legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo

Student Discipline / School Suspensions

Under state and federal law, K-12 students are entitled to robust procedural protections when facing an out-of-school suspension or expulsion.  Briefly, students must receive proper written notice and a fair, impartial hearing during which they may testify and confront all adverse witnesses.  Hearings must occur by the fifth school day following removal, and students are entitled to daily tutoring for the length of any disciplinary exclusion.  Students with disabilities are entitled to additional procedural protections that prohibit schools from excluding students for behavior that “manifests” from their disabilities.

Unfortunately, far too often, parents are invited to untimely proceedings and merely informed that their child will miss a month or more of school for conduct with roots in bullying, failure to implement the child’s IEP, or simply a bad day.  These practices contribute to the phenomenon known as the school-to-prison pipeline.  One controlled study found that each suspension in ninth grade decreased the odds that a student would graduate from high school by 20% and decreased the odds of a student attending a postsecondary institution by 12%.  Another study found that Texas students who were suspended or expelled for a discretionary offense were 2.85 times more likely to have contact with the juvenile justice system during the next academic year.

Call or email us if you would like assistance appealing a suspension.  Note: it is very important that you keep all documents you received related to your child’s suspension—hold onto everything you received from the school, and also write down all dates/times/names of any oral communication (e.g., “spoke with Principal Smith on 9/19/22 at 3:00pm, stated Johnny suspended and may not attend school tomorrow”).  Please also see our guides and template letters to get started on common issues, such as requesting Principal’s Conferences/alternatives to suspension and ensuring access to alternative education (tutoring) during a suspension.