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More5 6unless the student has been removed from his or her classroom more than six times in one school year, or more than two times in one week. When this happens, the removal must be treated as suspension (see next section) which gives the student the right to meet with the principal. A parent or guardian may call a school principal if they have any questions about why his/her child was removed from the classroom. ■ In-school suspension. A student has a right to a meeting with the school principal before he or she may be placed on inschool suspension. At this meeting, the principal must tell the student the reason for the in-school suspension and must give the student a chance to explain the situation. A student may not be placed on in-school suspension ● for more than 5 school days in a row (10 school days in a row starting July 1, 2009), and, ● more than 15 times, or 50 days total in a school year, whichever is less. ■ Suspension. A student has a right to a meeting with the school principal to discuss the reason for the suspension before the suspension actually takes place. If a true emergency exists, the student may be immediately suspended, but a meeting between the principal and student must be held as soon after the suspension as possible. If excluded from school, the student must be allowed to return to school at the end of the suspension period. A student may not be suspended from school for more than 10 school days in a row. A suspension is considered to be an expulsion if the student is suspended: ● more than 10 school days in a row, ● more than 10 times, or ● a total of 50 days in one school year. In these cases, an expulsion hearing must be held on or before the 11th school day (or 11th suspension or 51st day of suspension). See the legal aid pamphlet, School Expulsions. ■ First-time offenders. A school principal may shorten or waive the suspension or expulsion period for a student who has not previously been suspended or expelled if the student completes a program specified by the administration. Other conditions may also be required. Parents or students cannot be required to pay to participate in the program established by school officials. 3. What rights does a student have if school officials want to expel him or her? Expulsion is the most serious of all school punishments. Both student and parent/guardian have rights including: ■ Right to a notice. Unless an emergency exists, a parent/ guardian and a student have a right to receive a written notice five days before an expulsion hearing. The notice must state that officials want to expel the student and the specific reason(s) for the proposed expulsion. The notice must include information about how to find local free or reduced rate legal services. ■ Right to a hearing (Conn. Gen. Stat. §10 233c(a)). A student has a right to a formal expulsion hearing within a certain time period. ■ Right to copies of all documents. You have the right to get copies of all documents relating to the proposed expulsion before the hearing takes place. ■ Offer of education. A student under 16 years of age must be offered an "alternative educational program" during the period of time he or she is expelled from school (Conn. Gen. Stat. §10- 233d(d)). See our pamphlet School Expulsions for rules on students between 16 and 18 years of age. 7 8 4. Will a student's grades be lowered or will credit under an attendance policy be lost because of a suspension? Not if the student makes up all class work missed, including examinations. Suspended students must be given a chance to make up all class work and examinations which were missed during the suspension (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-233c(d)). A student who makes up this work in a reasonable period of time should be given academic credit for the days lost from school. It would be a good idea to find out what work or homework will be missed during the suspension period. The parent/guardian may need to pick the work up from school. If the work was not completed ahead of time, as soon as the student returns to school he/she should find out what work was missed and complete the work on time. 5. May school officials transfer a student to another school? School officials may reassign a student to a regular classroom program in a different school in the school district. Such reassignment is not considered a suspension or an expulsion and therefore the student is not entitled to a hearing. (Conn. Gen. Stat. §10-233f(b)). However, school officials may not reassign or transfer a student to an "alternative" education program or another school that is not a regular classroom program. Such a transfer constitutes an expulsion, and therefore, unless the parent/guardian consents to the transfer, the student is entitled to a formal expulsion hearing. (See our pamphlet, School Expulsions). 6. If a student is in a special education program, may he or she be suspended or expelled from school? If a student receives special education, he or she may be removed from the classroom, placed on in-school suspension, or suspended from school for up to 10 days in a row for one of the reasons noted in Section III, Discipline, #1, above. Even if a special education student is expelled, he or she is still entitled to an educational program that is consistent with his or her needs (Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 10-233d(i).). If a special education student is suspended or removed from the classroom, a PPT (planning and placement team) meeting should be held. If the suspension is for more than 10 days in a school year, a PPT meeting must be held. The PPT should determine whether the student's behavior is caused by his or her disability and whether