If a SD high school student is serving a 60-school-day suspension from extracurricular activities under SDCL 13-32-9 for a drug or alcohol offense, do the days the student attends a special summer school term count toward the 60-day total, or does the suspension pause until the regular fall term starts?
Plain-English summary
SDCL 13-32-9 (in 2013) said that when a minor was convicted of a controlled-substance offense or an alcohol offense, the school had to suspend the student from extracurricular activities for 60 school days. The statute used "school day" without separately defining whether summer school counted.
The Rapid City School District 51-4 asked the AG to clarify. A student had been disciplined under SDCL 13-32-9. The district ran a special summer school term. Could the student tick down the 60-day clock by attending summer school, or did the suspension pause until the regular fall semester began?
The 2013 AG said summer school days count. A "school day" for SDCL 13-32-9 purposes was any day during a school term, including a special summer school term established by the local school board, on which instruction was being provided at the school the student attended. So if the district ran a summer term and the student enrolled in it, each day of instruction during that term reduced the 60-day suspension clock.
The reasoning leaned on the broader statutory framework. SDCL 13-32-7 (the companion statute) allowed a court to reduce the disqualification period by half if the student completed a substance-use treatment program. SDCL 13-26-1 defined a "school term" as any period in which the school was in session. Read together, the statutes used "school day" and "school term" as common-meaning terms tied to actual school operation, not artificially limited to the traditional September-June calendar.
The functional answer made sense. If summer school didn't count, a district that ran a robust summer program would extend students' real suspensions well past 60 days of school attendance. A student who got in trouble in late spring might lose the entire next fall season simply because the calendar had a summer gap. Counting summer school days kept the punishment proportional to instructional days served.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 2013. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here. SDCL 13-32-9 has been amended multiple times since 2013, and the categories of triggering offenses and length of suspension may have changed. The general principle that a "school day" tracks actual school-term operation is likely to remain stable, but check the current text of the statute before counseling a real student.
What the opinion meant at the time
For Rapid City School District 51-4 and other SD districts that ran special summer school terms, the opinion gave a clear rule. The district could count summer school days against a student's 60-day SDCL 13-32-9 suspension. Athletic directors and principals did not have to artificially pause the clock through the summer.
For students and families, the opinion meant a student who had been suspended could potentially work down the suspension during the summer by enrolling in summer school. That mattered because the suspension applied to the next academic year's extracurricular activities if not worked off, and reducing the clock during summer could mean returning to fall sports sooner.
For school district counsel and administrators across SD, the opinion offered a uniform rule the SD High School Activities Association and member districts could apply consistently. The previous ambiguity about whether the clock paused in summer led to inconsistent handling. After the opinion, the rule was: any instructional day during a board-established term counted.
For court personnel imposing SDCL 13-32-9 dispositions on juveniles, the opinion clarified that the 60-day count was measured against actual school-term days, not calendar days. Coupling SDCL 13-32-9 (60-day suspension) with SDCL 13-32-7 (treatment-program reduction by half), a student who completed treatment and attended summer school could see a meaningful reduction in real suspension time.
Common questions
Q: What is SDCL 13-32-9?
A: At the time of this opinion, the statute required schools to suspend a student from extracurricular activities for 60 school days following a controlled-substance or alcohol offense by the minor. The exact list of triggering offenses and length of suspension has been amended several times; check the current statute.
Q: What counts as a "school day" under this opinion?
A: A day during any school term (fall, winter, spring, or special summer term) established by the local school board on which instruction is provided at the school where the student is enrolled.
Q: Does an in-service day or teacher work day count?
A: The opinion does not address that directly, but the reasoning (instructional days during a board-established term count) implies a day with no student instruction would not.
Q: What if the student is not enrolled in summer school?
A: Then summer school days do not count for that student. The opinion requires that the student be enrolled and that instruction is being provided at the school the student attends.
Q: What about students who attend summer school at a different school?
A: The opinion specifically says "the school the student is enrolled" at. If the suspension is from the home district's extracurricular activities, days of instruction at the home district's summer program count; days at an unrelated camp or program would not.
Q: Can the suspension period be reduced by completing a treatment program?
A: SDCL 13-32-7 allowed a court to reduce the suspension by half if the student completed a substance-use treatment program. The opinion mentions this as part of the statutory framework. Whether and how that still applies depends on the current statute.
Q: Does this affect the SD High School Activities Association rules?
A: Indirectly. SDHSAA member schools have to follow state law, and the AG's reading of state law informs how member schools count "school days" for suspension purposes. The SDHSAA may have its own rules layered on top.
Q: What if the student was disciplined in May and the suspension would otherwise carry into fall?
