If your Cape Coral or Ft. Myers student is in trouble with their K-12 school, college, or university, it can be difficult to know where to turn. After all, you might have spent years investing in your school community. You might feel like your school's teachers and administrators are your primary resources in an academic crisis — which can make suddenly being in an adversarial position with your school all the more upsetting.
What's even more upsetting, though, are the potential long-term consequences for your student if your school decides to slap them with an unfair sanction.
Did you know that even if your school doesn't create an explicit disciplinary record detailing every single dispute your student ever had with your school, future employers and prospective colleges will still be able to tell that your student received a suspension?
It's true — and it's also true that if a future admissions board is able to look at your student's transcript and figure out that your student was involved in disciplinary processes, that admissions board will probably decide not to consider your student as a viable candidate.
You've worked too hard to let allegations of misconduct or other academic issues and concerns stand in the way of your student's success. You need to make sure that your school treats your student fairly, and that your student has access to every possible strategy if they're in a tricky position with their school.
That's why you need to speak with Joseph D. Lento. Joseph D. Lento is an education and student defense attorney-advisor with years of experience helping students at Cape Coral and Ft. Myers schools succeed. Call up the Lento Law Firm today and he can start supporting your student's success, too.
Education Defense in the Ft. Myers and Cape Coral Area
Cape Coral and Ft. Myers, as up-and-coming cities on the east coast of Florida, are very attractive places to raise a young family. The beaches are nearby, the homes are affordable, there are great national parks and attractions within a few hours' drive — what's not to love?
The intense competition at the highest-ranked schools could be a contender. Since Eastern Florida is a sought-after destination for many young professionals and growing families, area schools are still figuring out how to meet demand without relaxing academic and behavioral expectations.
This places a lot of pressure on the administration, faculty, students, and parents making up a small academic community. In this type of environment, it's not uncommon for grades to slip, tensions to rise, and the number of allegations of misconduct start to rise.
If your student is at the center of an academic, behavioral, or sexual misconduct investigation, you need to fight for their rights and their best interests. Fortunately, you won't be alone. Joseph D. Lento will be there to help.
Joseph D. Lento Can Help Your Cape Coral or Ft. Myers Student
School investigations can get very serious, very fast. The time between your first notification that something's afoot and the final notice that your student's being dismissed from school will go quicker than you think.
And, often, these cases are won or lost during that initial investigation itself. The good news is that at every stage of your student's disciplinary process, from the investigation through to the hearing, appeals, and more, there are things you can do to support the best outcome possible for your student.
Joseph D. Lento can help you pull together evidence that supports your student's account, help coach you and your student through any hearings you need to attend, delve through your school's code of conduct to make sure that your school is following its own rules, and make sure that any appeals you need to follow are as persuasive as possible.
Retain the services of Joseph D. Lento, premier education defense attorney-advisor, today. It's the best thing you can do to protect your Ft. Myers or Cape Coral student!
Ft. Myers and Cape Coral Metro Area Schools
Joseph D. Lento and the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm are pleased to provide expert education defense services — from negotiation to appeals, representation, and beyond — to a range of schools in the Cape Coral and Ft. Myers areas. What's more, the team is able to support you, your student, and your family regardless of the specific level of schooling your student has achieved.
Here is an incomplete list of the schools, school districts, and colleges at which Joseph D. Lento can provide necessary assistance.
Colleges and Universities Near Cape Coral and Ft. Myers
- Southwest Florida College
- Florida Southwestern State College
- Florida Gulf Coast University
- Hodges University
- Ave Maria University
- New College of Florida
- State College of Florida Manatee Sarasota
- Eckerd College
- Warner University
- Webber International University
- The University of Tampa
- Florida Southern College
- Franklin University
- Southern Technical College
K-12 Schools Near Cape Coral and Ft. Myers
- Canterbury School
- Bishop Verot Catholic High School
- North Fort Myers High School
- Cape Coral High School
- Southwest Florida Christian Academy
- Evangelical Christian School
- Oasis Charter Elementary School
- Oasis Elementary North
- Trafalgar Middle School
- Classical Christian Academy
- Gulf Elementary School
- Ida S. Baker High School
- Gulf Middle School
- Trafalgar Elementary School
- Cape Elementary School
- Pine Island Elementary School
- Challenger Middle School
- Mariner Middle School
- Diplomat Elementary School
- Diplomat Middle School
- Caloosa Elementary School
- Cape Coral Christian School
Additionally, if your school is not listed here, please feel free to reach out to Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm anyway. We're ready to be there for you when any of the following types of academic and behavioral concerns come to light.
Ft. Myers and Cape Coral Schools: Academic Progression Issues
It may come as a shock that your Ft. Myers or Cape Coral school could suspend or dismiss your student just because they're not keeping up with their peers, or performing according to some expectation set by the school's administration.
