Frequently Asked Questions When a Student is Disciplined

1. My child was disciplined and sent home from school. Shouldn't someone at the school call me first?
2. • For elementary students, in all cases the parent must be called before an elementary student is sent home. If you cannot be reached immediately, your child will be kept at school and sent home the usual way. Usually, you will be expected to pick up your child when he/she is disciplined and sent home.
   • For middle school students, parents must be called before the student is sent home. If you cannot be reached immediately, your child will be kept at school and sent home the usual way. You may come pick up your child, or, depending upon your child's age and how close your home is to the school, you may agree to let your child walk or take the bus home alone.
   • For high school students, parents must be notified that their child is being disciplined and sent home, but if the school cannot reach you immediately, your child still may be sent home immediately. At some point within 24 hours, however, a school official must contact you about your child's disciplinary action.
   
   
   
3. My child was disciplined and sent home from school. Shouldn't I get something in writing?
4. • Yes, the school is required to send you written notice of a disciplinary action within 24 hours. This notice is a 1-2 page Notice of Disciplinary Action (NDA). You should also get a copy of the Student Rights and Responsibilities (SR&R) booklet, which will tell you how to appeal the discipline if you disagree with it.
   • If you pick up your child at school, a school official may hand you a written Notice of Disciplinary Action and the SR&R.
   • If the NDA is not ready at the time you pick up your child, you should receive it in U.S. Mail. It will generally arrive as certified mail, and need to have someone sign for it. If no one is home when the certified mail comes, someone will need to go to the post office and pick it up there.
     
   
   
   
5. My child was disciplined, but I don't know what happened. Isn't someone supposed to tell me what happened?
6. • Yes, you have the right to talk with the person who disciplined your child. This person will likely be the assistant principal or head teacher, but it may also be the principal.
   • Before you decide whether to appeal the disciplinary action taken on your child, you should be sure you know exactly what happened. Some school administrators are better than others about putting details on the NDA, so if you need more information, call or make an appointment with the administrator who disciplined your child to get the details.
   • School administrators are people, too, and they will respond most clearly and kindly to your request for information if you are not so emotional or angry that you cannot listen to their explanation. You do not have to agree with their decision even while you are listening politely.
     
   
   
   
7. My child was short-term suspended. What does that mean?
8. • A short-term suspension is any length of time from one (1) day up to ten (10) days. Your child may not attend school, may not participate in any school activities either at school or at any other location (such as a game or a dance), and may not trespass on any school property during that period of time.
   • At the end of the short-term suspension, your child may return to the same school from which he/she was suspended.
     
   
   
   
9. My child was long-term suspended. What does that mean?
10. • A long-term suspension may be for any period of time from eleven days up through the end of the semester. Your child may not attend school, participate in any school activities either at school or at any other location (such as a game or a dance), or trespass on any school property during that period of time.
    • Your child will have to complete the remainder of the semester by attending the Reentry Program.
    • At the end of the long-term suspension, your child can return to the same school that long-term suspended him/her.
      
    
    
    
11. My child was expelled from school. What does this mean?
12. • An expulsion is a permanent removal from a given school. Your child can never attend this particular school again, although he/she may be assigned to another Seattle Public School later.
    • Your child will have to complete the remainder of the semester by attending the Reentry Program.
    • When your child completes the Reentry Program, he/she will be assigned to a different school than the one that expelled him/her.
      
    
    
    
13. My child was long-term suspended for 11-15 days. Does this mean he/she has to go to the Reentry Program?
14. • No, this length of a long-term suspension is treated much like a short-term suspension and your child merely stays home for the duration of the long-term suspension.
    • Your child has the right to get homework during this time period, but since he/she cannot trespass at school to get it, you will need to make arrangements to pick it up and return the completed assignments.
      
    
    
    
15. My child was short-term suspended (10 days or less) or long-term suspended for 11-15 days. Does he/she get to make up any school labs, field trips, or other one-time activities?
16. • A student who is short-term suspended from school or is long-term suspended for 15 days or less is entitled to make up missed work.
    • However, missed labs may not be made up unless special arrangements have been negotiated and the teacher is willing to set something special up for your child.
    • Missed field trips may not be made up.
      
    
    
    
17. How do I appeal if my child was short term suspended and I don't agree with the discipline?
18. • Call the school within 2 days and make an appointment with the principal for a Step 2 Grievance meeting. The principal must meet with you within 2 days of your request. If after your meeting with the principal, you still disagree with the short-term suspension, call the Discipline Appeal Office at 252-0820 and ask for a Step 2 Grievance meeting with a School Director. This meeting will be set up as soon as possible.
      
    
    
    
19. How do I get my child back in school after he/she is long-term suspended or expelled if:
20. • I agree with the discipline?
    • • Go to the Student Enrollment Office and enroll your child in the Reentry Program at either South Lake (for high school students) or Marshall (for both middle school and high school students). If there is not space in either program for your child, the Enrollment Center staff will tell you about other educational alternatives available from agencies.
        
      
      
      
    • I disagree with the discipline and want to appeal?
    • • Call the Discipline Appeal Office at 252-0820 within three (3) days of learning that your child was suspended or expelled. The secretary in that office will set up an appeal hearing with a neutral hearing officer to be held within three (3) days of your call.
      • The letter from the hearing officer will direct you how to get your child back in school, depending upon what his/her decision is regarding whether the school had the right to discipline your child in the manner they used.
      • If you disagree with the decision of the hearing officer, you must write a letter within three (3) days of getting the decision letter to the Office of the Superintendent to request an appeal to the School Board.
        
