California High School Student Defense

A young person's high school years are crucial to their long-term development. These are the years when they make decisions about who they are, about what morals and values matter to them most, about what kind of career they want to have, and about whether or not to go to college.

Where they eventually wind up in life should have everything to do with their aptitude and their personal choices. Unfortunately, too often, where a child winds up after high school and how they turn out as an adult can have everything to do with how they are treated in high school. The simple truth is that students who are subjected to rigid disciplinary policies, who find themselves falsely accused or facing penalties they don't deserve, can come to resent the educational system. The scars that bad disciplinary policies leave on children can run deep and can affect not just a person's education development but their psychological and emotional development as well.

Below, we'll get into all the many challenges high school students can face, from accusations of cheating to allegations of sexual misconduct. Before we do that, though, you should know that whatever issues your child is going through, the Lento Law Firm is here to help. Our Student Defense Team is focused on protecting student rights and making sure all students get the chance to earn an education in a stable, welcoming environment. We know the law regarding education. We also know how the California education system works. We're ready to use everything we know to help your child succeed.

Contact the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686 or use our online form.

The California Educational System

As a starting point, let's talk about who gets to make the rules when it comes to high school discipline in California. If you're called on to defend your child, you need to know how the system is structured.

For the most part, California state law grants individual schools the right to develop their own disciplinary rules. The law does set some important parameters. It mandates the process for developing policies and procedures: for example, parents, teachers, school administrators, security personnel, and students must all have a voice in making the rules. Likewise, the law requires schools to make students and parents aware of all rules and post rules on district websites.

In addition, all policies must conform to other California statutes. For instance, a school's rules must prohibit things like bullying, hazing, drug distribution, and weapons possession on campus, all of which are firmly established under California law.

High schools are also subject to federal law. They must abide, for instance, by Title IX restrictions on sexual discrimination and harassment, Title IV restrictions on racial, sexual, and religious discrimination, and provisions in the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA).

Within this general framework, though, schools and districts are generally free to set their own disciplinary rules. While most California schools have adopted similar conduct codes, there are always differences in how individual schools operate. Where Whitney High School in L.A. County bars students from putting stickers in their lockers, the Mission San Jose High School handbook makes no mention of lockers at all.

The best way to find out what rights and responsibilities your child has as a student is to consult their school or district's specific policies. However, we can offer some general categories of offense that virtually every district uses.

• Academic misconduct
• Non-academic misconduct
• Sexual misconduct

Academic Misconduct

No school wants to develop a reputation for cheating. Thus, all California schools maintain rules barring academic misconduct. Eleanor Roosevelt High in Eastvale has its Code of Academic Integrity; Vista Murrieta High School in Murrieta Valley calls its policy the Academic Dishonesty Policy. They amount to the same thing.

Academic misconduct is usually defined as

• Cheating: Any use of unauthorized resources to complete coursework. An unauthorized resource can include a textbook, a cheat sheet, the internet, or even another person. Basically, if a student gets answers from a source other than their own brain, and that source isn't specifically allowed by the instructor, they can be accused of cheating.
• Plagiarism: Attempting to pass another person's words or ideas off as your own. This can involve something simple, like dropping a quote into a paper without including a citation. It can involve much more serious offenses like trying to take credit for another student's work.
• Misrepresentation: Submitting work that isn't genuinely your own work. Making up sources might qualify, for example, or falsifying lab results.

At most schools, teachers are primarily responsible for policing academic misconduct. After all, they're usually in the best position to spot cheating and plagiarism. As a result, they often have enormous authority to level allegations, make decisions about whether or not misconduct has occurred, and come up with classroom sanctions. These can include anything from re-writing an assignment to a lowered grade on the assignment to a lowered grade in the course.

Suspension and expulsion are typically rare when it comes to academic misconduct and are generally reserved for the most serious offenses. Further, at most schools, only administrators have the power to assign these punishments. However, decisions don't necessarily require a thorough investigation or a hearing.

In fact, it's worth noting that often, academic misconduct allegations and sanctions go unchallenged, especially if the punishment is only an in-class sanction. Students simply accept their teachers' judgments and whatever penalties they're given. However, all disciplinary actions matter. Even a warning about academic misconduct can have long-term effects on a student's academic future. If such a warning should find its way into your child's permanent record, it can certainly influence college application decisions. If they're heading straight to the job market after high school, it could even affect their job applications.

Students don't always tell their parents when they find themselves in trouble. You can understand why. They worry they'll face more discipline at home if their parents find out they broke a rule at school. Even if they're entirely innocent, some young people prefer to try and handle problems themselves. Encourage your kids to talk to you about everything happening at school. Remind them that even if they're guilty of an offense, teachers and administrators often assign penalties that are just too severe. They should never just accept disciplinary action.

