We all want our children to be successful in school and life. But each child has challenges along the way. Kids make mistakes, and schools realize that, but if your child is facing a serious disciplinary matter, it's important to understand the consequences they could face from a long-term suspension or expulsion. Studies show that suspending or expelling a child can interrupt their education. But these exclusionary disciplinary proceedings can also make it less likely that a child will graduate from high school or go on to secondary education or training programs. A silly, impulsive mistake, a disability issue, or even a misunderstanding as a high school kid can lead to expulsion from school and placement in an alternative education program (AEP).
AEP, also sometimes called Area Learning Centers, can be helpful in some situations to keep all the kids in a school or classroom safe and able to learn without serious disruption. But school systems often misuse or overuse these programs when a child is deemed too “difficult” or disruptive, using expulsion instead of developing effective interventions for students with learning disabilities, behavioral issues, and other challenges. An AEP placement can harm your child's educational trajectory and jeopardize their future educational plans. So, in this FAQ, we'll discuss some of our clients' top questions about AEPs and expulsions in New Hampshire. If you have a child potentially facing expulsion from a New Hampshire high school, you need to discuss your options with Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento and the National Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm. Give them a call today at 888-535-3686.
What Disciplinary Measures Do New Hampshire Schools Use?
In New Hampshire, schools will use a wide variety of punishments for discipline, including:
- Community service: The district may require your child to complete community service hours in the school community or the school.
- Detention: During detention, your student will spend time after school or on weekends doing additional work or homework.
- Exclusion: In certain circumstances, a teacher or staff may remove your child from the classroom for a short period or an entire day or more. This is often also called in-school suspension.
- Loss of privileges: Your child may lose the right to participate in clubs, athletics, or other extracurricular activities.
- Removal to an AEP: Your district may remove your child to an alternative education program in conjunction with an expulsion or for other reasons if your child is at risk. Removal of a student to an AEP requires a hearing.
- School Counseling: The school may provide counseling for your child to work on behavioral issues or other problems in or out of school.
- Suspension: In New Hampshire, the district can suspend your child for up to ten days. At ten days, they must provide you with a notice of hearing or allow your child to return to school.
- Expulsion: If your child is expelled after a hearing. They may be prohibited from attending school for up to 12 months and required to attend an AEP in person or virtually.
The student code of conduct for your child's school should list the possible disciplinary actions they may use in your school district.
Can My High School Student Be Suspended or Expelled in New Hampshire?
Excluding kids from school through suspensions and expulsions should be a punishment of last resort in New Hampshire. However, schools often rely on these punishments too often. Only a school district supervisor, a chartered public school director, or their representative can expel kids from school for more than ten days. The law states:
A superintendent or chartered public school director, or a representative designated in writing by the superintendent or chartered public school director, may suspend pupils from school for a period not to exceed 10 consecutive school days for:
- Behavior that is detrimental to the health, safety, or welfare of pupils or school personnel; or
- Repeated and willful disregard of the reasonable rules of the school that is not remediated through the imposition of the district's graduated sanctions under paragraph X.
Some examples of behavior that can result in a long-term suspension or expulsion include:
- Repeatedly and willfully disregarding reasonable school rules,
- Physically or sexually assaulting someone. It would be a felony if committed by an adult in New Hampshire,
- Behavior that is a danger to the health, welfare, and safety of school staff, students, or other personnel,
- Acts of violence under New Hampshire law,
- Criminal threats under New Hampshire law, or
- Bringing a firearm to school without written authorization from the superintendent.
Before suspending or expelling your child or placing your child in an alternative education program, the school must follow the procedures outlined in the school district's code of conduct. To protect your child's rights, you need Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento and the experienced Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm. They can ensure your school district doesn't unfairly or unlawfully remove your child from school and put them in an AEP that will be determinantal to their education.
What is an Emergency Removal in New Hampshire?
New Hampshire law also allows the school to remove students on an emergency basis in limited situations. New Hampshire law allows “[a] teacher or person otherwise entrusted with the care or supervision of a minor for special purposes” to use force “when the minor creates a disturbance or refuses to leave the premises or when it is necessary to prevent injury to self or others.” Schools can use restraint and exclusion from the classroom when:
- A student creates a disturbance in the class or other learning environments,
- A student won't leave the school premises, or
- The school decides it's necessary for discipline.
