School Discipline Guide

Parents need to know:

The school is required to follow the suspension procedures in the Minnesota PFDA,* including:

• Holding an informal administrative conference* with your child where your child is notified of the grounds for their suspension and given an explanation of the evidence school authorities have, and where your child may tell their version of the facts. This conference takes place before the suspension except where it appears that your child will create an immediate and substantial danger to themselves or to people or property around them, in which case the conference takes place as soon as practicable after the suspension.¹

  NOTE: Private or confidential data about students is protected under state and federal law. If the school collects private or confidential data from a student as part of an informal administrative conference, then the school is required to provide them with a Tennessen warning.*² If you’re concerned that your child’s disability-related needs may have affected their ability to understand a Tennessen warning from a school administrator, you could report your concerns about this to the school administration. You could also work with your child’s IEP team to add appropriate accommodations to their IEP* that will support them through any future informal administrative conference.

• Personally delivering to your child a written notice explaining the grounds for their suspension, a brief statement of the facts, a description of the testimony collected, and a copy of the PFDA at or before the time that their suspension is to take effect. The notice may also include a readmission plan.* This notice will be mailed to your child within 48 hours of their suspension if no informal administrative conference is held on the grounds that they will create an immediate and substantial danger to themselves or to people or property around them.³ 
• Making reasonable efforts to notify you of your child’s suspension by telephone as soon as possible following their suspension and mailing a copy of the written notice of suspension to you within 48 hours of the informal administrative conference that was held with your child. If this conference was not held on the grounds that your child would have created an immediate and substantial danger to themselves or to people or property around them, the notice of suspension will be mailed to you within 48 hours of your child’s suspension.⁴
• Allowing your child the opportunity to complete all schoolwork assigned during the time they are suspended for full credit.  You could ask your school principal to designate someone at the school to work as a liaison with your child’s teachers to allow your child to receive course materials and other information in a timely manner, complete assignments, and receive feedback from their teachers during their suspension.⁵

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If your child is issued an out-of-school suspension for more than 10 CONSECUTIVE school days:

• The school administrator who issued the suspension must provide the district superintendent with a reason for the longer suspension. A school district is not allowed to suspend a student for more than 10 consecutive days unless the district is in the process of initiating an expulsion.⁶
• The school must provide your child with alternative educational services* to the extent the suspension exceeds five consecutive school days. Services should begin on the sixth consecutive day of suspension.⁷
• Under IDEA,* an out-of-school suspension for more than 10 consecutive school days that’s issued to a student with an IEP is considered a disciplinary change of placement,*⁸ which requires the school to do the following:
  1. On the date that the school decides to impose the suspension, notify you of this decision and provide you with a copy of the procedural safeguards,* which are a summary of the rights you have as a parent under IDEA.⁹
  2. Beginning on the 11^th consecutive day of your child’s removal from their current educational placement, provide your child with appropriate services to help them continue to participate in the general education curriculum, although in another setting, and continue to make progress on the annual goals in their IEP.¹⁰ These services are determined by the IEP team.¹¹
  3. Within 10 school days of the date that the school decides to impose the suspension, hold a manifestation determination meeting* with you and relevant members of your child’s IEP team.¹²

This is a disciplinary change of placement.

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If your child is issued an out-of-school suspension for any number of school days that make the total number of days of out-of-school suspension for this school year add up to more than 10 CUMULATIVE school days:

• The school must make reasonable attempts to meet with you and your child and try to determine your child’s need for assessment or other services, or whether you should have your child assessed or diagnosed to determine if they may need mental health treatment. With your permission, the school may arrange for a mental health screening* for your child, but the school is not required to pay for it.¹³
• Beginning on the 11th cumulative day of your child’s removal from their current educational placement, the school must provide your child with appropriate services to help them continue to participate in the general education curriculum, although in another setting, and continue to make progress on the annual goals in their IEP.¹⁴ These services are determined by the IEP team if the school decides that your child’s removals for more than 10 cumulative school days are a disciplinary change of placement.¹⁵
• The school determines whether your child has been subjected to a pattern of removals that constitute a disciplinary change of placement* by considering:
  • If the behavior of your child which resulted in the most recent suspension is very similar to your child’s behavior which resulted in previous suspensions in the current school year
  • Other factors such as the length of each suspension, the total amount of time your child has been suspended, and how close the suspensions are to each other in time¹⁶

If the school DOES determine that your child has been subjected to a series of removals that constitute a disciplinary change of placement, then a manifestation determination meeting with you and relevant members of your child’s IEP team must be held within 10 school days of making this determination.¹⁷

The school district determined this constitutes a disciplinary change of placement.

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If the school district determines that your child has NOT been subjected to a series of removals that constitute a disciplinary change of placement, then relevant members of your child’s IEP team, including at least one of their teachers, must meet as soon as possible but no more than 10 days after the 10th cumulative day of suspension for this school year.¹⁸

The school district determined this does NOT constitute a disciplinary change of placement.

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* - definitions