If your child has been falsely accused or is facing an unfair sanction, the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team can help. Whether you need us to negotiate with an instructor or defend your child at a formal hearing, we're on your side. We can even work to get their records cleaned up. We want to make sure your child's mistakes aren't held against them and that they have the best possible chance at a successful future.

Non-academic Disciplinary Misconduct

Non-academic disciplinary misconduct ordinarily involves injury to others, damage to property, or disruption of school operations. While it frequently occurs in the classroom, it doesn't normally relate to classwork the way academic misconduct does.

Again, it's important to keep in mind that every school is different, and many have some unusual quirks when it comes to the rules. Wilson High School, in Long Beach, has a skateboard and scooter policy. Sanger High School expressly forbids pajamas. However, there are some prohibitions that are pretty universal.

• Violence: All schools have policies against violence. Most student handbooks include statements that violence may be handled by law enforcement and subject to prosecution under California's assault and battery laws.
• Substance Abuse: All California schools bar drug sale, possession, distribution, and usage, as well as alcohol possession and intoxication. This bar includes marijuana. While recreational marijuana is legal in California, there are strict laws regarding usage by minors. In addition, marijuana remains illegal under current federal law.
• Weapons Possession: California law prohibits weapons on campus unless they are carried by authorized personnel. This applies to firearms but also to knives, box cutters, tasers, and stun guns. Violators are not merely subject to disciplinary action from the school but to criminal prosecution.
• ·Bullying: As with weapons possession, bullying is prohibited by California state law. In this case, the law does not assign criminal penalties for bullying, but it does require that school districts address bullying in their disciplinary policies and maintain strict sanctions for any students caught bullying.

Most schools also talk about “general misconduct, though they may focus on different kinds of offenses. Cell phones might be a problem in one school, and kissing in hallways might be a no-no in another.

Ultimately, though, the test of whether an act is “against the rules” is usually whether or not it harms another student, damages property, or interferes with normal school operations. This last is particularly broad and can include things as simple as talking during class or running in the hallway.

We've already said this, but it bears repeating. Teachers and school administrators often assert their authority without challenge. The fact is that districts operate more effectively when students see adults as authority figures. However, teachers and administrators can and do make mistakes. They sometimes accuse students unfairly. They assign penalties that are more severe than offenses deserve. It's important that your child understands their rights and that they don't have to simply accept disciplinary decisions. They can let you know what's going on, and you have us in your corner. The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team is always on your side and willing to fight for you and your child's interests.

Sexual Misconduct

Allegations of sexual misconduct are among the most serious any student can face. Every school policy contains a section that addresses sexually based offenses. Further, such offenses are subject to federal law under Title IX. As with anti-bullying legislation, Title IX does not provide for criminal prosecution. It does, however, require public schools to investigate all credible complaints. It further mandates how investigations and adjudications should proceed, and it encourages schools to issue harsh sanctions such as suspension and expulsion.

Offenses under Title IX can vary widely. Simple verbal harassment sometimes qualifies. At the other extreme, allegations of dating violence and rape virtually always trigger investigations. In between, a number of other behaviors are generally treated as violations, including inappropriate touching, forced kissing, stalking, and all types of discrimination based on gender, sex, and sexual orientation.

Title IX cases can be especially difficult to navigate in part because schools must follow federally mandated procedures, and these can be complex. Cases usually involve difficult issues, such as a school's definition of “consent.” There may be questions related to physical evidence. Often, decisions come down to he-said/ she-said and have to do with which side is more believable. For all these reasons, you should never try to handle a sexual misconduct charge on your own. You need an attorney who has studied the law and who has experience representing student clients. You need someone from the Lento Law Firm.

Academic Progression

While not a matter of discipline, students sometimes need defending when it comes to issues of academic progression. Traditionally, teachers have failed students who they felt weren't “performing” in the classroom, and districts have held students back a grade if they're failing the wrong courses. Many schools still operate on this model.

However, educational theory has evolved in recent decades to recognize that grades aren't always an effective measure of a student's academic ability and that classroom performance can be tied to many factors that may have nothing to do with a student's “intelligence.”

• Socioeconomic background can play a role in how well a student does.
• Coursework and exams sometimes favor one particular racial or ethnic group over another.
• The quality of a particular school or the abilities of a particular teacher can influence student learning.
• Disciplinary sanctions, as we shall see, can have an enormous impact on a student's success or failure.

Further, students who are forced to repeat a grade are largely separated from their peer group and can suffer emotionally and psychologically as a result.

Most schools recognize these facts, and most are careful both in terms of how they evaluate students and in terms of how they respond to below-average scores on these evaluations. If your school is trying to hold your child back, though, or simply failing them in core courses, it's important you act to protect them. In today's competitive academic environment, one D or F on a high school transcript can keep a student out of college.