the student's special education program was being properly implemented. You may wish to ask the PPT to initiate a re-evaluation of the student to help answer these questions. It is illegal for the school district to continually suspend or expel a special education student for behavior which is the result of the student's disability. If the school district is considering recommending a special education student for expulsion, the school must first hold a PPT meeting to determine if the student's behavior was caused by his or her disability. If the PPT decides that the behavior was not caused by the disability, you can expect that an expulsion hearing will soon be scheduled. Connecticut law allows expulsions if the behavior was not caused by the disability. However, if you disagree with this or any of the PPT's decisions, you have the right to ask for a "due process hearing." You may ask for a due process hearing by writing to your school district's director of special education and sending a copy to Report Card 9 10 the State Department of Education Due Process Unit. If you start the "due process", the student should remain in his or her current placement until the due process is completed. (Note: If the student possessed a weapon or drugs or the student caused someone serious bodily injury, the school may place him or her in an alternative educational setting for up to 45 days, despite a due process request.) Even if you do not believe that a student's misconduct was caused by his or her disability, you may still be able to stop the expulsion hearing. The Connecticut law which permits schools to expel special education students under the circumstances described above may conflict with federal special education laws. The federal laws appear to prohibit a special education student to be expelled under any circumstances. Therefore, if your child receives special education and is threatened with expulsion for any reason, you should get legal assistance right away. IV. SCHOOL ATTENDANCE 1. What are the rules on school attendance? Under Connecticut law, all parents or guardians of children between the ages of 7 and 18 (except 16- or 17- year olds whose parent/guardian has consented to withdrawal) must see that their children attend school (Conn. Gen. Stat. §10-184). If a parent/ guardian wishes to allow a 16-or 17-year-old to withdraw from school, the parent/guardian must go in person to the school district office and sign a consent form. The parent or guardian of a child between the ages of 7 and 18 (except 16- or 17-year olds whose parent/guardian has consented to withdrawal) who is not attending school may be fined for each unexcused absence (Conn. Gen. Stat. §10-185); or the student may be stopped by police or an “attendance officer” (“truant officer”) if he or she is found on a public street during school hours and sent to school (Conn. Gen. Stat. §10-199, 10-200). If a student is absent from school without a valid excuse four days in any one month or ten days in any school year, school officials must hold a meeting with the parent/guardian to discuss why the child has been truant. If the parent/guardian does not attend the meeting or fails to cooperate with the school, school officials will refer the child to the superior court for juvenile matters (Juvenile Court) to start a "family with service needs" (FWSN) petition. 2. May a student’s grades be reduced or course credit lost for absences from school? Yes. Many school systems have attendance policies that state which absences are excused or unexcused and when a grade reduction and/or loss of course credit is allowed if a student misses a specific number of days from school in a given school year. While students may lose credit for non-attendance, it is illegal for school officials to “withdraw” a student from school based on nonattendance. Ask for a copy of your school’s attendance policy if you have not already received one. 3. Where does my child attend school if my family is homeless and living in an emergency shelter? Under federal and state law, all children, including homeless children living in emergency shelters, have a right to a public education. Children living in emergency shelters may attend school either in the school district in which the emergency shelter is located or in the school district in which they would be living if they were not living in a shelter (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-253(e)). Under this law, the shelter’s school district will notify the school district where the homeless child would otherwise be living. The school district in which the homeless child would otherwise be living is responsible for the costs of the child’s education and it can either pay tuition to the shelter’s school district or arrange transportation back to that school district. Parents/guardians may request their children continue attending the same school during the family's period of homelessness. If the school refuses to allow continued attendance, parents/guardians may request a "best interest" determination by asking for a "residency hearing" as described in #4 below. No child should be kept out of school because of disagreement over which school district is responsible for educating the child. 