CONTENTS
Who Can Suspend or Expel a Student?
What Behavior Can Lead to Suspension or Expulsion?
What Rights Does the Student Have?
If a Student is Expelled form One District can he Enroll in Another?
Are Special Education Students Subject to the Same Rules on Suspension and Expulsion?
Principals have authority to suspend students for up to ten days. Any suspension by a Principal must be immediately reported to the Superintendent, who can revoke the suspension at any time.
Superintendents can suspend students up to 180 days.
A student or parent may appeal a Superintendent’s suspension for more that ten days to the School Board. As soon as you file your appeal to the School Board, the student is entitled to return to school immediately, unless the Superintendent makes a finding that the student’s presence poses a continuing danger to persons or property or an ongoing threat of disrupting the academic process. §167.171.3 RSMo. If the School Board denies your appeal and agrees with the Superintendent, then the student must leave school for the duration of the suspension.
Only the School Board, and not the Principal or Superintendent, has authority to permanently expel a student from school. §167.171 RSMo.
School boards are required to create written discipline policies that outline the school district’s code of conduct and the consequences for violating the code of conduct. §160.262 RSMo.
The school district must distribute the discipline policy to each student and parent at the beginning of the school year, and keep a copy for you to see in the Superintendent’s office. Generally, the school cannot suspend or expel a student for behavior that is not listed in the discipline policy or that has not been distributed to the student and parent. In other words, the student has to be given fair warning.
State law allows for the suspension or expulsion of students in several situations:
§ The conduct of the student is prejudicial to the good order and discipline of the schools or tends to impair the morale or good conduct of the pupils.
§ The student has been charged with, convicted of, or plead guilty to the commission of a felony criminal violation (this means in adult court not juvenile court).
§ A student can be immediately removed upon a finding that the student poses a threat of harm to himself or others.
Under the
§ First degree murder
§ Second degree murder
§ First degree assault
§ Forcible rape
§ Forcible sodomy
§ Robbery in the first degree
§ Distribution of drugs to a minor
§ Arson in the first degree
§ Kidnapping.
If the court later dismisses the charges or the student is found not guilty, the school may re-enroll the student.
This section of the Safe Schools Act is read very differently by the various school districts. Some school districts believe that they can permanently expel students based solely on being charged with any of the above law violations. But other school districts simply suspend the student and await the outcome in court.
School districts are also split on whether they have to provide alternative education services to students suspended or expelled. Children’s Legal Alliance believes that the Missouri Constitution and state laws require the school districts to provide an alternative education program to children who are suspended and expelled under this law regardless of the outcome. How the courts interpret this law remains to be seen.
Finally, it is very important to keep in mind that most school officials are not experts in criminal law and often make mistakes about whether or not a child should be excluded from school under this provision. Do not assume that they are reading the law correctly; they often are not!
Before a student can be excluded from school, even for ten days, the school must provide the student with certain due process protections.
At a minimum, the student must be given notice of the charges against him and must be provided with an opportunity to present his version of what occurred.
If a student is expelled by a school district, he generally has the right to file for a new hearing in front of a state or federal judge. The benefit of a court hearing is that it includes all of the formal protections that a student does not usually receive in an expulsion hearing, such as the right to subpoena witnesses and cross-examine witnesses.
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If a Student is Expelled
from One District can he Enroll in Another? |
The short answer is “no.” If the conduct resulting in the suspension or expulsion in the old district would have also resulted in a suspension or expulsion in the new district, the new district may choose to honor the original disciplinary action. §167.171.4 RSMo.
Although the district has discretion, in practice almost all
school districts have either a policy or practice of honoring a suspension or
expulsion from another school district. In other words, if a student is
expelled from one district they are effectively expelled from all school
districts in
This includes suspensions or expulsion from private schools and charter schools. However, when dealing with suspensions or expulsions from private/charter schools you should always keep in mind that these schools may not be required to provide the same protections to their students as public schools.
For example, a private school may expel a child without providing him with an opportunity to tell his side of the story. There is a good legal argument to be made that the public school district cannot honor a suspension or expulsion by a private/charter school that did not provide the student with the same rights and protections as required of the public school district.
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Are Special Education Students Subject to the Same
Rules on Suspension and Expulsion? |
Students who are identified as having a disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act—IDEIA—have certain additional protections.
If a school district wants to suspend a student for more than ten days it must hold a manifestation hearing (INPUT link to IDEIA summary) to decide whether the behavior is related to the child’s disability. Under IDEIA, a student cannot be suspended for more that ten days for behavior that is related to his disability.
Some notable exceptions to the ten-day rule exist. If a student with a disability possesses or uses drugs, possesses a weapon, or inflicts serious bodily injury on another person while on school grounds, he can be suspended for up to forty-five days regardless of whether the behavior is related to his disability. INPUT 20 U.S.C. §615(k)(1). Serious bodily injury means an injury with a substantial risk of death, extreme physical pain, protracted and obvious disfigurement, protracted loss or impairment of a bodily member, organ or mental faculty.
If the behavior is not related to the student’s disability, the school may suspend or expel the student just as they would a student who does not receive special education services, provided that the student continues to receive a free and appropriate public education. According to the federal regulations, educational services for disabled students include general curriculum courses. In other words, even if a student with a disability is suspended or expelled for behavior that is not related to their disability, the school must provide the student with both special education and general education curriculum.
The federal laws giving added protections to special education students in school discipline situations are complex; you may want to seek legal help.
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