Sanctions for “failure to progress” allegations are all too common. Your school needs to remain competitive and part of attracting and retaining new academic communities is being able to demonstrate that your school can successfully guide students from matriculation to graduation.
If your student isn't meeting expectations or performing according to minimal standards of excellence, that may signal to the school administration that your student and your school aren't a great fit.
This can be very problematic. Often, educators and administrators make “failure to progress” assessments based off incorrectly-entered grades or even by looking at the wrong records. There are other situations in which students have legitimate reasons for falling a little behind in their studies, which can and should mitigate the severity of any sanctions from their school.
Work with Joseph D. Lento today to make sure that your student has the opportunity to defend themselves and protect their future, instead of being dismissed for allegedly failing to progress.
Which Academic Misconduct Allegations Result in Severe Sanctions?
Academic misconduct (or academic integrity issues) may seem similar to academic progression concerns, but the two types of potentially-sanctionable issues are distinct.
Behaviors that constitute academic misconduct usually go against a school's academic honor code. These actions include:
- Multiple submission
- Sabotage
- Unauthorized access of exam materials
- Cheating
- Plagiarism
- Unauthorized collaboration
Because cheating, plagiarism, and other types of integrity issues go directly against one of the main missions of a school (educating its students fairly), many schools punish alleged academic misconduct very harshly.
This may not always be appropriate, especially if the allegations are untrue or unfair. Joseph D. Lento can help ensure your student has a chance to tell their side of the story, can file a strong appeal, and can protect their education to the fullest extent appropriate.
Behavioral Misconduct and Your Ft. Myers or Cape Coral Student
Outside the realm of specifically academic issues and concerns are behavioral infractions.
If you look through your school's code of conduct, you'll find that your school has identified a wide range of behaviors it deems problematic.
Many of these behaviors have to do with keeping your school's community and campus safe. Your school may have unique items on its list of prohibited actions, but most school's lists of punishable behavioral issues look something like this:
- Threatening another student
- Having weapons or drugs on the school premises
- Fighting with other students (or professors)
- Any type of bullying
- Being disruptive in a classroom environment
- Stealing from other students (or the school)
- Misusing computers
- Endangering other students
While it may be completely understandable that schools consider these actions worthy of a sanction, sometimes there is context that your school should consider before moving to dismiss a student. Other times, schools should look further into the accuracy of an allegation before sanctioning a student.
By working with Joseph D. Lento, you can ensure that your student has the best possible chance of success. Attorney Joseph D. Lento will help you hold your school accountable to its own disciplinary policies and due process. He can also help your student will winning representation services, a strong defense, experienced negotiations, and more.
The Title IX or Sexual Misconduct Issues Your Student May Face
One particular category of behavioral concerns worth discussing is sexual misconduct.
Sexual misconduct and Title IX allegations, often grouped together under the same or similar policies at Cape Coral and Ft. Myers schools, can be extremely damaging for a young person's reputation.
While schools must do what is necessary to keep their students safe, it's also important to realize that many sexual misconduct allegations are filed for the wrong reasons. Often, they're simply untrue. Other times, they're filed because of a mistake or misunderstanding, but they don't merit a full investigation (and certainly shouldn't result in the ruination of an associated student's future).
Schools may not pause to wonder whether a Title IX or sexual misconduct claim has a real basis before pursuing an investigation. And, in Title IX cases, they may not have much of a choice before responding with steep sanctions. Under Title IX, one of the Education Amendments of 1972, schools that receive federal funding must respond to all allegations of sexual harassment or assault in a timely manner. Otherwise, they risk losing their funding.
This incentive can affect the way your school treats your student. It shouldn't. Talk to Joseph D. Lento today to make sure your student is getting fair treatment and benefits from a strong defense.
Retain Joseph D. Lento, Education Attorney-Advisor, Today
Over the years, your family has invested an incredible amount of time, resources, and energy into your student's schooling.
You need to make sure that one unfair allegation or miscommunicated report of misconduct doesn't affect their entire future. Unfortunately, at many Cape Coral and Ft. Myers schools, these types of allegations and reports can wreak havoc on a student's future. Students are under a lot of pressure these days to perform and act in a certain way. If they don't, or if a competitive peer or overwhelmed teacher alleges that they don't, schools can recommend steep punishments.
When these punishments — such as a suspension or a dismissal — are documented on your student's permanent documents, they can make your student's future a lot more difficult than it needs to be. (Prospective employers won't be happy to see records of plagiarism or bullying on an applicant's disciplinary history, even if the incident years in the past.)
Your best bet for protecting your child's academic and professional future is to take action now. Team up with Joseph D. Lento, a national education defense attorney-advisor. With the experts on the education and student defense team at the Lento Law Firm, you can work towards the best possible outcome for your child. Call 888.535.3686 to learn more about your options, or simply contact us.
