parents' guide to public school discipline in washington - ACLU of ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

8 Parents’ Guide to Public School Discipline in Washington Parents’ Guide to Public School Discipline in Washington 9study hall or quiet room.School or community service. The student must perform aservice for the school or community, such as cleaning up graffitior picking up litter.Other. Schools have flexibility to impose punishments such asrevoking library, computer, or sports privileges, or having thestudent do extra schoolwork, pay for lost or damaged property,or apologize to persons affected by the misconduct.These forms of discipline should only be imposed after: (1) giving thestudent some oral or written notice that punishment is being consideredand (2) giving the student some opportunity to be heard.Emergency expulsions and emergency removalsIf the student’s conduct causes an immediate and continuing dangerto others or to the educational process, the school may take actionwithout providing the student an opportunity to be heard first. A studentcan be removed from a single class, or removed from the schoolentirely on an emergency basis.Emergency removals are removals from a classroom. They maylast no more than 1 day.Emergency expulsions are expulsions from school. They haveno fixed time limit. But emergency expulsions should last onlyas long as the student’s presence causes an immediate danger.Additional limits on punishmentsThere are some additional limits on the type of punishment schoolscan impose, including:The length of any suspension or expulsion must be appropriatein light of the student’s behavior.Students generally should not be suspended or expelled for afirst-time offense, unless their actions constitute “exceptionalmisconduct” as determined by the school district. Your school’shandbook and/or schooldistrict policies should listthe offenses that your districtconsiders “exceptionalmisconduct” and theirstandard punishments.Students cannot besuspended for unexcusedabsences unless the schoolhas taken several priorsteps. Schools must havegiven the parent writtennotice of the student’sabsences in the parent’sprimary language; scheduleda conference todiscuss the absences; andtaken appropriate stepsto reduce or eliminateabsences.Zero TolerancePoliciesSome districts have “zerotolerance” policies forcertain offenses, like bringingfirearms or drugs toschool. They are called zerotolerance policies becausethey establish standardpunishments regardless ofindividual circumstances.The punishments are oftensevere, even for first-timeoffenses.Even if a school has a zerotolerance policy, Washingtonlaw says school officialsmust be able to considerthe circumstances of eachcase and reduce the punishmentif appropriate.Students in grades K-4may not be put onlong-term suspensions,and may not be suspended for more than 10 days per semester.Check your school’s policies to see if there are other limitations.5. What is the lasting impact of the discipline?Your decision to challenge school discipline may depend on the consequences.Make sure you fully understand how the school intends torecord the discipline and what effect it will have on the rest of yourchild’s education.Academic grades and creditExpulsion: Expulsion can have the most serious impact on a student’s
10 Parents’ Guide to Public School Discipline in Washington Parents’ Guide to Public School Discipline in Washington 11grades and academic achievement. Students who are expelled mayface an extended period of time out of school. However, no form ofdiscipline should be enforced in a way that prevents a student fromcompleting a grade or a subject, or meeting graduation requirements.Schools should help expelled students enroll in an alternative schoolor program, or find another way to continue their education.Long-term suspension: A suspensionmay also affect a student’sgrades. But schools cannotimpose any single long-termsuspension if it causes the studentto lose more than 1 semester’sgrade or credit in a single year.Depending on the length of thelong-term suspension, studentsshould ask the school for help inenrolling in a different programor finding an alternative way tocontinue their education.Short-term suspension: Anystudent who receives a short-termsuspension must have the opportunityto make up assignmentsand tests that could otherwise significantlyaffect grades or preventthe student from receiving creditfor the course.Make Sure Your ChildCan Keep Up in SchoolIf your child is put on ashort-term suspension: Be sure to getmake-up assignmentsand testsIf your child is put on along-term suspension orexpulsion: Try to get your childenrolled in an alternativeschool; or Work with the schoolto arrange anotherway for your child tocontinue learning, in aschool or communitybasedprogram, or athome.Other: Lesser forms ofpunishment that do not involvesuspension or expulsion from school should not affect a student’sgrades or ability to graduate.Discipline recordsYou should also consider the future impact of discipline records.Disciplinary records are usually destroyed after graduation, but youshould find out how long your school keeps them. Also ask whetherthey are kept separately from academic information.Disciplinary information should not appear on a student’s transcript.Colleges: Colleges should not have access to a student’s disciplinaryhistory. The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act(FERPA) gives parents access to most school records and preventstheir release to most third parties without parents’ written consent.So schools may not release disciplinary records to colleges withoutwritten consent from a parent, or from students who are 18 years oldor legally emancipated. However, some colleges ask students who areapplying whether they were ever disciplined in high school.Other public schools: If your child transfers to a different school, theoriginal school can send your child’s discipline records to the newschool, without your consent.If your child moves to a different district, the new school cannotrefuse to enroll your child because of a disciplinary record in the olddistrict. If your child has not moved, and you are requesting a transferto a school in the same or a different district, your child’s disciplinaryrecord might be considered by the new school in their decisionwhether to enroll your child.Referral to police or prosecutorSometimes school discipline incidents are also referred to the policeor the prosecutor.If a discipline incident is referred to the police or prosecutor, youshould try to find an attorney immediately. An attorney can helpprotect your child’s rights and help develop the best strategy foraddressing the potential criminal and school disciplinary issues.
Page 1 and 2: PARENTS’ GUIDE TOPUBLIC SCHOOL DI
Page 3 and 4: 2 Parents’ Guide to Public School
Page 5: 6 Parents’ Guide to Public School
Page 9 and 10: 14 Parents’ Guide to Public Schoo
Page 15: The American Civil Liberties Union

parents' guide to public school discipline in washington - ACLU of ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?