An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 15 – Student Discipline

Credibility determinations must be made by the investigator and it is acceptable to decide that one witness is credible and another may not be credible. In those cases, it is important to document how credibility determinations were made. Remember, documentation is a school’s best friend!

It goes without saying that many if not most students are very active on social media. When investigating student misconduct, both on or off campus, it is a best practice to ask students – both witnesses and the accused – if they have any social media posts, text messages or emails that refer to or relate to the incident being investigated. It is common for students to discuss incidents via electronic means and that can be helpful evidence in an investigation.

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D. P RE -E XPULSION /D ISMISSAL R EVIEW Schools should implement a process in which a review of the decision to expel or dismiss is conducted before the decision is final. This process goes towards establishing that the disciplinary decision that is ultimately reached is fundamentally fair. The purpose of the review process is to provide students and his or her parents with the opportunity to address the decision maker(s) and provide any additional information that could be helpful to the decision maker(s) in reaching a final decision, such as mitigating factors. Consideration should be given to the technical aspects of such review hearings. For example, should the hearing be informal and consist mainly of a conversation between the Head of School and the student and his or her parents? Or should the student be permitted to present evidence in his or her defense and have legal counsel present? It is not uncommon for schools to implement different review procedures for academic violations versus behavioral/conduct violations. In addition, schools may wish to create specific review hearing committees comprised of certain designated individuals. In considering which individuals to select for this role, weight should be given to the individual’s credibility and ability to remain impartial. In addition, the head of school should not be included in these committees, as he or she should typically resolve appeals of disciplinary decisions.

At the secondary school level it is common to include students in the review process as a learning and leadership opportunity, and as a measure of fairness in the process. Student participation in these processes contains some risk since student record information is confidential and formal student discipline usually becomes part of the student record. To reduce those kinds of risks schools should have published rules that govern the processes and conduct

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An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 522