You must care deeply for your Massachusetts high school student's welfare in all respects, including your student's educational progress and future. High school accusations of academic or behavioral misconduct, sexual misconduct, or failure to progress academically can derail your student's education, demotivating your student and delaying your student's academic, social, intellectual, and other development. If your high school student faces misconduct charges or academic progress issues threatening your student's high school enrollment and clean academic record, our highly qualified attorneys are available in Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Cambridge, Lowell, Brockton, Quincy, Lynn, New Bedford, Fall River, Newton, Lawrence, Somerville, Framingham, Haverhill, Malden, Waltham, Brookline, and other Massachusetts cities, towns, and villages for your student's effective and strategic defense. Retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team for your student's best possible outcome to Massachusetts high school misconduct charges. Call 888.535.3686 or use our contact form now.
A Massachusetts High School Parent's Interest
As the parent of a Massachusetts high school student, you already know how important your student's schooling is to your student's health, welfare, outlook, attitude, development, and interests. You have every right and reason to be duly concerned about high school disciplinary charges or academic progress issues, threatening your student's suspension, expulsion, and disciplinary placement. For many students, high school is the launching pad to academic, professional, vocational, and life success. A strong high school education and academic record can set your student up for preferred college or university admissions, scholarships, mentor relationships, vocational training, and even employment and career opportunities. A strong network of high school friends, advisors, and supporters can undergird your student's social and other development. You rightly want to ensure your Massachusetts high school student's best possible educational experience.
Massachusetts High School Discipline Impacts
Yet, as positive of an experience as you wish for your Massachusetts high school student, you may also realize that adverse events in high school, including disciplinary charges and academic progression issues, can instead set your student back. High school discipline, suspension, expulsion, and alternative disciplinary placement can lead to significant academic, social, vocational, and other developmental harms. Your greatest interest when your Massachusetts high school student faces disciplinary charges or academic progression issues is to help your student handle those charges well for the best possible outcome. Our attorneys have the skill and experience to help you do so. Don't leave your student's future to chance or to unqualified defense counsel. Retain us for the highly qualified representation your student needs and deserves.
The Massachusetts Education System
The Massachusetts legislature has enacted a complex mix of education laws governing high school and other elementary and secondary education in the state. Your Massachusetts high school student's disciplinary matter may depend in part on those state laws. For example, Massachusetts General Law Ch. 17 Section 37H authorizes school districts to adopt student codes of conduct and superintendents to enforce those codes through local high school principals and other disciplinary officials. School districts and boards have the responsibility and authority to govern school operations, including ensuring that your student meets the state's educational and behavioral standards and related standards the local district and high school adopt. Your student is in a highly regulated environment when attending school, more regulated than just about any other environment in which your student may study, work, recreate, socialize, or otherwise act. The state legislature has ensured that local school officials have the authority they need to make your student conform, comply, and behave. Let us help you and your student if your student faces misconduct allegations threatening your student's continued high school education.
Massachusetts Board of Education
Massachusetts, like other states, has a state-level administrative agency to carry out the legislature's will regarding the state's high schools. Massachusetts General Law Ch. 15 Section 1E creates the state Board of Education, while authorizing it to adopt administrative rules and regulations to govern the state's high schools and other elementary and secondary schools. Your student's disciplinary or academic progress matter may thus fall under either state statutes or Board of Education regulations. For instance, Massachusetts General Law Ch. 71 Section 37O prohibits bullying in the state's high schools while requiring local districts and schools to adopt and enforce anti-bullying provisions. Other statutes and Board of Education regulations address weapons, alcohol, drugs, tobacco, gang activity, and violence in the state's high schools. Your student's matter could fall under any of those provisions. Let our attorneys help you and your student confirm and challenge the school's authority to discipline under any of these provisions.
Massachusetts School Districts
Your Massachusetts high school student's disciplinary matter or academic progression issue may also fall under local school district policies. Massachusetts Board of Education regulations codified at 603 CMR 41.00 carry out the Board's legislative authority to form and support local school districts. Under another Board of Education regulation, 603 CMR 53.00, local school districts have the authority and responsibility to adopt and enforce student codes of conduct under which school officials may impose discipline. We can help you and your student examine and evaluate the school district's policies and procedures adopted under this regulatory authority to ensure that any action it takes is consistent with the district's authority. We can also help you and your student invoke the district's protective procedures for your student's best outcome to disciplinary charges.