The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team can make sure:

• Your child is treated fairly in the classroom
• Your child's teacher employs educational strategies that are geared to their learning style
• Your child is evaluated on fair terms
• Your child's school understands how outside forces can impact classroom learning
• Biased and unfair comments about your child's ability don't appear in their academic record
• Your child is given absolutely every opportunity to succeed

Keep in mind, though, that it's important to act quickly in these situations. Once a school labels a student “lazy” or “unintelligent,” it can be difficult to root out these negative opinions.

Sanctions

We've already touched on disciplinary sanctions in relation to specific types of offenses, but it is worth considering sanctions more closely. As with other aspects of disciplinary policies, schools differ in what kinds of sanctions they tend to apply. Most, though, use punishments like

• Detention
• Extra Assignments
• Loss of Privileges
• Restitution
• Suspension
• Expulsion

Schools also sometimes mandate counseling for students.

We've talked already about the importance of responding to all sanctions. Not only are sanctions sometimes grossly unfair, but even a warning can have damaging effects if it shows up in a student's record. You always want to make sure your child isn't being falsely accused and that any punishments they may be given fit the nature of their offense.

Some types of sanctions warrant special attention, though. You should know, for example, that all forms of corporal punishment are outlawed by California law. This applies to any person other than a parent. If anyone at your child's school should attempt to use physical violence as a means of punishment, they are subject to charges of assault and can be held liable in civil court.

Discipline doesn't have to be so extreme to be problematic. So-called “exclusionary” discipline—punishments that involve removing students from the education environment—have also been demonstrated to have serious negative effects on all aspects of a child's personality and development. Suspension, expulsion, and placement in alternative educational environments inhibit learning, subject students to embarrassment and social stigma, and teach children to think of themselves as “problems.” In fact, child development experts and educators frequently refer to exclusion discipline as a “prison pipeline” because students subjected to these types of discipline have a far greater chance of eventually committing criminal acts than their peers.

It is no surprise, then, that California's education laws restrict the use of suspension and expulsion to extreme cases. Furthermore, any time a district is considering such exclusionary punishments, they must meet with the student's parents and provide students with the opportunity to defend themselves at a formal hearing.

To be clear, the law does allow for suspension and expulsion in a number of situations, such as

• Acts of violence
• Threats of violence
• Theft
• Possession of a controlled substance
• Acts of obscenity or vulgarity
• Sexual assault

Further, the law requires districts to expel students in certain instances, such as

• Causing serious physical injury
• Possessing a firearm on campus
• Brandishing a weapon

However, unless the legislature has specifically granted schools or districts the right to tie an offense to these punishments, schools are barred from using them.

Finally, when it comes to sanctions, it's important you understand how high school discipline intersects with your child's right to an education. All children in the U.S. are guaranteed a free public education. This right is enshrined in the Constitution, and there are no exceptions. What this means is that even if your child's school should decide to expel them, the state of California is still responsible for educating them. The state can force you to homeschool students. They can force you to attend school at another school or in another district. The state cannot deny your child a secondary education, though, and must provide resources to you free of charge.

Disciplinary sanctions can have an enormous impact on a child's education and on their emotional and psychological well-being. Before you accept any punishment, contact the Lento Law Firm and find out if your child is being treated fairly.

Defending Your Child

You hope it never happens. You hope that your child's school never mistreats them. There are times, though, when it is necessary to come to the defense of your child. This can be a complicated matter. How you defend them can vary depending on the specific nature of the allegations against them. In Title IX sexual misconduct cases, for example, federal law dictates exactly how investigations and adjudications should occur. In contrast, when it comes to less serious charges, like academic misconduct, your district may not have any formal procedures in place.

Ultimately, however, you should always have the right to demand an investigation and a hearing. Districts are required to provide these in cases of suspension and expulsion, but even when the sanction is less severe, the faculty, administration, and board must respond to your concerns and must be able to prove their actions are warranted.

Additionally, as part of the process, you should have the right to legal representation for your child. That means a Lento Law Firm attorney can handle every aspect of your case.

You should further have the right to present evidence, to call witnesses to testify, and to cross-examine any witnesses against you.

This does not mean demanding a formal hearing is the best response in all situations. In fact, in most instances, you can address disciplinary matters by taking your concerns up the chain of command.

• Start by discussing the problem with your child's teacher.
• If necessary, involve other administrators at the school, such as the school counselor, the vice-principal, or the principal.
• Again, if necessary, you can take your concerns to the district's administration or the local school board.

