This document provides guidelines for school administrators on student discipline, expulsion, and suspension. It discusses the need for rules to have a clear rational purpose and meaning. Due process is required before significant discipline can be given, such as suspension or expulsion. Landmark court cases like Goss v. Lopez established that students have rights of due process. Administrators must follow their district's student code of conduct and are limited in the number and reasons for suspensions and expulsions. Corporal punishment is generally not recommended due to legal risks. Overall, the document outlines the legal restrictions and processes that administrators must follow for disciplining students.

1. Regular Student Discipline,
Expulsion and Suspension
William Allan Kritsonis, PhD

2. Guidelines for Rule
Making
School Administrators Should Follow the
Guidelines Below in Helping to Maintain
Order In Their School
1. Rules Must Have a Rational Purpose
2. The Meaning of Rules Must Be Clear
3. Rules That Relate to Protected Behavior
Must Be Carefully Developed
4. Rules That Apply Off Campus Must Be
Carefully Worded and Applied
5. Rules Must Be Consistently Enforced

3. Board of Education v. Rogers,
Arkansas v. McCluskey
• Case involved • Supreme Court
expelling student ruled in favor of
for drinking the school
• School rule did district
not speak of • Districts have
alcohol, but rule the right to
was referred to interpret their
as “drug use” own rules

4. Due Process
• Term comes from
the 5 th and 14 th
Amendments of
the U.S.
Constitution
1. Action by the state
• 3 Due Process
2. State must have been
Clauses in the deprived the
Constitution individual of “life,
liberty, or property”
3. Depends on the
severity of the
deprivation

5. Dixon v. Alabama State
Board of Education
• 1961 Fifth Court • Students have
Circuit Ruling right to have fair
notice of charges
against them
before being
expelled

6. Goss v. Lopez
• Landmark Case • A deprivation of
• Supreme Court educational
concluded that services MUST
due process is involve due
required before a process
student can be
suspended from
school

7. Tinker v. Des Moines
School District
• Landmark case • Supreme Court
• Students wore ruled in favor of
the students
armbands to
protest the • Cannot suspend
students due to
Vietnam War their beliefs,
• Students were unless it causes
suspended for significant
the protest disturbance in
school

8. DAEP
• “DAEPs”, which • Students assigned
stands for to a DAEP, due to
Disciplinary misconduct, must
Alternative be separate from
Education other students
Programs

9. Removal to a DAEP
• Student must be assigned to a DAEP if
any of these offenses occur:
1. Any conduct punishable as a felony
2. An assault resulting in bodily injury
3. A terroristic threat or false alarm
4. Certain drug offenses
5. Certain alcohol offenses
6. Inhalant offenses
7. Public lewdness
8. Indecent exposure

10. Chapter 37
• Student Code of
Conduct
• Follow school
district handbook
• Teacher Initiated
Removal of
student from 1. Repeatedly interferes with
classroom teacher’s ability to
communicate with others
2. Behavior is determined
unruly, disruptive, or
abusive to the learning
environment

11. Suspension
• Local school • No limit to
districts have number of
authority to suspensions
suspend student • School districts
• Under TEC also have
37.005, authority over in-
suspension is school
limited to 3 days suspension thru
per offense its code of
conduct

12. Expulsion
• Only the most
serious offenses
by a student 10
• Possession of weapons
years of age or • Assaultive behaviors
older can lead to • Arson
expulsion • Murder
• Indecency with a child
• Aggravated kidnapping
• Drug/Alcohol abuse
• Retaliation against a
school employee

13. Corporal Punishment
• Two Things to Remember as an
Administrator
1. Don’t do it (not worth the risk)
2. Any kind of physical stress is also
corporal punishment
Landmark Case- Ingraham v. Wright
Corporal punishment left up to state and
local officials

14. Summary
• New administrators need to be
familiar with the restrictions of
discipline and the law
• Due process is required for student
discipline
• Know your district policy in regards
to corporal punishment and student
discipline

15. References
Walsh, J. & Kemmerer, F. & Maniotis, L. (2005). The
Educator’s Guide to Public School Law . Sixth
Edition.
Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.