Massachusetts Local High Schools
The above Massachusetts education laws, rules, and regulations further authorize your student's local high school principal to apply student codes of conduct and disciplinary policies and procedures to your student's matter. Board of Education regulation 603 CMR 53.12 expressly authorizes your student's high school principal to invoke disciplinary procedures for suspension, expulsion, or other school sanctions. School districts and high schools across Massachusetts adopt student codes of conduct, such as the following examples, under which school principals can pursue disciplinary charges and impose discipline. Your student's high school very likely has a student code of conduct for the principal to enforce, like one of the following examples:
- the Boston Public Schools Code of Conduct;
- the Public Schools of Brookline Student Code of Conduct;
- the Worcester Public Schools Student Handbook;
- the Springfield Public Schools Parents and Students Handbook; and
- the Cambridge Public Schools Guide to Policies for Students & Families.
Massachusetts High School Academic Misconduct
Massachusetts high school students must meet academic standards, not only in what they learn but in how they learn it and how they prove that they meet those standards. Student codes of conduct and teacher rules combine to define those academic conduct standards and prohibit student cheating. The Public Schools of Brookline Student Code of Conduct, for example, prohibits all forms of academic dishonesty, generally. The Boston Public Schools Code of Conduct simply prohibits cheating. The Cambridge Rindge & Latin School Handbook prohibits plagiarism and cheating. No matter how your student's high school or district defines the offense, your student may face academic misconduct charges for not following the teacher's rules and instructions relating to school studies. Any of the following types of academic misconduct could subject your student to school suspension or expulsion, loss of privileges, detention, or other discipline affecting your student's school record:
- unauthorized use of materials on tests, exams, assessments, or assignments;
- unauthorized collaboration with another student or other students, working together to produce a work for which your student claims credit, when supposed to work alone;
- soliciting or accepting answers from another, or offering or giving answers to another, when supposed to work alone;
- claiming credit for a writing or other assignment when your student drew the work from another source without proper attribution;
- dual submission of the same work for academic credit from more than one teacher, without disclosing the dual use; or
- making up or altering data from science experiments or observations, falsifying results submitted for research credit.
Punishing Massachusetts High School Academic Misconduct
Some teachers and principals treat academic misconduct without the seriousness with which they punish other forms of misconduct. The thought may be that your Massachusetts high school student is still learning academic norms, customs, and expectations. The behavior matrix in the Public Schools of Brookline Student Code of Conduct, for instance, prescribes punishment for cheating only up to in-school detentions, not suspension or expulsion. However, disciplinary officials are more likely to severely punish repeated academic misconduct or misconduct that directly violates a clear rule about which your student indisputably knew, when your student was clearly trying to gain an undue academic advantage, and when cheating disrupts instruction. Any cheating mark on your student's school record can hurt your student's future. However, your student could also suffer suspension, expulsion, and even alternative disciplinary placement when cheating crosses the line into insubordination, disrespect, and disruption. Let our attorneys help you and your student pursue alternative remedial relief from cheating charges to keep your student's record clear.
Impacts of Massachusetts High School Academic Misconduct
As just suggested, beware of the potential adverse impacts of Massachusetts high school cheating discipline. Even if your student avoids suspension or expulsion and instead suffers only in-school detentions, the mark on your student's academic record may cause your student to lose class rank and school academic honors, leading to a loss of preferred college or university admissions, scholarships, vocational training opportunities, and even employment. Any academic discipline can also harm your student's relationship with supportive teachers, advisors, and mentors, as well as with student peers. Loss of school privileges could include your student's inability to participate in sports or clubs that provide motivation and social development for your student.