      
      
      
    • What happens if my child is just emergency expelled?
    • • An emergency expulsion means that school officials consider your child's behavior to cause continuing danger to himself or others or his/her behavior is a continuing disruption to the educational process.
      • Your child may not go to school at all until the discipline is changed to something else or it is removed completely. Your child may not participate in school activities or trespass on any school property while emergency expelled.
      • The school will investigate your child's behavior further and determine whether to convert it to a normal disciplinary action (suspension or expulsion).
      • If just an emergency expulsion is marked on the Notice of Disciplinary Action form, you have up to ten (10) days to appeal the decision.
      • Normally, the discipline of an emergency expulsion will be imposed at the same time as a long-term suspension or an expulsion from school. Sometimes after investigating your child's behavior, it will be changed to a short-term suspension or be dropped completely.
        
    
    
    
21. What happens if my child is both emergency expelled and suspended or expelled?
22. • Your child may not go to school at all and may not attend any school activities or trespass on school property.
    • When an emergency expulsion is combined with another disciplinary action, you have only three (3) days to request an appeal.
    • If you believe your child was disciplined fairly and do not choose to appeal the discipline, you can take your child directly to an Enrollment Center and enroll him/her in the Reentry Program.
    • Your child cannot return to his/her regular school or attend any regular school activities while attending the Reentry Program.
      
    
    
    
23. My child is suspended or expelled from school. Can he/she go to a sports game if it is at Memorial Stadium or at a stadium at another Seattle school?
24. • Memorial Stadium and other schools are the property of the Seattle School District and your child may not trespass on school district property while suspended or expelled.
    • Your child could have an additional charge of Trespassing added to the Notice of Disciplinary Action if he/she goes to the school or another school district property for a school activity.
      
    
    
    
25. Can my child go to a game or attend a dance or some other activity at a non-school site if he/she is suspended or expelled?
26. • No. Even if the activity or game is at a non-school site (such as a dance at a local hotel), it is still a school activity and your child may not participate in school activities while suspended or expelled.
    • Your child could have an additional charge of Trespassing added to the Notice of Disciplinary Action if he/she goes to a school activity.
      
    
    
    
27. Is the District responsible for a student until he/she gets home?
28. • In general, the District retains a degree of responsibility for students between the time they get to the bus stop headed for school and get off the bus on their way home after school, but with several conditions:
    • • If the student is involved in actions which would result in discipline if the actions occurred on school grounds.
      • If the actions have a relationship to something that happened at school, e.g., a fight that was planned during school hours, an assault that had actually started with threats at school.
      • If the action was at the bus stop, even if the bus has not arrived or has just dropped off students, including having contraband on the bus even if it was not brought into the school building.
      • If the behavior occurred within a few minutes before or after school dismissal, e.g., leaving school at the end of the school day and a few minutes later shoplifting at a nearby store or getting into a fight just off school grounds.
      • If the behavior occurred at a District- or school-sponsored activity, even if the activity is at a non-school site, e.g. a dance, field trip, or a sporting event.
      • If the student is off campus, but on his/her way to a school-sponsored activity, e.g., leaving school grounds to go to football practice at a nearby non-District field that starts within 30 minutes or directly to a sporting event that starts within 30 minutes.
      • If the student came to school, but left during the day to do something that turned out to be illegal and that would have been disciplined if it had occurred on school grounds.
        
    
    
    
29. Does the District have a policy for continuing the education of suspended or expelled students?
30. • The School Board's basic attendance policy does not address a Reentry Program. However, in 1994 the Board approved the Safe Schools policy, and one of its provisions is the expectation that secondary suspended or expelled students will enroll in the Reentry Program to continue their education and receive instruction in anger/conflict management and other behavior improvements.
    • Because the District has the Reentry Program for disciplined students, students who elect not to attend the Reentry Program may be considered to be truant, and they may have a truancy petition filed on them in Juvenile Court.
    • The idea is that all students should be in an educational setting and/or getting credit toward graduation, even those who cannot attend a regular school because of being suspended or expelled. Also, if their offense requires instruction in a Behavior Modification program, this is the way the District provides B-Mod instruction for free.
    • A student could enroll in an educational program with an agency, e.g., Center for Career Alternatives, CAMP, United Indians of All Tribes, etc., and meet the requirement to be "in school".
      
    
    
    
31. Can I Home School my child if he/she has been suspended or expelled?
32. • No, students may not enroll in home schooling while they are being disciplined. Home schooling is not an alternative to an educational program for a student suspended or expelled from a regular school.
      
    
    
    
33. Can my child be instructed by school district teachers at home while he/she is suspended or expelled?
34. • In general, no. The District does not have teachers or instructional assistants whose job is to teach students at home.
    • There are some instances where a special education student may be eligible for some sort of instruction at home, but that is completely dependent upon the conditions written into that child's IEP and their right to have continuing services while they are under sanction. Most often, home instruction for special education students is limited to getting homework, but there may be other instruction or services that the court requires. Since there are no District teachers to go to homes, this requires the student's regular teacher to take on an additional responsibility. Usually the District tries to find another way to resolve this issue than paying the teacher to work over time.
      
    
    
    
35. Is the Truancy Board (ad hoc citizens group) still in existence?
36. • No. We found that students were more likely to comply with the need to attend school if they had interventions closer to their school. Schools were encouraged to start local Truancy Boards, but at this time, none have done so.
    • Most secondary schools have Connections Stay-in-School specialists and other trained staff to work with students who have a variety of problems contributing to their truancy. They also can make referrals to outside agencies, although there is not money to pay for the student to attend agency programs. Many agency programs have sliding fee scales to accommodate low-income families.