An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 15 – Student Discipline

of a disciplinary committee and those processes should be an accepted part of the contractual relationship with families.

E. I MPLEMENTING A N E XPULSION , D ISMISSAL O R W ITHDRAWAL Expulsion and dismissal are extreme and final forms of discipline that must be handled with great care. When the decision to expel or dismiss a student is ultimately made, a school should have a process in place to communicate this decision to the student/family. In addition, depending on the circumstances, a school may wish to have a procedure in place for escorting expelled students off-campus in emergency situations. Further, schools should have criteria in place to determine when it is appropriate to allow a student to withdraw in lieu of expulsion or dismissal. One example of when schools typically allow a student to withdraw rather than undergo dismissal is when the parents are past-due in tuition payments. Another example is where a student might qualify for a “medical withdrawal” for inappropriate conduct that might be related to a medical condition (a medical condition that cannot be reasonably accommodated.)

It is important to maintain clear and open channels of communication with the student and family involved in an expulsion/dismissal/withdrawal. Families are less inclined to pursue court action to challenge an expulsion, dismissal or forced withdrawal if they are unambiguously advised of the reasons for the discipline, understand the expulsion/dismissal/withdrawal process, and have been given ample opportunity to communicate with the school during and after the process. The bottom line in reducing liability in this area is to ensure that families feel the process was fair.

LCW Practice Advisor

F. C OMMUNICATING E XPULSIONS T O T HIRD P ARTIES Schools likely bear a duty to not misrepresent the character of their students. Whether silence or omission constitutes a misrepresentation in the student recommendation context will depend on the underlying circumstances. How the school communicates a student expulsion to third parties, if at all, depends on several factors, such as:  Was the imposed discipline minor or severe?  Were there victims involved?  Were the circumstances and conduct warranting discipline serious or attributable to “teenage indiscretions”?  How much time has passed since the discipline was imposed?

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 523