Defending Massachusetts High School Academic Misconduct Charges
Don't let your student's high school experience succumb to academic misconduct charges. Get our help. We may be able to invoke the school's protective hearing and appeal procedures to show school officials or independent decision-makers that your student did not cheat in the manner the school alleges. Whether your student committed the cheating as charged or not, our attorneys also have the skill and experience to recognize, propose, advocate, and negotiate alternative remedial relief to avoid a disciplinary mark on your student's record. The school has obligations to maintain the integrity of its academic program. But its first obligation is to educate your student. Harsh punishments can do more harm than good, when remedial education and training, or constructive school and community service, may preserve your student's motivation and clean record. If your efforts within the high school have already failed, let us help appeal to district or state officials, or work through the district's oversight officials for alternative special relief.
Massachusetts High School Behavioral Misconduct
Massachusetts high school teachers, principals, and other disciplinary officials may show greater concern for behavioral misconduct, and punish behavioral misconduct much more harshly, than academic misconduct. Harsh punishment may especially result when the behavioral misconduct endangers students or staff, undermines student morals, damages or destroys school property, or disrupts school operations. Massachusetts high school conduct codes generally prohibit a long list of potentially harmful, endangering, destructive, or disruptive behaviors. The Boston Public Schools Code of Conduct, for instance, prohibits assaults, hazing, bullying, weapons possession, criminal misconduct, theft, vandalism, computer misuse, and a host of other wrongs. The Cambridge Rindge & Latin School Handbook adds smoking, spitting, walkouts, and other wrongs to the list. Expect to see these groups of misbehaviors prohibited in your student's high school code of conduct:
- behaviors directed toward injuring, disturbing, embarrassing, intimidating, or otherwise offending and abusing other students, including physical assaults, threats, hazing, bullying, and gang activity;
- behaviors involving discriminatory conduct based on other students' protected characteristics like sex, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or disability, including harassment, demeaning, and offensive slurs and jokes;
- behaviors involving bringing endangering or unhealthy and degrading items onto school property, like pornography, drugs, alcohol, firearms, knives, or other weapons, tobacco or vaping materials, explosives, or prohibited electronic devices;
- behaviors stealing, damaging, or destroying school property or equipment or the personal property of staff, students, or other members of the school community, including computers, cellphones, vehicles, purses, backpacks, clothing, eyewear, and other things of value;
- behaviors involving trespass into unauthorized areas, unauthorized access of electronic files, computer misuse, invasions of privacy, and misuse of electronic messages, including cyberbullying and sexting; and
- behaviors that disrupt the educational environment, such as disrespect of and insubordination toward teachers, aides, principals, or other school staff, disobeying safety and security instructions, chronic tardiness and absenteeism, and truancy.
Massachusetts High School Behavioral Misconduct Charge Impacts
As you might expect, Massachusetts high school behavioral misconduct charges may have a greater impact than academic misconduct charges, depending on the severity, frequency, and reprehensibility of your student's alleged misconduct. Because certain behavioral misconduct can injure or otherwise harm students and staff, damage or destroy school property, and disrupt school operations, disciplinary officials may jump to conclusions and impose immediate school suspension, while anticipating further school expulsion and disciplinary placement. Even if your student avoids the worst forms of discipline, behavioral misconduct findings on your student's school record can scare off advisors, mentors, peers, and others on whom your student depends for a supportive network. Your student could also lose college or university admissions, vocational training, and other opportunities critical to your student's long-term development. The adverse impact on your student can also include psychological trauma and injury, especially when the discipline is unduly harsh, unnecessary, unhelpful, and retaliatory rather than remedial, embarrassing, or otherwise inappropriate.
Defending Massachusetts High School Behavioral Misconduct Charges
Fortunately, the Massachusetts high school student code of conduct under which the principal or other disciplinary official brings behavioral misconduct charges will likely have protective procedures that our attorneys can invoke to discourage the school from overreacting and imposing unduly harsh and damaging discipline. When we appear on your student's behalf, school officials should sit up and take notice. Our appearance generally opens prompt opportunities to meet and communicate with school disciplinary officials, toward an early voluntary resolution. Often, those resolutions avoid disciplinary findings, especially when we can show the school that constructive measures such as mentoring, remedial training, or school service will accomplish the school's corrective goals while benefitting rather than harming your student. If school officials do not relent, then we may be able to invoke district or state forums, or negotiate alternative special relief with the district's general counsel or other oversight official, to avoid harmful discipline.