A: Under the opinion, summer school days the student attends count toward the 60 days. If the student attends enough summer school to complete the 60-day count before fall starts, the suspension ends and the student is eligible for fall extracurriculars.
Background and statutory framework
SDCL 13-32-9, as it stood in 2013, suspended a student from extracurricular activities for 60 school days when the minor was convicted of an offense involving controlled drugs or alcohol. The statute is part of SD's broader framework for using school participation as a behavioral tool, alongside SDCL 13-32-7 (court-ordered conditions and treatment), 13-32-3 (athletic conduct rules), and various SDHSAA bylaws.
The interpretive question was the meaning of "school day" inside SDCL 13-32-9. The statute did not separately define the term. SD generally interprets statutory terms by their plain meaning. The plain meaning of "school day" is a day on which school is in session and instruction is being provided.
SDCL 13-26-1 defines "school term" broadly enough to include summer terms run by the local school board. SD school districts have explicit authority to operate summer school programs (under various provisions of Title 13). The SDCL does not artificially exclude summer terms from "school term" status.
The structural argument also supported counting summer days. SDCL 13-32-7 allowed the court to reduce the 60-day suspension by half upon completion of a treatment program, which meant the Legislature was already thinking about how to shorten the practical length of suspensions. Treating summer school as outside the 60-day count would have the opposite effect, artificially lengthening suspensions for students who attended summer school. That would conflict with the legislative framework.
The factual context Rapid City presented (a student who would otherwise lose much of the next regular school year's eligibility if summer days didn't count) showed why the question mattered in practice. The Rapid City district ran a substantial summer term. A student enrolled in summer school could in principle work off 30, 40, or even all 60 days during the summer if the district's program ran enough instructional days.
The AG resolved the question by reading the statutory terms in their natural sense. A "school day" is a day during a school term, including a summer term, on which instruction is being provided at the school where the student is enrolled. That reading lets the statute do what the Legislature meant it to do: impose a 60-instructional-day suspension as proportionate punishment, not an artificial calendar-based delay.
Citations and references
Statutes:
- SDCL 13-32-9 (extracurricular suspension for controlled-substance/alcohol conviction)
- SDCL 13-32-7 (reduction of disqualification period upon treatment-program completion)
- SDCL 13-26-1 (school term definition)
Cases:
- None cited.
Source
Original opinion text
STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
October 28, 2013
Cris Palmer
Counsel for Rapid City School District 51-4
P.O. Box 8045
Rapid City, SD 57709-8045
OFFICIAL OPINION NO. 13-02
RE: School Day Defined for Calculating Length of Suspension from Extracurricular Activities
Dear Mr. Palmer:
You have requested an official opinion from this Office:
QUESTION:
Do days held during a special summer school term constitute a "school day" for purposes of calculating the sixty-day suspension from extracurricular activities under SDCL 13-32-9?
ANSWER:
Yes. A "school day," for purposes of SDCL 13-32-9, is a day during any school term, including a special summer school term, established by the local school board where instruction is being provided at the school the student is enrolled.
FACTS:
You have provided the following factual statement regarding a Rapid City School District 51-4 student subject to the SDCL 13-32-9 suspension, and the district's special summer school term that the student is enrolled in. The question is whether the days of instruction during the special summer school term count as "school days" for purposes of calculating the 60-day suspension period.
IN RE QUESTION:
SDCL 13-32-9 provides for the suspension of a student from participation in extracurricular activities upon conviction of certain controlled substance or alcohol offenses for a period of 60 school days. The statute does not separately define "school day." Statutes must be read as a whole and interpreted to give effect to the legislative intent. The natural reading of "school day" is a day on which school is in session and instruction is being provided at the school the student is enrolled.
SDCL 13-26-1 defines "school term." That definition is sufficient to include summer terms established by the local school board. The school board's authority to operate a special summer school program is recognized under Title 13. A special summer school term established by the local school board on which instruction is provided is a school term for purposes of SDCL 13-32-9.
SDCL 13-32-7 provides that the court may reduce the disqualification period by half upon completion by the student of a treatment program. This statutory framework demonstrates the Legislature's intent that the 60-day suspension represent a defined period of instructional days, not an open-ended calendar period, and that mechanisms exist to shorten the practical length of suspensions where appropriate.
It is, therefore, my opinion that where a school district has established and operates a special summer school term and the affected student is enrolled in summer school, the number of days that instruction is provided during the special summer school term is counted as a school day when computing the length of the student's 60-school day period of ineligibility under SDCL 13-32-9.
Very truly yours,
/s/ Marty J. Jackley
Attorney General
MJJ/JPH/rar