4. What if a school district claims my child is not a resident of the school district and refuses to allow him/her to attend school? The parents/guardians of any student (and any student 18 years of age and over) may immediately request a hearing by the Board of Education whenever a school system denies a student the right to attend school in a particular school district (unless the school district has expelled the student). The persons denied schooling (that is the parents, guardian, or student 18 years of age and over) have the burden of proving residency. The hearing must be held within 10 days of a written request, it must be taped or some other record made of the hearing, and it must follow specific procedures. The student may continue to attend school in the school district while the hearing request is pending. Caution, if the child is found to have attended school illegally in a district where the child was not a resident, the denied party can be liable for reimbursement of the cost of the education. If the student 18 years of age and over loses the hearing, the parent/guardian or student may request a further hearing with the State Board of Education. The parent/student must request that the local Board of Education give them a transcript of the hearing. The request for a further hearing must be in writing within 20 days after the decision of the local Board of Education. A copy of the request should be delivered to the local Board of Education at the same time it is delivered to the State Board of Education. A hearing must be held and a decision made by the State Board of Education within 45 days after receipt of the request for hearing. Again, the student may continue to attend school in the school district while the hearing request is pending. In the case of a district's refusal to honor homeless parents' request that their children continue attending school while living outside the district and a refusal to provide transportation to school, parents' should ask for a best interest determination by asking for a residency hearing. If the school you want to send your child to refuses to allow your child to attend, call Statewide Legal Services for assistance. V. SCHOOL RECORDS 1. Does a parent or guardian have a right to look at his/her child's school records? Yes. Under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (commonly called the “Buckley Amendment”), a student’s parent or guardian and any student 18 years of age and over is allowed to look at the student’s educational records (20 U.S.C. §1232g). After receiving the written request, the school system must produce these records within a reasonable time (not more than 45 days). And, the school system must provide records of special education students within 5 days of the written request. The parent, guardian, or adult student may also ask the school officials to explain or interpret any of the records. School officials must respond to all reasonable requests. 11 12 2. Are there any records a parent/guardian or student may not see? For the most part, parents and guardians have a full and free right to see their child’s records. However, some records cannot be seen, including: ■ notes made by a teacher or other school officials solely for their personal use and which are not disclosed to other individuals (except a substitute teacher). ■ records of school security officials, as long as these records are kept separate from the student’s school records and kept solely for law enforcement purposes. ■ personnel records of school employees. A student 18 years of age or older also may be denied access to physician, psychiatric, or psychological records made or used only in connection with non-educational treatment and which are disclosed only to individuals outside the school who are providing that treatment. 3. May a student's records be released to someone other than a parent or guardian without consent? Generally no. The school system must receive the written consent of the parent or guardian or student if he/she is 18 years of age or older before school officials may disclose any information from a student’s educational records. However, there are some exceptions. The following information may be released without prior consent by the parent or guardian (adult or student): ■ a student’s record may be released to teachers and other school officials within the school system. ■ the records may be released when the disclosure of the information is necessary because of any emergency to the student’s health and safety. ■ certain information that is generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy. This information (called “directory” information) includes a student’s name, address and telephone number; the date and place of birth, etc. 4. Is there anything a parent or student can do if the information in a student's school records is not correct or invades the student's privacy? Yes. Under the Buckley Amendment, a parent/guardian may ask school officials to correct or remove any information in the student's educational records which is "inaccurate, misleading, or an invasion of privacy." If school officials refuse to correct the records or do not respond to a parent's request within a reasonable amount of time, the parent/guardian may request a hearing by writing to the superintendent of the school district. The hearing may be conducted by an employee of the school system. The person should be "impartial". That is, the person should not be the one who wrote the student's record (such as a teacher) or the person who made the decision not to correct the record. At this hearing, the parent or guardian must be given a chance to present evidence to show why the records are inaccurate, misleading or invade the student's privacy. 13 14 If after a hearing, the hearing officer decides that the student’s records: the parent or guardian has the right to put his or her own written statement in the student’s record explaining why he or she disagrees with the information in the record. This written statement must be made part of the student’s school records. the records must be corrected. ■ ARE inaccurate, misleading, or invade the student’s privacy, ■ ARE NOT inaccurate, misleading, or invade the student’s privacy, |
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