Massachusetts High School Sexual Misconduct
Of all the disciplinary allegations a Massachusetts high school student can face, sexual misconduct charges can be the worst. For some school officials, sexual misconduct allegations can carry an implication of deeper character wrongs endangering other students, not just an immature student's need to learn appropriate social behaviors. If your student faces sexual misconduct allegations, take those allegations most seriously. To maintain their substantial federal education funding, Massachusetts schools must comply with Title IX regulations. Student conduct codes, like the Cambridge Rindge & Latin School Handbook and Public Schools of Brookline Student Code of Conduct, routinely incorporate and expand Title IX sexual misconduct prohibitions. The Cambridge Rindge & Latin School, for instance, prohibits not only unwanted sexual touching but also “leering, whistling, brushing against the body, sexual gestures, suggestive or insulting comments,” and a long list of other sexual talk and disclosures.
Massachusetts High School Sexual Misconduct Impacts
Sexual misconduct findings against your Massachusetts high school student can have far-reaching impacts. The school discipline itself may involve immediate suspension, no-contact orders that prevent your student from communicating with others, and expulsion and disciplinary placement. However, the collateral effects may be just as impactful, preventing your student's college or university admission, barring your student from vocational programs, and leading to a loss of mentors, supportive peer relationships, and other critical or helpful social networks. Your student could end up isolated, demotivated, and depressed, having withdrawn from further development.
Defending Massachusetts High School Sexual Misconduct Charges
If your Massachusetts high school student faces sexual misconduct charges, retain our highly qualified attorneys for your student's best possible outcome. We can promptly invoke the district's protective procedures to learn the details of the allegations, obtain and evaluate any evidence of sexual misconduct, and help you and your student identify, acquire, organize, and present exonerating and mitigating evidence. We can lead you and your student through formal hearings and appeals, and even court proceedings if necessary, to get the best result, with the goal of avoiding discipline that affects your student's long-term development and welfare. Let us help, too, if you have already lost all hearings and appeals. We may be able to negotiate alternative special relief through oversight channels.
Massachusetts High School Academic Progression
Academic progression is a separate issue that many Massachusetts high school students face. Massachusetts school districts have the responsibility and authority to set academic benchmarks that high school students must meet before advancing in grade level and to graduation. Failing to meet those benchmarks may mean holding your student back or even suspending or expelling your student into disciplinary placement, if school officials judge your student to be recalcitrant or truant. The Boston Public Schools Code of Conduct, for instance, adopts the Massachusetts Tiered System of Support (MTSS) that closely monitors student academic progress through rigorous standards. Unfortunately, Massachusetts high schools may, at times, use these academic progress regimes not just to help students with educational support and services but instead to relegate students out of the school to preserve the school's high rank and reputation. Retain us to intervene on your student's behalf if you feel that your student's high school officials are trying to rid themselves of what they perceive to be an academic progress problem rather than serve your student appropriately.
Causes of Massachusetts High School Academic Progression Issues
Academic progress issues can have complex causes. Your student's high school teachers and disciplinary officials may want to label your student as lazy, rebellious, and generally non-compliant, when to the contrary, your student may have undiagnosed educational disabilities, face social issues like bullying and hazing, or simply have a developmental delay in academic skill. Even issues that can look like misbehaviors, such as chronic tardiness or absences, can relate to bullying, illnesses, anxiety disorders, and other conditions partly or largely beyond your student's control. The high school may also not be providing your student with the required accommodations. Teachers may not be effective in their methods, particularly as they relate to your student's individual needs. Don't let school officials unduly blame your student for academic failures, low grades, or other academic issues when the causes are more subtle and complex.
Addressing Massachusetts High School Academic Progress Issues
Let us help you keep your student in the regular classroom, with grade peers, on track toward timely graduation. We may be able to invoke disability rights, accommodations, hearings, and appeals to ensure that the school properly serves your student rather than disciplining your student related to academic progress issues.
