Disciplinary Placement FAQ - Missouri

Few things are more stressful, as the parent of a Missouri high schooler, than suddenly being told your student is facing expulsion.

After all, you've spent years making sure your child is set up for success — and expulsion feels very permanent. (That's because it is: Few students who get expelled are able to achieve re-entry to their previous schools, and having an expulsion on record can make realizing future educational opportunities more difficult, too.)

It's easy to think that only the most serious of actions can result in a high school expulsion and that high school administrations will think long and hard before recommending this type of life-changing discipline. However, that's not always the case. High schoolers are under a lot of pressure and can make questionable decisions, but their misconduct (alleged or otherwise) rarely rises to levels where expulsion is the only choice.

If your school does expel your child, what then?

Missouri's alternative education program exists to ensure students who are experiencing behavioral or academic challenges in their previous school can still access education. However, attending these programs may not be in your child's best interest. Addressing your school's recommendation for Missouri disciplinary placement at once is your best option to help your student experience the best possible outcome of this stressful situation. Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm can help you negotiate with your school, file an appeal, keep your school accountable to its own processes, and more.

Here, we'll provide answers to all the questions you may have about student expulsion and disciplinary placement and procedures in Missouri.

What Student Actions Merit Expulsion in Missouri?

While referring to your school's specific code of conduct is the best way to learn about this category of punishable behavior, there are certain actions that may universally trigger a serious administrative response.

These actions include:

• Drug and alcohol use on campus (especially if it occurs frequently)
• Vandalism
• Theft
• Assaulting or endangering a student or teacher
• Possessing weapons or explosives on campus
• Falsifying student information
• Bullying or cyberbullying another student
• Selling drugs
• Sexual misconduct

In many cases, schools will recommend a suspension as a first-line consequence. This is serious in itself and merits calling Attorney-Advisor Lento, but it's not as final as a disciplinary hearing or outright expulsion.

If your school does recommend expulsion, there are several different routes your student's specific disciplinary procedures could take.

What Types of Serious Discipline Do Missouri Schools Use?

After expelling your child, your MO high school will recommend one of several different types of more severe discipline. The sanction specifically chosen in your child's case will depend on the severity of their supposed actions, as well as the discipline structure your school follows.

There is a trend in high schools, for example, to pursue restorative justice before recommending exclusionary discipline if at all possible. If applicable, this might mean your school requires your student to pursue therapy or community service before enjoying good standing with their school once again.

For schools that take a harsher stance on discipline, or if your student is allegedly responsible for punishable behavior that demands something beyond restorative justice, the following sanctions are common options:

1. Alternative education programs. Your school will expel your student, permanently or for a set period of time, and refer your student to a specific education program designated for students who are experiencing behavioral challenges. ‘
2. Mandatory intervention services. Your student might receive a referral to counseling or other types of educational or formative services to help address any supposed behaviors that led to the alleged problematic behavior. Frequent examples include anger management classes, mental health services, and substance abuse counseling. While this might seem like a nice gesture, being associated with these resources unfairly may not be in your student's best interest.
3. Specific conditions for re-enrollment. Your school may provide your student with a list of stipulations or requirements they must meet before they can rejoin their original academic community. While some of these criteria may sound logical — such as demonstrating improved behavior or taking advantage of school counseling services — there are some situations where schools place conditions upon your child (such as behavioral contracts) that can harm them long-term.
4. Recommended transfer to another school district. If your original school is not interested in welcoming your student back into its community, you may receive a referral to another school district. However, this route can be rife with roadblocks, such as the need to establish alternative residency.
5. High School Equivalency or GED programs. Failing all else, your school may recommend that your student pursue their GED, or a high school equivalency degree. Preparing for and taking the GED exam may be something your student can accomplish online, but it can make your student's academic future and the road to a great college challenging.

Ultimately, remember this: Immediately after your school recommends expulsion, it's easy to be scared and desperate. In that frame of mind, you may not make the best decisions for your child. (You probably won't be offered great options!)

Instead of trying to make the best of your school's recommendations, retain the services of Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm. With his years of experience assisting students facing expulsion, Attorney-Advisor Lento can help you determine the best steps forward for your child.

How Long Will My Child's Disciplinary Placement or Expulsion Last?

In Missouri, the maximum allowed expulsion for a high school student is usually one calendar year. Your school district or individual school may have slightly different policies or ways to allow for a shorter or longer expulsion (e.g. if the supposed infraction endangered other students).

