School Discipline Guide

Minnesota Students with Disabilities - Parent Information

1 – Introduction
2 – Begin the Discipline Guide
- 3 – On IEP and the discipline is?
  - 4 – Recess detention
  - 5 – Removal from class
  - 6 – Sent home before the end of the school day
  - 7 – Restraint or removal from school by a peace officer
  - 8 – In-school suspension
  - 9 – Suspension from the bus
    - 10 – IEP includes transportation
    - 11 – IEP does not include transportation
  - 12 – Out-of-school suspension
    - 13 – Up to five days
    - 14 – More than five days
    - 15 – More than 10 consecutive school days or more than 10 total school days for this school year
      - 16 – Manifestation determination meeting required
        
        17 – Manifestation determination meeting outcome
        
        18 – YES to at least one question
        
        19 – Conduct DID involve a weapon, illegal drugs, or serious bodily injury
        
        20 – Conduct did NOT involve a weapon, illegal drugs, or serious bodily injury
        
        21 – NO to both questions
        
        22 – Conduct DID involve a weapon, illegal drugs, or serious bodily injury
        
        23 – Conduct did NOT involve a weapon, illegal drugs, or serious bodily injury
      - 24 – NO manifestation determination meeting required
  - 25 – Expulsion or exclusion
    - 26 – Manifestation determination meeting outcome
      - 27 – YES to at least one question
        
        28 – Conduct DID involve a weapon, illegal drugs, or serious bodily injury
        
        29 – Conduct did NOT involve a weapon, illegal drugs, or serious bodily injury
      - 30 – NO to both questions
        
        31 – School board expulsion or exclusion hearing
        
        32 – School board decision is to expel or exclude your child from the district
        
        33 – Appealing a school board expulsion or exclusion decision
        
        34 – Withdrawing your child from the school district
  - 35 – Concerns about the school not following required discipline procedures
36 – Conclusion
Definitions

On IEP and the discipline is?

Parents need to know:

Nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and practices

In Minnesota, the PFDA* requires public school districts, including charter schools, to attempt to use nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and practices* before suspending, expelling, or excluding any student, except where it appears that the student will create an immediate and substantial danger to themselves or to people or property around them.¹ Under the PFDA, nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and practices include, but are not limited to:

Evidence-based positive behavior interventions and supports
Social and emotional services
School-linked mental health services
Counseling services
Social work services
Academic screening for Title 1 services or reading interventions
Alternative education services*²

If your child is struggling with problem behaviors at school, you can work with your child’s IEP team to develop nonexclusionary discipline supports that are individualized to your child's needs and add these supports to their IEP.* To explore this option, reach out to your child’s IEP case manager.

Grounds for dismissal

The PFDA also specifies the grounds that a school must use if suspending, expelling, or excluding a student, which include any of the following:

Willful violation of any reasonable school board regulation, which must be clear and definite in providing notice to students that they must behave according to the requirements of the regulation
Willful conduct that significantly disrupts the rights of others to an education, or disrupts the ability of school staff to perform their duties, or disrupts school-sponsored extracurricular activities
Willful conduct that endangers the student or other students or people around them, including school district staff, or endangers property of the school³

"Willful conduct" means doing something intentionally or on purpose. It’s important to remember that while a student with a disability may do something that violates a school board regulation intentionally or on purpose, their disability may have caused them to do what they did or be directly related to what they did. Understanding how the student's disability affects them could explain why they did what they did. This is why IDEA* includes protections for students with disabilities in disciplinary situations, given certain conditions.

The school is disciplining my child, and I want to learn what procedures the school is required to follow. The discipline is:

Recess detention Removal from class Sent home before the end of the school day Restraint or removal from school by a peace officer

In-school suspension Suspension from the bus Out-of-school suspension Expulsion or exclusion

I have concerns that the school is not following the required procedures in disciplining my child:

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Minnesota Statutes
1 - Minn. Stat. § 121A.45, subd. 1.
2 - Minn. Stat. § 121A.41, subdiv. 12.
3 - Minn. Stat. § 121A.45, subd. 2.

* - definitions

This resource is made possible with funding from the Minnesota Department of Education.