School Discipline Guide

Nonexclusionary discipline* requirements for students in preschool/PreK or kindergarten through 3rd grade:

If your child is enrolled in a preschool or prekindergarten program (including an early childhood family education, school readiness, voluntary prekindergarten, Head Start, or other school-based prekindergarten program) or in kindergarten through 3rd grade, the PFDA* only allows the use of expulsion or exclusion after these two conditions are both met:

1. Nonexclusionary discipline resources have been exhausted
2. There is an ongoing serious safety threat to your child or others¹

If your child is enrolled in preschool/PreK or kindergarten through 3rd grade, the PFDA states that nonexclusionary discipline must include at least one of the following:²

• Collaborating with you, a child mental health consultant or provider, education specialist, or other community-based support
• Creating a plan that is written with you and details the action and support that your child needs to fully participate in their current educational program
• Providing a referral for needed support services, including parenting education, home visits, or other supportive education interventions

Manifestation determination meeting* requirements for students on an IEP at all grade levels:

At all grade levels, when a student has an IEP, the district cannot initiate an expulsion or an exclusion because of a violation of a code of student conduct until after the IEP team has held a manifestation determination meeting, which must be held within 10 school days of the school district’s decision to seek an expulsion or exclusion.³

• You and the school decide together which members of your child’s IEP team should attend their manifestation determination meeting.⁴

At this meeting, the IEP team must review all the information in your child’s educational records that may relate to your child’s conduct which resulted in the school seeking to expel or exclude them,⁵ which may include:

• Your child’s current IEP and Behavioral Intervention Plan
• Their most recent Evaluation Report and Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)
• Progress reports
• Teacher observations
• Any information you bring that could be relevant, such as a recent diagnostic assessment from an outside clinic or a letter from your child’s private therapist

At your child’s manifestation determination meeting, the IEP team must answer these two questions:⁶

1. Was your child’s conduct which resulted in their discipline caused by, or did it have a direct and substantial relationship to, their disability?
2. Was your child’s conduct the direct result of the school’s failure to implement their IEP?

Parents sometimes feel intimidated when they receive an invitation to a manifestation determination meeting. Reach out to your child’s IEP case manager to talk through any questions you may have and to get support to prepare, so that you feel confident participating in this important meeting for your child. Or contact a PACER advocate.

It’s also important for parents to know that the school district has a continuing responsibility to educate your child. Once your child has been dismissed from school for more than five consecutive school days, the school must provide them with alternative educational services.*⁷

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* - definitions