And, importantly, just because your student's expulsion ends doesn't mean they automatically get to re-enroll in their previous school. Your child's previous school may have different barriers to re-entry setup, forcing your student to consider alternative education for a much longer period of time.

The key thing to remember is this: It's important to avoid allowing your student to leave their school in the first place. If your student experienced an emergency school removal and you're working after the fact, or if it seems that expulsion is going to happen no matter what you do, breathe. Take a moment to clear your head. And then call Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento so he and the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm can step in to enact swift action.

Attorney-Advisor Lento may, for example, be able to negotiate with your school to at least give you more time to work before your student is officially expelled.

Will My Student Have an Expulsion Hearing at Their MO High School?

Your school should have some version of due process, which usually involves a hearing. Your student has a right to that due process. If your school does not appear to be following its own documented version of due process — which should be freely accessible in your school's code of conduct — write down everything that's happening. Attorney-Advisor Lento may be able to demonstrate that your school is not following due process, which may help your case.

Your student's expulsion hearing, if it occurs, is a key opportunity for you to hear exactly which rules your school believes your child has broken. You should also have an opportunity to tell your school what happened, provide context, and negotiate with your school to reduce the sanctions recommended for your child. You may be able to bring your attorney-advisor with you into the hearing, but if not, the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm can prep you with exactly the things you need to say during your hearing.

Are There Circumstances Where My MO High School Can't Expel My Child?

Although schools do have a certain amount of freedom to expel students, there are protected cases where recommending severe or exclusionary discipline to a student is not encouraged. For example:

• Schools that follow progressive or restorative models of discipline generally won't recommend an expulsion as a first-level sanction unless a student endangers their academic community (or is associated with similarly severe or intolerable actions).
• If a student has special needs, they may have a protected right to education under federal law.
• If you can demonstrate that the alternative forms of education available to you are not sufficient for your child's needs, your school may not be able to recommend an expulsion immediately.
• If your school has not followed due process and has expelled your child anyway, that could spell problems for your school.
• If you can demonstrate clear rationale or context illuminating why your child was associated with punishable actions, it may also be difficult for your school to expel your child. (For example, if your student posed harm to a fellow student as a clear act of self-defense, you may have a case for negotiating a reduced sanction or eliminating the need for a sanction entirely.)

Ideally, a school wouldn't recommend severe sanctions unless your student's responsibility for the alleged actions is crystal-clear, but your school may not have the time or resources to demonstrate responsibility.

Attorney-Advisor Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team has helped hundreds of students across the nation reduce their sanctions and protect their academic futures. He can do the same for you and your family!

How Can I Appeal My MO High School Student's Disciplinary Placement?

If your school has determined that your student needs to be moved to one of Missouri's alternative learning programs, that isn't the end of the road. You can (and should) appeal. Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento can help you ensure your appeal is as strategic as possible.

Your appeal may not work, but it's a good step to take anyway. Filing an official appeal with your school shows your school that you mean business. It can also lay a helpful foundation for any further lawsuits or legal actions you take.

Appealing your MO student's alternative education placement will involve these actions:

1. Talk to your school. Get a copy of your student's disciplinary records.
2. Review those records. See if you can find any discrepancies or anything at all that doesn't make sense to you.
3. Discuss your student's case and records with Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento. Joseph D. Lento and the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm have years of experience with these types of cases and will be able to see errors or loopholes more easily than you can.
4. Write and file your student's appeal. This will require specific knowledge of your school's code of conduct. Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento's comprehensive experience will be vital here, as well.
5. Follow up with your school. Depending on your school's procedures, you may need to attend a hearing or a meeting to discuss the appeal.
6. Wait for your school's decision. (If you're working with the Lento Law Firm Team, you can use this waiting time to prepare for any further actions you need to take.)
7. Negotiate with your school to pursue a lesser sanction or a more amenable disciplinary alternative.

If the appeal process does not work for you, you may need to consider a lawsuit or filing an appeal with Missouri's Board of Education. Attorney-Advisor Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team can help with these further actions.

What Challenges Are Associated With Alternative Education Programs in Missouri?

If your student has been sent to an alternative education program for a specific period of time, you could be tempted to write the experience off.

However, it does seem that there are many reasons to believe that Missouri's alternative education programs could have long-term downsides for your student.

Common problems with MO alternative education high schools include:

• A lack of funding (and subsequent lack of adequate educational resources for your child)
• High turnover rates for qualified teachers and administration
• The stigmatization of students who are required to attend alternative education programs

This isn't a comprehensive list of the potential challenges or pitfalls your student may experience in association with their alternative education placement. For example, they will likely experience significant social, mental, and emotional health challenges when they are suddenly taken from their familiar school environment and placed in one of MO's alternative education programs.

