An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 15 – Student Discipline

T HE L EGAL S TANDARDS

Section 2

A. T HE R ELATIONSHIP B ETWEEN A P RIVATE S CHOOL A ND A S TUDENT I S C ONTRACTUAL The relationship between a private school and a student (and family) is determined by the principles of contract law. A contract is broadly defined as an agreement between two or more parties to do or not do a certain thing. 2127 The source of the contractual relationship between a school and student/family can take many forms, and usually includes one or more of the following:  Enrollment and/or tuition agreements  Student handbooks and/or student policies and procedures  School brochures, publications, bulletins and/or other press materials  Oral promises Allen v. Harlem Intern. Community School 2128

A private school’s enrollment agreement offered a ten percent tuition refund if the parents withdrew the student from the school three weeks before the school session began. The enrollment agreement explicitly stated that no other refunds would be available. The agreement also expressly stated that a student could only be expelled for the use of illegal drugs or violent behavior. A student was frequently caught saying “shut up” and was found to be rude and contentious. The principal deemed the student’s conduct to constitute violent behavior and expelled the student. The student’s parents sued the school seeking a tuition refund. The court determined that the school breached the agreement by expelling the student improperly. The court found that the language of the enrollment agreement precluding a tuition refund only applied to the circumstances described in the agreement, and did not shield the school from liability for an unauthorized expulsion of the student. Accordingly, the court A nursing student challenged her expulsion from the university by claiming that she did not commit the underlying misconduct at issue, she was denied an opportunity to be heard before her dismissal, and the claims against her were not investigated. The court found that the relationship between the student and the university was contractual in nature and the terms of the contractual relationship were defined by the handbook, catalogue and other guidelines as applied to students. The court further found that the student failed to present any evidence that the university did not abide by the terms of the handbook and other policies and guidelines, and also specifically adhered to the disciplinary procedures contained in the handbook. The court thus upheld the discipline. While this case involved a public university, it nevertheless involves the awarded a tuition refund to the parents. McDade v. Cleveland State University 2129

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 511