School Discipline Guide
Minnesota Students with Disabilities - Parent Information
Table of Contents
- 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
- 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
- 25 – Expulsion or exclusion
- 35 – Concerns about the school not following required discipline procedures
- 3 – On IEP and the discipline is?
- 36 – Conclusion
- Definitions
NO manifestation determination meeting required
Parents need to know:
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.1
- The purpose of this meeting is to determine what services are needed to help your child continue participating in the general education curriculum, although in another setting, and continue making progress toward meeting the annual goals in their IEP.2
- Services should begin on the 11th cumulative day of removal.3
Next steps:
You could consider requesting a meeting with all the required members of the IEP team to review your child's current IEP* and Behavioral Intervention Plan (BIP)* and decide if they are meeting your child's needs or if changes should be made. For example, the IEP team may decide to add more effective positive behavioral interventions, supports, and other strategies to the IEP and BIP to address the behavior that has gotten in the way of your child’s own learning or the learning of others and resulted in your child’s suspension.4
If your child does not have a BIP, you may want to talk with the IEP team about whether the school should conduct a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)* to better understand your child’s behavioral needs and then possibly develop a BIP for them.
To help you prepare for this IEP team meeting, you could talk with your child’s IEP case manager and gather specifics about the situations that have led to your child getting suspended, information about what your child is struggling with at school, and ideas for supporting your child in new ways to ensure that their needs are met. You could also contact a PACER advocate.
Minnesota Statutes and IDEA Regulations
1 - Minn. Stat. § 121A.43(a).
2 - Minn. Stat. § 121A.43(a); 34 C.F.R. 300.530(d)(4).
3 - 34 C.F.R § 300.530(b)(2).
4 - 34 C.F.R. § 300.324(a)(2)(i).
This resource is made possible with funding from the Minnesota Department of Education.