South Carolina Middle and Elementary Education
South Carolina offers strong public and private middle and elementary school education for your child or children, whether in Charleston, North Charleston, Columbia, Mount Pleasant, Rock Hill, Greenville, or other urban, suburban, or rural locations. Don't underestimate the value of that early schooling. If your middle or elementary school student faces public or private school disciplinary charges, know that school officials may not hesitate to dismiss and expel your student or try to force your student into an alternative education placement, better known as boot camp or reform school. You have every right and every interest to protect your student's early education. Don't let school disciplinary officials label your student and send your student down the wrong path. Fight for your student's right to remain enrolled in your student's traditional South Carolina elementary or middle school program.
South Carolina Middle and Elementary School Authority
South Carolina's legislature grants middle and elementary school officials the power to charge your student with misconduct and to follow school procedures to suspend, dismiss, and expel your student. South Carolina Statute Section 59-5-65 authorizes the state's Board of Education to prescribe “minimum standards of conduct and behavior that must be met by all pupils as a condition to the right of pupils to attend” elementary or middle school. South Carolina Statute Section 59-63-220 authorizes the school district's board to appoint school officials to suspend students for violating the state board's code of student conduct. The state board adopted South Carolina State Code of Regulations Section 43-279, listing these and many other grounds on which your student's school may suspend, expel, or otherwise discipline your student:
- disorderly conduct, including tardiness, exam or assignment cheating, lying, interfering with instruction, abusive language toward other students, failing to obey directions, forging excuses, cutting classes, and truancy;
- disruptive conduct, including drinking alcohol, fighting, vandalism, stealing, threatening other students, staff, or teachers, trespass, abusive language toward staff, disobeying directions, blocking property or programs, and disrupting assemblies; and
- criminal conduct, including assault, battery, extortion, bomb threats, weapons possession, sexual misconduct, major vandalism, theft, arson, and drug offenses.
South Carolina Student Defense Team Available
You can see from the South Carolina State Board of Education's long list of offenses just how much authority the law grants disciplinary officials at your student's school. You can also see how common elementary and middle school issues are. Don't assume that you are the only parent to face such challenges or that you must face those challenges alone. To the contrary, our Student Defense Team is ready to help you and your student in the Greenville County School District, Charleston County School District, Spartanburg School District, or any other South Carolina district or locale.
South Carolina Student Defense Services
When you retain us to help your South Carolina middle or elementary school student avoid long-term suspension or expulsion, we have many things we may be able to do for you and your student to achieve the best possible outcome. We can first help you evaluate the school's disciplinary charges. We can help you identify exonerating evidence and mitigating circumstances so that you and your student can show the school that suspension or dismissal is unnecessary and inappropriate. We can also help you identify the school's student conduct code and procedures so that we can help you strategically and effectively invoke those procedures. We can also help you take these other steps, timely, firmly, and sensitively, to bring about the best possible resolution with the least delay:
- answer the disciplinary notice, indicating our appearance on your behalf so that school officials will communicate and negotiate with us as we act with your authority and on your behalf;
- reach out to the school district's general counsel to explore early voluntary alternative relief so that your student doesn't face a distracting and embarrassing disciplinary hearing and suffer dismissal;
- discover the school's evidence of any alleged wrongdoing, evaluate that evidence, and prepare cross-examination and other ways to undermine the credibility of false or exaggerated charges;
- attend formal hearings, prepare formal appeals, and challenge any adverse decisions through administrative review procedures, oversight channels, and, if necessary, civil court action, even if your student has already lost the initial proceedings and suffered dismissal.
South Carolina Student Defense for Behavioral Misconduct
South Carolina State Code of Regulations Section 43-279 lists many behavioral misconduct grounds for suspension or expulsion, things like drugs, alcohol, weapons, pornography, fighting, and other disruptive or endangering behavior. Yet middle and elementary school students are still developing their mental, emotional, and behavioral capacities. Middle and elementary school staff should be helping students learn to regulate their behavior and conform to norms and expectations, not just kicking them out when they have yet to learn. We may be able to help you show that your student did not commit the alleged offense and that the complaining witnesses mistook your student's identity or were lying to conceal their own wrongs or out of retaliation. Or we may be able to show that your student was influenced by others, exploring limits, acting out, or rebelling in ways that young students do when needing further coaching, guidance, mentoring, and instruction. We may also help you present mitigating circumstances in your student's mental, physical, social, emotional, and other life challenges.
South Carolina Student Defense for Academic Misconduct
South Carolina State Code of Regulations Section 43-279 also lists academic misconduct grounds such as disrespecting teachers, disrupting class, lying about schoolwork, cheating on exams and assignments, tardiness, skipping class, truancy, and presenting forged notes and excuses. As with behavioral allegations, we may be able to show school officials that the charges are false, that other students committed the alleged wrongs, that your student was not a participant, or that your student's offenses were developmental rather than indications of corrupt and dangerous character worthy of expulsion. We may be able to show that the school was not providing required disability services and accommodations, contributing to misconduct issues and that the school owes the required manifestation determination review.
South Carolina Student Defense for Academic Progress Issues
South Carolina State Code of Regulations Section 43-279 also authorizes discipline around academic progress issues, like persistent failure to complete assignments, do the required coursework, and meet benchmarks. Yet we may be able to show that your South Carolina middle or elementary school student was meeting benchmarks or, if not, needed the school's disability or other education services in order to adequately progress. Blaming your student for the school's failure is not within the laws for discipline. We may be able to help you show that your student wasn't progressing because of hazing, bullying, or other circumstances within the school's control and beyond your student's control.
Premier South Carolina Student Defense Team
Your best move is to retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team to help your South Carolina middle or elementary school student defend school misconduct or academic progress charges. Hundreds of students nationwide have trusted the Lento Law Firm Team to successfully address their school charges and issues. Call 888.535.3686 or chat with us now for skilled and experienced student defense in Charleston, North Charleston, Columbia, Mount Pleasant, Rock Hill, Greenville, or any other South Carolina location.
