Suspensions and expulsions are incredibly disruptive events in a student's education. They cause students to miss instructional hours and often result in the student feeling less engaged and less capable. Deciding whether to hire an attorney to help with your school discipline issues can be daunting, but it's important to figure it out quickly because hearings and appeals have very short deadlines.
Can parents and guardians effectively advocate without an attorney?
Yes. Although the process can be intimidating, parents and guardians can be incredibly effective advocates for their children. If you think you might want to handle the advocacy yourself, I would recommend checking out this parent guide to student discipline. It outlines Massachusetts school discipline laws, student and parent rights, and provides advocacy tips.
When should you consider hiring an attorney?
An attorney can help you understand the law regarding school discipline and the rights you and your child have under that law, and help you determine whether those rights have been violated. They can help you develop a strategy for addressing the proposed discipline. They can also attend some, but not all, disciplinary hearings and appeals.
Here are a few flags to look out for that you might want to hire an attorney:
The school isn't following procedure or didn't give you written notice of the disciplinary action
The school has removed your child on an emergency basis
The school is proposing to expel your child
The school is proposing to suspend your child for over ten days
The proposed suspension would result in your child missing over ten school days within one academic school year (for example, if your child was suspended for 9 days in October of 2023, and the school proposed to suspend your child for two or more days in March of 2024, your child would miss over ten school days of the 2023-24 school year if the proposed suspension were implemented)
Your child has a special education plan and you believe the disciplinary incident was either caused by your child's disability, or was caused by the school's failure to properly implement the special education plan
The disciplinary incident was not a serious offense and the school has failed to try alternatives to suspension
If you do decide to hire an attorney, do so quickly.
Massachusetts law governing school discipline has very short deadlines for requesting and scheduling hearings and appeals. For example, students removed on an emergency basis are entitled to a hearing within two school days of their removal; students seeking to appeal suspensions and expulsions to the superintendent have as little as five days to request this appeal. Given how short these timelines are, if you want to hire an attorney you should contact one as soon as you are able.
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