If My MO Student Has Already Experienced Disciplinary Placement, Can It Happen Again?

Yes. Disciplinary placements can happen more than once to Missouri students if the school determines that they're behind academically or if the student exhibits supposedly-concerning behavior.

In fact, the unfortunate truth is — it's likely that your student will not experience just one disciplinary placement. The recurrence rate of disciplinary placements for students is quite high!

This makes avoiding that first disciplinary placement a must for your student's success. Talk to Attorney Joseph D. Lento for more information the moment you realize your child is at risk of expulsion.

My Missouri Student Has Just Been Expelled. What Now?

If your child has just been expelled from their Missouri high school (or if you believe expulsion is in their imminent future), you need to act quickly. Here's a list of your next steps once you know expulsion is on the table.

• Call Attorney Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team at once. They'll begin working on your case as soon as you provide all of the relevant information.
• Talk to your child. Ask them what happened, and write down what they say. Also, ask them if anything uncomfortable has been happening at school recently or if they've felt supported in their academic goals.
• Document all of the correspondence your school has sent you relating to your child's expulsion. Take pictures of your student's recent homework examples, too.
• Start a file for all future correspondence, and open a document (or get a notebook) to keep detailed notes of all phone calls between you and your school. Date these notes.
• Find a copy of your school's code of conduct. (It should be freely available on your school's website.) Send it to Attorney Joseph D. Lento. He can help you decipher your school's regulations, pinpoint the exact rules your student supposedly broke, and hold your school to its own guidelines surrounding your student's rights throughout the rest of your school's disciplinary process.

If My Child Receives a Disciplinary Placement in MO, Will It Impact Their Academic Future?

Yes, it is likely that your child will experience lasting effects after their disciplinary placement.

Consider how traumatizing it is for your child to be plucked from their comfortable (or at least familiar) school environment, taken away from their peers, and asked to assimilate instantly into another academic community! The suddenness and completeness of this change would be enough to affect your student's mental, physical, and emotional health — but the risks don't end there.

For one, alternative education schools don't always have enough resources to educate students properly. The focus is often more on discipline. Your student's quality of education may suffer when suddenly placed in an alternative education institution.

For another, returning to your student's previous school will be very difficult. (Schools often downplay this critical detail.) And, even if your student is able to regain admission to their previous school, your school will likely recommend disciplinary placements again in the future if your student causes any trouble, or perceived trouble, at all.

Your child's first MO disciplinary placement can have a domino effect across their immediate and long-term future. Don't allow that to happen — instead, retain the services of Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team at once.

In Missouri, Can Expelled Students Still Go to College?

While expelled students certainly can still go to college in Missouri, having a disciplinary placement or expulsion on their permanent record can make their route to higher education much more difficult than it needs to be.

Think about what may happen when your student applies to college. The admissions committee at that college will find out about your student's disciplinary past. They will want to know the details, including the allegations (however true those allegations may be) that led to dismissal and disciplinary placement.

For many colleges, that constitutes enough reason to reject applications. You need to take action now to make sure that your student's disciplinary placement doesn't affect their chances of attending their ideal college.

Can an Education Defense Attorney-Advisor Help My Student?

Yes! Retaining the services of Education Defense Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team is one of the most significant ways you can help your student realize a successful outcome.

Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team have years of experience helping students across the nation handle their disciplinary placement recommendations. The Lento Law Firm Team can help you sift through your school's accusations, attend expulsion hearings, track evidence, negotiate reduced sanctions with your school, and more.

Dealing With a Missouri High School Disciplinary Placement?

Disciplinary placements are scary. If your student has received notice that they will need to pursue alternative education, that will clearly make a huge difference in their life now — and later. Unfortunately, alternative education programs don't always provide the support and resources your child needs to succeed. And in many cases, students who are flagged for MO disciplinary placement are flagged because of a misunderstanding by their school's administration.

You can't let that happen. After your student learns they may be up for disciplinary placement, you need to negotiate with your school to protect your student's future. The Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm can help you realize the best possible outcome.

For years, Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm have helped families advocate for their students across the nation. The Lento Law Firm Team is innately familiar with the challenges you're facing and the best way to work with your school to find alternative solutions. Contact the Lento Law Firm Team today by calling 888.535.3686 or reaching out online to set up your initial consultation.