during its pendency. In no case shall the identity of

complainants and respondents, or any information that may reasonably identify them,

be disclosed to the public during the pendency of the proceedings.

Violation of this Section shall subject the person to the appropriate administrative,

civil, criminal, and other liabilities.

The Department shall issue its guidelines for the media with regard to the handling of

cases within the contemplation of this Act.

SECTION 12. Rules and Regulations. Within ninety (90) days from the effective

date of this Act, the Department shall promulgate the rules and regulations necessary

to implement the provisions of this Act.

SECTION 13. Separability Clause. Should any provision herein be declared

unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity of the other provisions of this

Act.

SECTION 14. Repealing Clause. All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations, or

other issuances or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby

repealed.

SECTION I5. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days following its

publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.