Whether facing loss of the right to education through a serious punishment like suspension and expulsion, or a minor penalty such as detention, all students have the right to be treated fairly.  Courts generally won’t set limits on how schools do minor discipline (like detention) where you don’t actually miss school.  But where the penalty gets heavier, school officials must follow certain steps to be sure that the facts come out, the resulting decision is fair and the punishment fits the student’s conduct.  The Supreme Court thirty years ago required that all students be guaranteed basic fair procedures when they face even a short school suspension – notice of the charges and evidence, and a chance to tell his or her own side of the story. [1]

School discipline procedures are complicated and can be found in detailed materials from all three school districts covered here. [2] The information here is only a starting point for your own research.  In serious cases, you and your parents can benefit from help from an adviser or attorney who can interpret the confusing and complicated procedures and fight for your rights.

Washington, DC, is a single school system with a common set of rules about discipline.  In Maryland the state sets the basic due process framework described below, and each school district writes its own detailed rules.  Those detailed rules are available on school district web sites and in printed materials that should be distributed each year.

Students with disabilities have additional rights when facing school discipline. Information about this is at the end of this section.

[1] Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565 (1975). In this important case, a closely divided Court held in a 5-4 vote that the state must recognize a student’s right to a public education as something like a property right that is protected by the Constitution’s Due Process Clause. That means the right can’t be taken away for misconduct without at least the minimum procedures required by that Clause.  What process is due?  For a suspension of 10 days or less, the Court said the student must be given oral or written notice of the charges against him and, if he denies them, an explanation of the evidence the authorities have and an opportunity to present his side of the story.  The Court recognized the holding could impose a big burden and reassured schools that they could expel someone in an emergency without a hearing, that the notice and hearing could come in quick succession and that the opportunity to be heard meant no more than “at least an informal give and take between the student and disciplinarian.”).

[2] Montgomery County Public Schools, Regulation JFA-RA, Student Rights and Responsibilities § IV(O) (Discipline), Regulation JGA-RB, Suspension or Expulsion of an MCPS Student, and separate regulations on certain individual offenses (bomb threats, property offenses, intoxicants, weapons); Prince George’s County, Administrative Procedure 10101, Student Code of Conduct, and Administrative Procedure 5115, Student Appeals of Long-Term Suspensions and Expulsions; 5 DCMR Chapter 25 (Student Discipline).