But the law does place limits on the use of restraint and exclusion. The school can only use restraint “to ensure the immediate physical safety of persons when there is a substantial and imminent risk of serious bodily harm to the child or others.” The school must consider the following:
- All relevant circumstances, and
- Whether “continued acts of violence by a child to inflict damage to property will create a substantial risk of serious bodily harm to the child or others.”
Restraint can only be used “by trained personnel using extreme caution when all other interventions have failed or have been deemed inappropriate.” However, restraint should never be used “explicitly or implicitly as punishment for the behavior of a child.”
Emergency expulsions in New Hampshire often happen for the same reason, but the exclusion from classes can't be for more than ten days without a hearing. At the hearing, the school and administration may decide whether to implement a long-term suspension or expulsion and whether to place a student in an alternative education program.
How Does a Student Get Sent to Alternative Education in New Hampshire?
If a school in New Hampshire wants to send your child to an alternative education program, they must follow the requirements of New Hampshire law. State law provides that schools must adopt procedures that “assure due process” in disciplinary proceedings, suspensions, and expulsions. However, state law doesn't delineate the procedures schools must follow. That means your school or district's code of conduct will be your first defense in a disciplinary proceeding.
The code of conduct will set forth the procedures the school will follow for major disciplinary issues, including:
- Notice of a hearing to you and your child,
- Details about the complaint against your child,
- Hearing procedures,
- The make-up of the hearing panel,
- The final arbiter of disciplinary proceedings, and
- Appeal rights.
Under the law, your district must provide your student with the following:
- Written notice of the allegations against them,
- A description or explanation of the evidence against them at least five days before the hearing, and
- A formal hearing before the local school board.
However, often disciplinary matters are handled on a case-by-case basis, with school administrators attempting to resolve things informally. But if the stakes are high and your child may be facing an AEP placement, you must seek the advice of Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento and the experienced Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm. They help students nationwide and can protect your child's rights during the disciplinary process in New Hampshire. They can negotiate with the school administration, the superintendent, or the school board and preserve your right to appeal to a court if necessary.
Will My Student Face Expulsion if They Bring a Gun to School in New Hampshire?
Like many states, New Hampshire takes the threat of gun violence at school seriously. Under New Hampshire law, a student will face a minimum of 12 months expulsion if they bring a firearm to school as defined under United States Code Title 18, §921 without prior written authorization from the superintendent. They will be unable to register in another New Hampshire district for the period of their expulsion. However, they can be placed in an AEP.
While in many states, bringing a firearm to a school campus without a qualifying exception is a felony, that isn't the case in New Hampshire. New Hampshire is one of the most gun-friendly states in America, and bringing a gun to campus is not illegal. However, schools are free to regulate the possession of firearms on their premises, and any student caught bringing a firearm on campus will face mandatory expulsion.
What Happens to Expelled High School Students in New Hampshire?
Even if your child is expelled, they are still entitled to an education. As a result, New Hampshire state law requires districts to create an alternative education program to provide education to expelled students in an alternative setting. Under New Hampshire administrative rules, an “alternative program means the regular delivery of the majority of a student's instruction through classroom or other methods designed to address the needs of individual students or particular groups of students that might be different from the methods of instruction used by the standard schools of the district.”
AEP placements may be in the same school, or an alternate location, but the teachers must meet the same certification requirements. “Students in alternative programs shall be provided student services equivalent to those provided in standard schools including, but not limited to, food and nutrition services under Ed 306.11, health services under Ed 306.12, and guidance and counseling services under Ed 306.39.” However, the methods of instruction can be different from those used in the traditional district schools. As a result, students in AEP placements may fall behind in coursework, not have access to the same rigorous course load, and won't have the same facilities as a standard class. In many cases, AEPs have limited resources and extracurriculars like drama, media studies, and advanced labs.
If your child faces a potential AEP placement, the threat to their education can be real. However, Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm can help mitigate the risk of lost educational time and services for your child.
What if My Child Has a Disability That Affects Their Conduct?
If your child has an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) or Section 504 Plan, the district must follow specific procedures before removing them from school or placing them in an alternative education program. For suspensions or removals that exceed ten total days over the year or five consecutive days, the school must complete a Manifestation Determination Review (MDR) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
The school must use the MDR to decide if your child's behavior is caused by their disability or if the school's failure to properly implement a 504 plan or IEP may be to blame. The school must conduct the review within ten days of the suspension once the district decides on a punishment. The review team will involve teachers and staff that know your child from school, parents, and the district's special education committee. A therapist, counselor, or health care provider may also participate if your child receives related care from them.
