An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 15 – Student Discipline

witnesses answer questions with their opinions or conclusions. It is important to recognize such statements as mere opinions or conclusions, and redirect the interview so as to obtain actual facts. The investigator is seeking what was actually seen or heard by the witness. Where a witness is sharing information that was not directly observed, the investigator should obtain sufficient information to be able to contact and interview other appropriate witnesses. In speaking to witnesses, the investigator should remember to ask questions about the who, what, where, when and how of the alleged misconduct or incident.

The investigator should not ask questions that are irrelevant or that implicate a witness’ right to privacy unless it is clearly necessary to conduct a full and thorough investigation. A school may wish to ensure confidentiality to the extent possible so as to alleviate any fears or concerns witnesses may have about coming forward with information. Remember that a school cannot guarantee confidentiality, as litigation or prosecution may require the disclosure of the witness’ statements.

LCW Practice Advisor

Finally, when speaking to the student that is the subject of the investigation, it is important to allow the student every opportunity to explain what happened . This is to ensure that the investigation is conducted in a thorough and fair manner.

Accused students will often ask to have a parent present during the interview, or the parents of an accused student will often request or demand to be present during the interview. Unless school policy states otherwise, schools are not technically required to permit a student to have a parent present during the interview. In addition, students are often more forthcoming when their parents are not present. In the interests of fairness, however, a best practice would be to encourage parents to let their child be interviewed alone in order to allow for frank discussions, but to ultimately allow parents to be present if they or their child wishes.

LCW Practice Advisor

C. D OCUMENT A ND R ETAIN E VERYTHING Throughout the investigation, the investigator should retain all notes, emails, screen shots, documents, photos, CDs and other relevant evidence (including evidence presented to or received by witnesses). One overarching theme in student discipline cases is that schools that are able to provide clear documentation of their reasons for imposing discipline are much more successful in defending disciplinary decisions. In disciplinary investigations, it is common to find that there is no “smoking gun” that leads to a neat and clean conclusion to the investigation.

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 521