Watching our children learn and grow as individuals can simultaneously be the most rewarding and frustrating parts of our lives as parents. We celebrate their successes, but we also agonize when they make mistakes. And just as we may have made mistakes growing up, so do our kids from time to time as well. Most of these mistakes are little ones that don't matter in the long run – they ‘forget' to clean their room, or they claim that the dog ate their homework – but sometimes they are more serious, like the kinds of mistakes at school that can permanently derail their education and their future.
Kids don't necessarily think through the consequences of some of their actions or how their misbehavior at school can result in disciplinary proceedings that can leave permanent marks on their records or, worse, get them expelled. And schools are increasingly serious about cracking down on academic and behavioral misconduct. Whether at the college and university level or at the grade and high school level, all schools have conduct policies and procedures in place that can sometimes be applied in confusing and potentially unfair ways, even by well-meaning but often-overworked school administrators.
If your student becomes the focus of a disciplinary investigation or misconduct proceeding, it can feel scary and overwhelming. The reports, the hearings, the potential consequences, and watching your student become the focus of so much negative attention; all of this can leave you not knowing where to turn or what to do.
Fortunately, education lawyer and student defense advisor Joseph D. Lento can help. He and the Lento Law Firm Team regularly advise students and their families who are going through exactly what you are going through. Joseph D. Lento understands how the investigation and disciplinary process works at the collegiate and high school level and can help you craft an effective defense to issues ranging from academic progression or misconduct to allegations that your student has violated school behavior policies. Making Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team part of your team can make all the difference in the outcome of these kinds of proceedings.
The Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point Area
In the north-central part of North Carolina lies an area of rolling hills, beautiful scenery, and the thriving and sophisticated cities of Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and High Point. Together with their surrounding suburbs and towns, they form an area known as the “Piedmont Triad,” with more than 1.6 million people living in the ten-county area.
There are more than a dozen well-known colleges, universities, and technical schools that call this area home. In addition to the many public high schools in the area, there are a large number of private schools, many of which are operated by religious organizations. A substantial number of religious schools provide K through 12th-grade education for their students. There are also several boarding schools in this area.
Education lawyer Joseph D. Lento regularly advises families and students involved in academic and disciplinary proceedings at the high school and college levels all over the country. If your student is the target of an academic or disciplinary investigation at their school, you owe it to their future to contact Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team today to learn how they can help. Having the advice of a seasoned student defense attorney can make all the difference in the outcome of these kinds of proceedings and in your student's educational future.
Student Concerns in the “Piedmont Triad”
While many of us may look back on our high school and college years with a bit of nostalgia for what we feel was an easier time in our lives, students today face challenges many of us never dreamed of. Pervasive social media can spread malicious gossip almost instantly; rules and regulations designed to combat school violence can sometimes trap unwary students engaged in what many of us might consider to be routine misbehavior; and admission policies at competitive colleges and universities make the competition at the high school level much more intense than it was just a few years ago.
These pressures can lead to a variety of problems for our students, ranging from academic underperformance to general misbehavior to accusations of criminal activity. Any of these can change the course of a student's academic career for the worse. When situations like this arise, you need the advice of a seasoned education lawyer who can advise you on how best to address the situation and how to protect your student from an outcome that you will all regret. Joseph D. Lento has both the experience and the understanding to help you manage these kinds of issues for you and your student and to help you both navigate what can be a very confusing and sometimes unfair process.
Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point Area Schools
Experienced education attorney Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team regularly advise students and their families involved in academic and disciplinary investigations and hearings all over the country. Whether the issues relate to a “Title IX” investigation at the college level, a serious misconduct claim at the high school level, or an academic integrity question raised at any kind of school, Joseph D. Lento understands how these proceedings work and can help you respond to school allegations in a way that balances a respect for the school's interests with the need to protect your student's reputation and future.
