{"id":373637,"date":"2016-03-31T21:35:24","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T02:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/state\/louisiana-law\/louisiana-corporal-punishment-in-public-schools-laws.html"},"modified":"2016-06-20T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-06-20T05:00:00","slug":"louisiana-corporal-punishment-in-public-schools-laws","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/state\/louisiana-law\/louisiana-corporal-punishment-in-public-schools-laws.html","title":{"rendered":"Louisiana Corporal Punishment in Public Schools Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Louisiana Corporal Punishment in Public Schools Laws<\/h1>\n
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Created by FindLaw’s team<\/a> of legal writers and editors<\/i><\/p>\n\n | Last updated\n

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While 31 states have banned corporal punishment in public schools, 19 states still permit it<\/a>. Louisiana is one of the states that doesn\u2019t shy away from corporal punishment. In a 2011 district corporal punishment survey conducted by the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, 54 of the 70 responding school districts did allow corporal punishment.<\/p>\r\n

Although current research tends to show that corporal punishment in school doesn\u2019t help<\/a>, Louisiana state law won\u2019t change until the public actively requests a ban of corporal punishment<\/a> of their schools and legislators. The following table outlines Louisiana\u2019s corporal punishment in public school laws<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Code Section<\/b><\/td>\r\nLouisiana Revised Statutes Section 17:223: Discipline of Pupils, Corporal Punishment<\/a> and 17:416.1: Discipline of Pupils, Additional Disciplinary Authority<\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>
Punishment Allowed<\/b><\/td>\r\nEach parish and city school board has the discretion to use of corporal punishment. If a school board decides to use corporal punishment, it must adopt rules and regulations to implement and control any form of corporal punishment in the schools in its district.
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\r\nCorporal punishment allowed in a reasonable manner; corporal punishment discretionary, but rules to implement and control any form of corporal punishment to be adopted by each city school board or parish.
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\r\nThe Louisiana Department of Education has a Corporal Punishment Incidence Checklist<\/a> that schools are supposed to use to document each time corporal punishment is used to discipline students.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>
Circumstances Allowable<\/b><\/td>\r\nDiscipline in Louisiana public schools can be done in a way that is reasonable and for good cause.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>
Indemnification<\/b><\/td>\r\nA teacher, principal, or administrator sued for the corporal punishment they implemented must be defended by and indemnified<\/a> by the school district, meaning the school district has to pay the damages. However, the school district won\u2019t have to cover a teacher, principal, or administrator who maliciously, willfully, and deliberately intended to cause bodily harm to the child.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\r\n

If you\u2019re concerned about the use of corporal punishment at your student\u2019s school, you should contact an experienced Louisiana education lawyer<\/a> or a civil rights lawyer<\/a>. You may also want to discuss with your school district how to opt out<\/a> of permitting corporal punishment of your child.<\/p>\r\n

Note:<\/i><\/b> State laws are constantly changing — contact an attorney<\/a> or conduct your own legal research to verify the state law(s) you are researching.<\/i><\/p>\r\n

Research the Law<\/h2>\r\n