According to DC law, school officials can regulate your behavior and conduct any time you are participating in a school-sponsored activity or under school supervision. [1]  That means they probably can punish you if you violate provisions of the student code while you are participating in a school activity off campus, such as a sports event, field trip or prom, or while you are riding on a school bus.  The rules are silent about school discipline for other off-campus conduct.

In Maryland, Montgomery County says that “[a]ctivities unrelated to school that are carried on by students outside school hours and away from school will not be subject to discipline by school authorities unless there is reasonable belief by the principal that the health and safety of others will be compromised in the school setting.” [2]  In Prince George’s County, the Code of Student Conduct is “in effect during regularly scheduled school hours as well as at such other times and places, including, but not necessarily limited to, school-sponsored events, field trips, and athletic functions, where appropriate public school administrators have authority over students or the behavior has a direct effect on the order and general welfare of the school.” [3]  Both texts suggest that off-campus conduct can be punished if school officials believe it has an effect on the school.

That viewpoint is consistent with what courts have said across the country on the subject over the years.  The rest of your actions away from school and not connected with school are arguably private and none of the school’s business.  But courts elsewhere that have considered specific cases have allowed schools to punish off-campus conduct usually where school officials can make a convincing case that the outside actions had a direct and significant effect on students and the environment inside school.  Examples include using drugs or alcohol off campus; being in a place (party, car, etc.) where there is alcohol or drugs; fighting or more serious criminal conduct; breaking sports training rules such as by smoking; taking part in a demonstration; or writing something that gets back to school (poems, letters, song lyrics or more general publications).

School discipline in connection with off-campus expression (writing, speaking, demonstrating) especially raises serious question.  Any school interference must meet the highest standard since these activities are protected by the First Amendment.   See the discussion in another section in these materials concerning students’ right to publish off campus via the Internet.    

[1] 5 DCMR § 2500.1.

[2] Montgomery County Public Schools, Regulation JFA-RA, Student Rights and Responsibilities § IV(O)(7)(g).  And see 74 Md. Op. Atty. Gen. 174 (1989) (finding inherent authority in the University of Maryland to discipline students for misconduct that occurs off campus and that is “detrimental to the interests” of the university, subject to constitutional safeguards).

[3] Prince George’s County Public Schools, Administrative Procedure No. 10101, Code of Student Conduct, Application of Code—Jurisdiction.