Education attorney Joseph D. Lento can advise you and your student in school academic and disciplinary proceedings brought by schools at the high school and college level throughout the Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and High Point area, including – among others – at the following area colleges and universities:
- Wake Forest University
- North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
- UNC-Greensboro
- Salem College
- High Point University
- Winston-Salem State University
- University of North Carolina School for the Arts
- Greensboro College
- Carolina University
- Bennett College
Education attorney Joseph D. Lento also regularly advises students enrolled in other types of schools of higher education, such as technical colleges and trade schools. In the Piedmont Triad area, these include:
- Guilford Technical Community College
- Forsyth Technical Community College
- ECPI University
Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team can help families, and their students resolve academic and behavioral discipline issues raised at the high school level, including at the following high schools in the Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point area:
- Atkins Academic and Tech High School
- Ronald W. Reagan High School
- West Forsyth High School
- RJ Reynolds High School
- Early College of Forsyth County
- Mount Tabor High School
- East Forsyth High School
- JF Kennedy High School
- Carver High School
- Middle College of Forsyth County
- North Forsyth High School
- Parkland High School
- Robert B. Glenn High School
- Walkertown High School
- Andrews High School
- Grimsley High School
- Northwest Guilford High School
- Smith High School
- The Academy at Smith
- The Middle College at GTCC-High Point
- The STEM Early College at NC A&T
- Dudley High School
- High Point Central High School
- Page High School
- Southeast Guilford High School
- The Early College at Guilford
- The Middle College at GTCC-Jamestown
- Weaver Academy
- Eastern Guilford High School
- Northeast Guilford High School
- Penn-Griffin School for the Arts
- Southern Guilford High School
- The Kearns Academy
- The Middle College at NC A&T
- Western Guilford High School
- Greensboro College Middle College
- Northern Guilford High School
- Ragsdale High School
- Southwest Guilford High School
- The Middle College at GTCC-Greensboro
- The Middle College at UNCG
- Eastern Alamance High School
- Walter M. Williams High School
- Western Alamance High School
- ABSS Early College at ACC
- Southern Alamance High School
- Graham High School
- Hugh M Cummings High School
There are many non-public high schools in the Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and High Point regions. A number of these are operated by religious organizations as part of a comprehensive K through 12 education program. Education attorney Joseph D. Lento is available to help families whose students may be involved in academic or behavioral proceedings in these types of schools as well. Some of these area schools are listed below:
- Salem Academy
- Forsyth Country Day School
- Westchester Country Day School
- Calvary Day School
- Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School
- New Garden Friends School
- Wesleyan Christian Academy
- High Point Christian Academy
- Tri-City Christian Academy
- Salem Baptist Christian School
- Sheets Memorial Christian School
- Hayworth Christian School
- Triad Baptist Christian Academy
- Gospel Light Christian School
- Union Grove Christian School
- Brittain Academy
- Mount Calvary Christian School
- Calvary Christian School
- Woodland Baptist Christian School
- Greensboro Day School
- Caldwell Academy
- Bradford Academy
- New Garden Friends School
- The Burlington School
- Alamance Christian School
- Burlington Christian Academy
- North Hills Christian School
- Vandalia Christian School
- Triad Baptist Christian Academy
There are also several boarding schools in the region. Boarding schools can often have unique student discipline issues and concerns that are not present in the non-boarding school situation. Education attorney Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team have experience advising student and family clients on these special kinds of school discipline issues. Boarding schools in the Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and High Point areas include:
- Salem Academy
- Oak Ridge Military Academy
- Winston Salem Christian School
Disciplinary Defense in the Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and High Point Area
There are many reasons that schools use when they discipline students. Poor academic performance can trigger school interventions that can result in academic probation and a restriction on the student's ability to participate in a range of enriching extracurricular activities or, in the worst case, mean that the student is expelled from the school. Student behavior, both on- and off-campus, can place the student directly in the crosshairs of the school's disciplinary procedures, which can range from verbal warnings to permanent notes in the student's record, to suspension, to expulsion. Words – both spoken and written – as well as actions can result in allegations against a student of harassment, hate speech, and other Title IX violations.
No matter what type of academic or disciplinary challenge your student may be facing, education attorney Joseph D. Lento has the experience to advise you and help with the situation. Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team have advised families all over the US whose students were being investigated or disciplined by their schools. The sooner you reach out to Joseph D. Lento to discuss your student's case with him and the Lento Law Firm Team, the sooner you can have some peace of mind that your student's situation is being defended in a knowledgeable and responsible manner by someone who has years of experience in this area.
Academic Progression Issues
Every school has policies and procedures in place to handle situations where a student is not meeting the school's educational requirements. Whether this is at a global level – a low GPA in general – or the student is failing a particular class, there is some kind of policy and procedure in place for becoming involved in these situations and addressing the problem.
Both at the high school and college levels, it can be very frustrating to try to understand what the student's and parents' rights are in these kinds of situations. School conduct codes and policy and procedure manuals are often written in language that is, in some places, very vague and, in other places, very detailed, and can leave you with more questions than answers. The policies and procedures used at the high school level, for example, are often written for the entire K through 12 student population and treat issues at the kindergarten level very differently than they treat issues at the high school level.
Colleges and universities also have their own academic policies and procedures to help them identify when a student is not meeting school requirements and what to do about the situation when that happens. Wake Forest, for example, reserves the right to place a student with a low GPA on academic probation. In that case, the student has one semester to raise their GPA above the minimum acceptable level. Students who fail to earn at least six credits in a semester may be suspended.
But Wake Forest – as do many other schools – understands that a student's academic results during a given semester may be the product of things beyond the student's control, such as serious injury or illness or a death in the family. Students whose school performance has been adversely impacted by things out of their control can petition the school for an exception to Wake Forest's normal eligibility requirements. This is where the advice and assistance of education attorney Joseph D. Lento can be enormously valuable; he knows how a well-crafted petition in these kinds of situations can make all the difference between success and failure, and he can help make sure you and your student make the best case possible for your requested exemption.