In some cases, it may be necessary to take the matter further. You can, for instance, appeal to

• The California State Department of Education
• The United States Department of Education

Ultimately, though, you always have the right to ask for a hearing before the school board, and in addition, you can seek remedies through civil litigation.

Again, with all these options at your disposal, it can be difficult to know which one is the most appropriate for your particular situation. The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team has worked with hundreds of students and their families. We always know the best approach, the one that's most likely to resolve the situation and get you the justice you deserve. You can count on us to sit down with you and fully assess all aspects of the situation before we recommend a course of action. But you can also count on us to stand beside you every step of the way.

Why Do You Need an Attorney?

As we've tried to make clear up to this point, the law gives you several strong tools to protect your child. It would be nice if that were enough to ensure that students were never mistreated, never misjudged, and never unfairly punished. The fact is, though, that public schools are institutions, and like any institution, they carry enormous weight—so much so that sometimes they forget to follow their own rules and procedures. When that happens, you need a voice—your child needs a voice—someone in your corner who knows the law and can hold educators responsible for following it.

Making sure your child is treated fairly and given the justice they deserve isn't always an easy process. While there are specific procedures in place for dealing with most incidents, they aren't usually the first path teachers and administrators take. Instead, you may have to participate in a lot of informal negotiations before you reach the point of a formal procedure.

The Lento Law Firm can help at all levels of the process, though.

• We can help during informal negotiations with teachers and administrators. We can remind them of their responsibilities and help them see your child in their best light.
• We can speak on your behalf during investigative meetings. We can make sure that your child's rights are respected, that investigators consider all the evidence, and that cases are dismissed when there is a clear lack of evidence.
• We can present a full hearing defense. We can prepare a defense strategy, organize evidence, and develop questions for witnesses.

Most importantly, though, we can advise you on how to navigate these various levels of the process. We can let you know when it's more appropriate to negotiate with a teacher and when you're better off demanding a formal hearing. We can speak for you or provide you with effective strategies for communicating effectively.

Why Do You Need the Lento Law Firm?

What makes the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team so special? Couldn't any lawyer handle your case?

The simple answer is no. Student defenses are very particular cases.

• They involve issues that don't typically show up in a courtroom—like whether a student's tone of voice qualifies as “belligerent,” whether a teacher's instructions were expressed clearly, and what the wording of a school's policy on public display of affection does and doesn't actually say.
• They involve aspects of the law that local and family attorneys don't typically deal with, such as cheating, dress code violations, and bullying.
• They often relate to issues of federal law, like Title IX, the Americans with Disabilities Act, First Amendment free speech, and Civil Rights legislation.
• They don't normally happen in a courtroom. They happen in classrooms and administrative offices. Cases aren't decided by a judge who's been to law school but rather by teachers, principals, and school board members.

To take just one specific difference between defending a person at trial and defending a student during a school investigation and hearing, court cases are typically decided using the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard. School cases are usually decided using a lesser standard known as “preponderance of the evidence.” According to this standard, decision-makers are required to find students “Responsible” (guilty) if they are more than fifty percent convinced of their guilt.

Local criminal and family attorneys just aren't familiar with what's required when a student needs defending. We are. Lento Law Firm attorneys know education law; we know the California education system; we have experience defending students. Plus, we're used to talking with faculty and administrators—we do it every day—and we know how to express your concerns in a way they will understand.

Other Issues

We've focused here primarily on disciplinary issues. You should know, though, that the Lento Law Firm's background and experience make us eminently qualified to handle many other education issues California students face.

· Disability Issues: Students with disabilities, including those with learning disabilities, have special rights under both federal and California state law. For example, they are entitled to classroom accommodations if they need them, like extra time to complete assignments, note-takers, and access to special technology. If your district isn't doing all it can to support your child's needs, we can help pressure them to live up to their responsibilities.

· Bullying Issues: If your child has been the victim of bullying, their school could bear some responsibility. We can help your family recoup any losses—financial and emotional—through civil litigation.

· College Student Issues: The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team doesn't just represent K-12 students. We also represent college students. If your child is facing disciplinary action from their college or university, we can help defend them.

The Lento Law Firm is Always on Your Side

Here's the bottom line: the attorneys at the Lento Law Firm understand that schools and school districts sometimes over-reach. Very few deliberately abuse their authority, but they make mistakes. They sometimes get things wrong. Our job is to protect your child when this happens.

The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team is committed to the proposition that all students deserve fair treatment and the opportunity to earn the best possible education. To honor that commitment, we've studied the law. We've learned how the California educational system operates and what to expect from individual school districts. And we've put what we know into practice, helping hundreds of students to protect themselves.

If your child is facing unfair disciplinary action, we can help. To find out more, contact the Lento Law Firm at 888-535-3686 or use our automated online form.