Massachusetts High School Disciplinary Sanctions
Don't doubt the broad authority of your student's high school officials to kick your student out of school and take other disciplinary action. Massachusetts education laws, carried out at Massachusetts Board of Education regulations 603 CMR 53.00 et seq., authorize the state's high schools to discipline students right up to immediate removal, suspension, expulsion, and alternative disciplinary placement. Massachusetts high school conduct codes detail that authority, listing the many different forms of sanctions available. The Public Schools of Brookline Student Code of Conduct, for example, offers a five-level matrix of interventions, from conferences, reminders, and redirections, to daily report cards, loss of privileges, parent conferences, referrals for evaluation, after-school detention, school and community service, Saturday detention, restitution, in-school and out-of-school suspensions, and expulsion to disciplinary placement, what parents know as reform school or boot camp.
Massachusetts High School Disciplinary Sanction Issues
Like many parents, you may have a generally positive view of discipline. What harm can a little discipline bring? However, high school discipline can be a very sensitive issue, especially when officials impose discipline on false charges or in a retaliatory, punitive rather than remedial, harsh, unfair, and demeaning fashion. In those cases, your student may grow bitter, angry, and resentful, or suffer trauma and a lack of confidence and trust, ruining your student's high school education and leading to longer-term harm. Massachusetts high school officials are generally thoughtful and competent. But that is not always the case. They can have biases, personality conflicts, poor judgment, bad training, and even bad character, all adversely affecting your student's discipline, education, and record. If your student faces disciplinary charges, let us help you ensure that the process is fair and results in the best outcome. If your student has already suffered harmful discipline, let us help you appeal that wrong or seek alternative special relief through state agencies, the courts, or other oversight channels.
Massachusetts High School Discipline Limitations
As broad as the above authority is for student discipline, your student's Massachusetts high school disciplinary officials can't do whatever they want to your student. Massachusetts laws, rules, and regulations place various limits on discipline. For example, Massachusetts Board of Education regulation 603 CMR 53.13 requires that high school disciplinarians ensure in any discipline they impose that your student has the fair opportunity to continue with academic progress. The principal or other school disciplinary officials should not be keeping your student from receiving, completing, and handing in assignments, taking and getting credit for exams, and otherwise completing courses to advance on schedule toward graduation. Your student's high school code of conduct, like the Boston Public Schools Code of Conduct, should also make clear that no school officials should be imposing any corporal punishment, like paddling or any physical restraint, other than for emergency safety reasons. We can help you and your student enforce these and other limitations, to your student's best remedial advantage.
Massachusetts High School Student Defense Rights
Our strategic and effective defense of your student in Massachusetts high school disciplinary proceedings is largely possible because of your student's constitutional and statutory due process rights. Your student's school officials should not be depriving your student of a free public education without first giving you and your student fair notice of the disciplinary charges and then offering your student a fair hearing before an impartial decision maker. Massachusetts General Law Ch. 71 Section 37H expressly guarantees your student due process of law in disciplinary matters threatening your student's school removal. Student conduct codes throughout the state, like the Public Schools of Brookline Student Code of Conduct, routinely recognize, incorporate, and detail those due process rights. We can identify and invoke the statutory authority, district policies, and school procedures to protect your student against false, exaggerated, and unfair disciplinary charges, as well as unnecessary, harsh, and damaging disciplinary sanctions.
Massachusetts High School Student Defense Services
The above constitutional and statutory due process rights, though, are not self-executing. You must generally stand on those rights, expressly invoking them to protect your student. If you and your student instead fail to answer charges, request or demand hearings and appeals, and otherwise advocate strategically and effectively, the school may ignore those procedural protections and enter default sanctions against your student. Let us help you pursue those protective rights for your student's best outcome. We can arrange conciliation conferences, propose and negotiate for non-disciplinary relief, demand hearings as necessary, cross-examine witnesses while presenting your student's own evidence, take appeals, seek court review, and seek alternative special relief through oversight channels if you have already lost all hearings.
Premier Massachusetts High School Student Defense
The Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team is available in Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Cambridge, Lowell, Brockton, Quincy, Lynn, New Bedford, Fall River, Newton, Lawrence, Somerville, Framingham, Haverhill, Malden, Waltham, Brookline, and other Massachusetts cities, towns, and villages for your student's strategic and effective defense. Hundreds of students nationwide trusted our attorneys for successful outcomes. Call 888.535.3686 or use our contact form now to tell us about your Massachusetts high school student's case.
