An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 15 – Student Discipline

 Has the student demonstrated he or she has learned and moved on from the incident involving discipline?  Did the conduct warranting discipline negatively impact or affect other third parties?  Is the discipline a part of a history or propensity of the student to engage in certain misbehavior?  Does the school have a policy that puts families on notice that it may report discipline (or discipline that rises to a certain level, such as suspension or expulsion) to third parties, including other schools and/or colleges and universities?

The Common Application, used by many colleges and universities, asks schools to indicate whether the student was disciplined while in high school. Absent a clear policy that puts families on notice that a school may report discipline to colleges/universities, and specifying what may be disclosed, disclosing discipline may infringe upon the student’s individual privacy rights. Schools should consult with legal counsel when faced with the decision of whether and what discipline to report to colleges/universities.

LCW Practice Advisor

Schools should seek a waiver of liability as a condition of releasing details about student discipline to a third party. To the extent information is released, particularly if it is in the form of a letter of recommendation to a new school, the information must be accurate. Moreover, negative conduct likely cannot be redacted to the extent it would provide a misrepresentation of the student. Randi W. v. Muroc Joint Unified School District The Muroc Joint Unified School District employed Robert Gadams as an assistant principal in 1990-91. The District disciplined him for sexual harassment, which included allegations of sexually touching female students. Gadams resigned his employment. Subsequent to his resignation, the District provided a detailed letter of recommendation. The letter recommended Gadams for an assistant principal ship or equivalent position without reservation. Based in part on the letter of recommendation, the Livingston Union School District hired Gadams for a vice principal position in one of its middle schools. Soon after commencing employment with the Livingston District, Gadams sexually assaulted a female student named Randi W. Randi W. filed a lawsuit against the Muroc District and some of its officials, alleging that by unreservedly recommending Gadams for employment without disclosing facts it knew about the prior charges or complaints of sexual misconduct, the District induced the Livingston District to hire Gadams, and thus, provided opportunity

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 524