Last Updated on October 19, 2023 by Michelle Ball
By Michelle Ball, Sacramento California Expulsion, Special Education, sports/CIF, College, Education and School Attorney/Lawyer for Students since 1995
Do parents facing school expulsion really need a specialized education attorney to help a student? Is an expulsion important enough to hire a student-focused lawyer? Are the school and life consequences severe for expelled students? Yes, yes and they can be!
Expulsion Lawyers Help Parents Navigate
The school expulsion process is quite tricky and has a lot of moving parts. Parents can become quickly overwhelmed trying to learn what to do, learning expulsion evidence rules, and how to get documents, videos and statements. Knowing how to defend the student is tricky.
And, how do parents get an education for a student while the expulsion is pending? Who do they believe? Is the school now the enemy, or still a friend? It is very confusing.
Parents are usually not experienced in dealing with school expulsion. Yet, school staff running expulsion proceedings expel students weekly as their profession. School staff are very familiar with expulsion rules and requirements and know how to win against inexperienced parents. They have a distinct advantage in the student expulsion process.
Parents are also not objective due to their strong emotional involvement in the situation and love for the student. This lack of objectivity plus unfamiliarity with the school expulsion process can foretell a student’s doom.
Students and families need quality legal guidance to navigate the school expulsion process, so it resolves in the student’s best interests.
School Expulsions Negatively Impact Students
Expulsions are serious matters and result in a permanent mark on the student’s record. The black mark of expulsion may come up later in life, such as when the student applies to college, when applying for professional degrees (such as applying to become an attorney), or even when attempting to get certain jobs.
Unless otherwise agreed (e.g. in the expulsion paperwork), once expelled, a student cannot return to their school or school district for a set period of time and may have to attend school in a less savory environment, such as a continuation school.
And, if an expelled student does not meet the “rehabilitation plan” terms outlined in the expulsion document, they may never return to that district.
Schools Don’t See Reason
Parents also must not presume a school district will “see reason” if they just hear the student’s explanations or that they will ensure student and parents rights are met. As an attorney focusing only on education law for students, I have too many times heard from parents AFTER an expulsion hearing that they “trusted” the school district to “do the right thing.”
Sadly, the school did not, and the student was expelled.
Appeals May Not Work After the Expulsion
Expulsion appeals can reverse an expulsion for many students. However, most students just don’t have arguments than can result in a reversal on appeal. An appeal thus cannot be relied on as any sure thing.
This is because expulsion appeal arguments are limited to certain procedural arguments. If a school handled the discipline procedures properly, there may be no appeal arguments available to the student. As such, an expulsion appeal is not an easy out.
The best place to win a student expulsion is before the discipline hearing, with good negotiation. If that fails, the next best place is at the expulsion hearing itself.
A specialized education and student expulsion attorney knows how to argue, and knows the ins and outs. Attorneys can help families get through the student expulsion process and come out the other side with the least damage possible for the student.
Expulsions Are Rigged
The difficulties with fighting a student expulsion are not surprising. Is it fair that a parent must plead the student’s case in front of a panel of individuals paid by the district as employees (who are often disciplinarians)? No.
I would not bet my child’s future on the mercy of a school hearing panel made of school district employees, who are naturally biased and are stacked against the student. For this reason, and many others, school expulsion hearings are definitely not “fair” and parents need all the legal leverage they can get.
Education Attorneys Provide Leverage, Attention, and Strategies
An education attorney can provide a student leverage, attention, and a strategy to resolve the expulsion even before it is issued. Often, the only leverage for students facing expulsion matters is a specialized student lawyer.
I received the following from a happy client who could not get anywhere in an expulsion matter, until I became involved to guide her:
It is not wise to enter the school expulsion gauntlet without a specialized student lawyer.
Student lawyer Michelle Ball has helped families with pending expulsions, expulsion hearings and appeals for decades. As an expulsion defense attorney in Sacramento, California, she can assist statewide, including in Roseville, Auburn, Vacaville, Galt, Modesto, Lodi, Yuba City, Chico, Fairfield, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fresno, and many other locales.
[These testimonials or endorsements do not constitute a guarantee, warranty, or prediction regarding the outcome of a legal matter. This post may be seen as a solicitation or advertisement for services]