Under New Hampshire educational guidelines, schools will typically consider an IEP for a wide range of situations, including:
- Learning disabilities,
- Autism,
- Speech, hearing, vision, or language impairments,
- Emotional disabilities,
- Emotional disorders,
- Orthopedic disabilities,
- Physical limitations, and
- Traumatic brain injuries.
You and the MDR team will collaboratively decide if the pattern of your child's behavior is related to their disability or the district and school's failure to implement an IEP or 504 plan adequately to address the situation. If the MDR team decides the behavior isn't related to the disability, the suspension will continue. If you disagree with the MDR decision, you can request a due process hearing with the New Hampshire Department of Education.
How Long Do New Hampshire Expulsions and AEPs Last?
In New Hampshire, your child can face expulsion and AEP placement for up to 12 months. However, the average time is typically more like 40 to 45 days. The length of your child's placement will depend on their disciplinary history and the severity of the accusations against them, making it essential to speak with Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento and his skilled Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm as soon as possible. They can negotiate the best possible outcome and the type of AEP your child might face.
What Will Happen During My Student's Alternative Education Placement?
Even if the district places your child in an AEP, your student still has a right to an education and other services. The school must:
- Continue to provide counseling and therapies, such as speech and occupational therapy;
- Provide a behavior assessment if needed and continue providing behavioral intervention services;
- Continue to provide academic advising, career, and personal guidance counseling if needed;
- Continue to follow a student's IEP or 504 plan if applicable.
Can I Appeal My Student's School Expulsion?
You can appeal the expulsion decision. If anyone other than the school board or board of trustees implements the expulsion or long-term suspension, you can appeal it to the school board or board of trustees. However, you must give written notice of your appeal to the superintendent, school board, or board of trustees within ten days after the decision. The board can hear evidence, or they can rely on the record of the hearing of the earlier hearing. If you disagree with the school board or board of trustees' final decision on your appeal, you may appeal to the state school board. The process can be challenging without legal assistance. That's why you should discuss your case with Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento and his skilled Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm as soon as possible.
What Should I Do If My Child is Facing Expulsion in New Hampshire?
If your student is likely to face serious disciplinary consequences at school, including a potential suspension or expulsion, you should prepare your records and your student:
- Get the full details of any alleged incident from the school in writing if possible. Ask about potential disciplinary consequences and whether you can resolve the matter informally.
- Ask your child about the incident, take notes, or record their response. Be sure to ask about anything that happened leading up to the allegations that may have affected their behavior, such as bullying from students or teachers.
- If there are any physical injuries, take photos of your child to record them, including red marks and broken or swollen skin. Take your child to the doctor if necessary.
- Collect feedback from teachers that you've received on your student's behavior and classwork in the past, including comments on assignments and progress reports or report cards.
- Save any correspondence you receive from the school, including emails and voicemails. If you have a conversation with anyone from the school in person or on the phone, immediately follow up with an email recording the subject and details of the conversation. If you can't send an email, be sure to take detailed notes, recording the time, place, and date, the person you spoke with, and the details of your
- If you receive any correspondence from the school, save it. If you speak with someone on the phone or in person, you should follow up via email to confirm the substance of your conversation. If you can't do that, take notes and record your conversation's time, date, and details.
- Locate your student's school or district's student code of conduct and review it to see what qualifies as a violation and the potential disciplinary procedures.
- Call Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm. They can help protect your child's rights, develop a strategy, and negotiate with the district on your behalf.
Can Expelled Students Later Go to College in New Hampshire?
Many expelled students in New Hampshire later go on to college. However, an AEP can negatively impact their education. An AEP can result in the following:
- Disruption to the continuity of your child's education,
- Courses without the same academic rigor,
- Interrupt counseling and therapeutic services, and
- The loss of extracurricular activities, clubs, and athletics, and
- Poor self-esteem and mental health in students.
Even if your student comes back academically, having an expulsion on their record can impact admission to college, scholarship awards, and even future graduate school plans. Colleges and other programs are more likely to highly scrutinize the application and school records of a student with expulsion and AEP placement on their record. Colleges will want to ensure that your student won't endanger the health and well-being of other students, and some may automatically decline students with an expulsion from school in the past.
You Need Skilled Legal Guidance for Your New Hampshire Student's Expulsion
If your child is facing serious disciplinary action like a long-term suspension or expulsion, Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento and the nationwide Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm can help. They've been helping students through disciplinary procedures for years, and they can help you too. Call the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686 or contact them online to schedule your consultation.
