Can JCPS Send Your Child to an Alternative School? How Alternative Placement Actually Works.

JCPS can refer a student to a behavior support alternative school. A school administrator suspends the student and refers the case, and Student Relations reviews it for possible placement. A staff assault or a deadly weapon is an automatic placement in one of the behavior support alternative sites, and the 2026 to 2027 handbook does not print how many days that placement lasts.

Behavior support alternative placement is the handbook's name for this assignment. It is not in school suspension, and it is not a regular transfer. The stated goal is to help students improve academic skills, become more self sufficient, and develop self control. The handbook also uses "alternative" for the In School Adjustment Program, which is a location inside the student's own school. That is a different thing.

The Jefferson County Board of Education approved this handbook on May 12, 2026, by approving the consent calendar. Item W was the recommendation to approve the Student Support and Behavior Intervention Handbook for the 2026 to 2027 school year, on second reading. The May 12, 2026 minutes record that vote as "Order #2026-77". That order number is in those minutes. It is not in the handbook.

What conduct can lead there?

The handbook does not publish one Behavior Code list that ends in alternative placement. Only a few sentences name referral or placement, and those sentences are the whole conduct list.

Students who fail to control their behavior after repeated opportunities and consequences, or who commit serious offenses, are suspended and referred to Student Relations so the case can be reviewed for potential placement in a behavior support alternative school. That paragraph doesn't define "serious offenses." Printed page 36.

In a staff assault or a deadly weapon case, the student will be automatically placed in one of the behavior support alternative sites. The handbook leaves the sites unnamed. Printed page 36. The school directory and the April 13, 2026 transportation notice do not use the phrase behavior support alternative school. That April 13 notice does list Breckinridge Metropolitan among the schools where all enrolled students are eligible for a bus. The handbook does not say that school is the placement site.

A separate weapons sentence, citing Board Policy 05.48, is narrower. Any student who is knowingly in possession of a firearm or explosive device, or who is involved in the transfer, storage, or use of one, will be referred to an alternative school site for one calendar year and will not be allowed to return to the previously assigned school. The same section lists other weapons, including knives and a replica or toy gun. Those items are on the weapons list only. They are not named in the one calendar year sentence. A look alike weapon that a student presents as real, or uses to intimidate, threaten, or harass, is a separate rule. The handbook says that student will be treated as if they used a real weapon, according to state and federal laws. It does not say that treatment is the one calendar year referral. Printed page 33.

If a student is charged with or convicted of a felony, or of an offense that would be a felony if the student were an adult, and that offense was committed off the school campus and not during a school sponsored activity, a juvenile court liaison may assign the student to a behavior support alternative school. "May" is the handbook's word. It is not a rule that every off campus felony charge ends there. Printed page 37.

Students enrolling from outside the district may be referred to Student Relations because of behavior at a prior school, criminal charges, or previous enrollment in what the handbook calls a "camp/behavior support alternative school." The handbook doesn't say what "camp" means. Printed page 37.

Students charged or convicted of gun or school related criminal violations in the community may be subject to alternative placement. The handbook says prosecution and adjudication happen separately from school procedures. Printed page 37.

On the bus, the school administrator may include suspension of bus privileges, in school consequences, suspension from school, and/or referral/placement in an alternative school. Bus suspension lengths printed elsewhere in the handbook are about the bus, not a stay at an alternative site. Printed page 37.

Who decides the placement?

The length of placement is decided by the JCBE designee. It depends on the facts and circumstances and on governing state and federal law. This section doesn't print a number of days. Printed page 36.

For an off campus felony that was not a school activity, the handbook names the juvenile court liaison as the person who may assign the student. Printed page 37.

A referral is not the same sentence as a completed placement.

What is the path back to the original school?

Return to the school of origin is evaluated by the executive director success and resilience. Printed page 36.

A student assigned to a behavior support alternative school must complete that program's requirements before returning to another Jefferson County public school, unless the Executive Director Success and Resilience approves the return. The handbook doesn't say what "complete the requirements" means, and it doesn't print a checklist. The placement sections are silent on transportation to an alternative site and on credits while a student is placed.

A student who assaults a staff member or brings a gun to school may or may not be allowed to return to the previously assigned school. Printed page 36. Those three printed sentences do not say the same thing, and the handbook does not say which controls: automatic placement for a staff assault or a deadly weapon, the one calendar year firearm or explosive referral with no return, and the may or may not return line for a staff assault or a gun.

What if the student has a disability?

The handbook points to 707 KAR 1:340 Section 13 for discipline procedures for students with disabilities, including students in the referral process. It says the ARC may consider any circumstances on a case by case basis when determining a change in placement for a child with a disability who violates a code of student conduct. This section doesn't print a day count for that decision. For Section 504, the handbook points to the JCPS Section 504 webpage and doesn't print a separate alternative placement procedure here. Printed page 36.

Is the appeal the same as a suspension appeal?

No. An appeal of the referral to alternative placement, when the parent is not also appealing the suspension, uses its own ladder. A school suspension appeal is a different path. An appeal of suspension of educational services goes to the Board of Education instead.

If the district refers a student for the suspension of educational services, the Board holds a hearing at which the charge is read to the student, the student is allowed to present evidence, a representative from the district is allowed to respond, and the student may be represented by counsel.

During the alternative placement appeal, the student may not be allowed to attend school if the principal believes the student is a danger to themselves or to others.

A different rule covers attendance during a school suspension appeal. A student the principal finds to be a danger to others, or highly likely to be so destructive or disruptive that the education of other students cannot continue in a safe and orderly manner, shall not attend during that appeal unless the student is referred to an alternative placement. That is about staying in school while a suspension is appealed. It is not the referral appeal.

People involved in any disciplinary process have the right to legal representation at their own expense. The handbook says alternative appeal formats may be accepted when the director of Student Relations initiates and approves them. On the suspension appeal part of the same page, it says failure to follow the appeal procedures within the prescribed time limits will nullify the right to appeal. The four step referral appeal doesn't repeat that sentence.

What do you write, and where does it go?

Write a letter that explains your reasons for appealing the referral decision. Mail it, email it, or deliver it. If you need help writing the letter, call Student Relations at 502 485 3335. That number is printed in the school suspension appeal instructions on page 36. The four step referral steps do not print it.

Each step is five school days. Each address is the one printed on page 37.

Five school days from the decision: specialist, Student Relations, Lam Building, 4309 Bishop Lane, Louisville, KY 40218. Printed page 37.

Five school days from the day you receive the specialist's answer, if that appeal is denied: assistant director of Student Relations, Lam Building, 4309 Bishop Lane, Louisville, KY 40218. Printed page 37.

Five school days from the day you receive the assistant director's answer, if that appeal is denied: executive director, Success and Resilience, VanHoose Education Center, 3332 Newburg Road, Louisville, KY 40218. Printed page 37.

Five school days from the day you receive the executive director's answer, if that appeal is denied: the superintendent, VanHoose Education Center, 3332 Newburg Road, Louisville, KY 40218. Printed page 37.

That letter to the superintendent is the last step.