(1) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that:
It is the goal of the state of Colorado to provide educational opportunities to allstudents who choose to pursue such opportunities;
To maintain discipline in the public schools, it is sometimes essential for the publicschools to expel students;
Students who are expelled from public schools are much more likely than their former classmates to fail to obtain a high school education and to have early contacts with the criminal justice system;
Providing students in the sixth through ninth grades who have been expelled with theopportunity to continue their education in a proper setting will enhance the possibility that they will continue their education and become productive members of society;
The best way to promote a desire to stay in school is to intervene in a student'sacademic career prior to the student entering high school; and
As students who are expelled from public schools no longer belong to any schooldistrict, it is appropriate for the state to devise programs to meet their needs.
(2) The general assembly further finds and declares that this article is enacted for the following purposes:
To complement the present disciplinary systems in existence at Colorado public schools;
To encourage diverse approaches to educating children who have been expelled;
To provide students who have been expelled with the opportunity to continue theireducation;
To determine the most effective means of addressing the educational, psychological,cultural, and other needs of those students who have been expelled; and
To provide resources for development of an extended day, year-round program forstudents who require more intense supervision and instruction.
Source: L. 96: Entire article added, p. 1811, § 5, effective July 1.