Academic Misconduct Issues
An academic misconduct finding can haunt a student for years, making it difficult for a high school student to get into college or a college student to secure a job or pursue an advanced degree. And academic misconduct is not always clear; with the wealth of resources available online, for example, it can be easy for a student to use words or phrasing in a paper that have also been used in other published works. Schools often use automated tools to detect plagiarism, but if used incorrectly or indiscriminately, these tools will often flag content for plagiarism where none actually exists.
North Carolina A&T's Student Code of Conduct includes plagiarism in its definition of academic dishonesty, along with cheating and helping another student cheat. Plagiarism is defined to include not only the unauthorized “use of another's words” but “ideas” as well. The instructor of the course is given wide discretion in terms of how to handle the situation, ranging from loss of credit for the assignment or exam to flunking the student. An academic dishonesty violation that is reported to the school will remain on the student's record for eight years. There is, as with most schools, an appeals process; however, appeals are time-sensitive and must be submitted by the student (not an attorney or parent) within seven days of the date of the academic dishonesty penalty.
Joseph D. Lento has worked side-by-side with parents and students to help them craft effective and timely appeals to academic dishonesty penalties. His experience as a nationwide education lawyer and advisor on behalf of students and their families can benefit you if your student has been accused and penalized for academic misconduct. But as you can see, in some cases, you must act very quickly to submit an appeal, or you may lose the right to do so. Don't hesitate – call Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team today to learn more about how Joseph D. Lento can help you with your situation.
Behavioral Misconduct Issues
Students misbehave all the time. We know that from personal experience (after all, most of us were students once!), and we also know that the vast majority of kids who misbehave don't do so all the time. They're good kids who make mistakes and deserve to be given opportunities to correct their behavior.
Sometimes, however, things get out of hand. Whether it's a bit of mischief that goes wrong or a school official who decides that it's your student who needs to be made the example for the rest of the school, being caught up in the disciplinary process of a high school or college can be a confusing and frustrating situation.
The Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools Code of Character, Conduct, and Support, for example, defines six separate student behavior “Levels of Consequences and Interventions,” with different potential “Consequences” and “Interventions” at each level. There are 34 different “Behavioral and Academic Interventions” possible, and a 10-page “Behavior Violations Matrix” with six separate potential levels of response for each of the almost 100 listed types of violations. Trying to navigate this on your own for the first or even second time can be a daunting and frustrating experience. Joseph D. Lento regularly wades into these types of policy regulations and can help you and your student understand exactly what is going on.
The same applies in the collegiate context. All colleges have disciplinary procedures in place for students whose behavior, both on and off campus, violates the school's code of conduct. At many schools, the reach of that code extends far beyond the campus boundaries, and a student who is arrested for vandalism in an off-campus neighborhood may find themselves answering to a school discipline charge in addition to having to deal with the underlying criminal charge.
Joseph D. Lento can help in these complicated situations. He and the Lento Law Firm Team have helped students all over the country deal with disciplinary investigations and proceedings that can seem intimidating and scary to parents and students alike. He knows how these work and will use his experience to your student's benefit.
Title IX Sexual Misconduct Issues
Most every college, as well as many high schools, accept funding support from the federal government and so must pay close attention to the set of sexual equality and anti-harassment laws popularly known as “Title IX.” These laws go far beyond requiring equality in the area of sports (which is what many of us think of when we hear “Title IX”). Very generally, they require schools to provide equal learning opportunities to students as well, and in particular that they have procedures in place for dealing with discriminatory behavior – whether that comes from faculty, staff, or students.
There are rigorous procedures in place in most colleges to handle, and process claims that a student has violated Title IX. Whether accused of making comments that have been interpreted as discriminatory, or of committing sexual assault on another student, or some other Title IX violation, if your student has been accused of a Title IX violation, they need the help of an experienced education lawyer to defend themselves against the charges.
Joseph D. Lento understands how Title IX investigations and disciplinary proceedings work. He has seen how school staff is not always up to the task of fairly managing the investigation and hearing process, and more importantly, he knows what your student's rights are in these kinds of situations. And one right is the right to have an advisor at your student's side during the important stages of the investigation and hearing process. Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team have advised students nationwide who find themselves the target of Title IX disciplinary proceedings and can help you and your student mount the best possible defense.
The Value of an Education Lawyer and Student Defense Advisor
Student discipline regulations and procedures are complicated and do not follow the same rules that apply in criminal cases. They vary from one school to another and can be intimidating and confusing if you have never dealt with them before. Joseph D. Lento is an education lawyer who deals with these kinds of situations on a regular basis all over the country. He understands how school officials think; he knows the value of a well-organized defense to school discipline charges; and he can help you and your student craft the best defense to the allegations against them and, more importantly, to achieve the best outcome for your student. Don't face the prospect of a mark on your student's permanent record alone! Contact education lawyer Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team today at 888.535.3686 or online today!
