By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Special education can be very intimidating to all types of parents. This scariness can cause parents to be quiet at IEP (Individualized Education Program) meetings, or to just agree with whatever the IEP team proposes. However, parents need to speak
Some of the saddest school stories involve students who are bullying victims. This is bad enough alone, but sometimes the humiliation and constant abuse are not the worst thing that happens to a bullied student. Instead, sometimes schools punish the bullied student when they fight back, to try to stop
I frequently hear about issues involving teacher misconduct, such as a teacher targeting a student, grading them unfairly, and other problems involving teachers. To get the problem solved, parents can: file a written personnel complaint on the teacher with their school and school district. Many Teacher Issues Are Solved Quickly
Okay- everyone knows that fighting at school can get a student in trouble, but what if a teacher is hit during the process? What if it is unintentional? Or, worse, what if it isn’t? School suspension or expulsion can quickly be imposed if school personnel are hit or harmed by
Parents of a public school student on a 504 Plan (essentially an accommodations plan for a qualified disabled student) sometimes find themselves facing a 504 manifestation meeting. This manifestation meeting can be imposed with little notice and usually happens when larger student discipline is looming (e.g. school expulsion). Just what
California is a diverse state, with many different cultures, nationalities and languages. But what if parents do not speak English? How are they to read a report card or understand what is happening in an expulsion hearing? There are many triggers which mandate translations be provided by public schools, including
Bullying seems to be everywhere in schools. What if the bullied student or the bully are special needs students and it is impacting their education? Can the IEP (Individualized Education Program) team get involved to support the student? Yes! First, Report Bullying If student bullying is occurring, parents can report
Special education can be challenging for a parent enmeshed in the special education system. One of the first things to know are the timelines for certain actions. For example, what is the timeline for holding an IEP (Individualized Education Program) meeting? What about the timeline for an assessment to be
Do you know a student who received an “F” when they should have gotten a “C?” Was the student graded down for discriminatory reasons? Maybe the teacher “lost” the student’s assignments, which lowered their grade? Or, did the teacher fail to provide 504 or special education accommodations which then dropped
School officials are mandated to report some students to the police already. However, a new California law now mandates students must be reported for writings, pictures, art, journal entries and other depictions or communications, which could evidence homicidal intent. Watching students’ every communication, assignment, scribble, picture and otherwise, to see
Schools may legally question students to investigate bullying, ask about fights, or look into broken school rules. But, should students talk when questioned? Students Can Incriminate Themselves A school investigation can end up in a student revealing they committed an expellable offense and land them at the local continuation school.
Far too frequently, I hear from public school parents that a school will not cough up witness statements used to suspend a student. Is this legal or not? Documents used to discipline a student are typically considered student records of that student, which their parent must be given upon request.
This blog contains legal information not legal advice. Any information on this site or in any article/blog may not reflect the current state of the law. No attorney client relationship is formed by reading information on this site. The Law Office of Michelle Ball operates solely in California, USA and information on this site may not be valid outside California. Full disclaimers can be found here and should be reviewed in full.
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