Hawaii high school students face challenges just as much or more than high school students elsewhere. Don't let your Hawaii high school student's misconduct charges or academic progress challenges derail your student's education and future. The Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team is available to represent and defend your student in Urban Honolulu, East Honolulu, Hilo, Pearl City, Kailua CDP, Waipahu, Kaneohe, Mililani Town, Kahului, Ewa Gentry, or any other Hawaii location, to preserve your student's enrollment, education, and future. Call 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to retain effective attorney representation. You want the best possible outcome for your Hawaii high school student's defense.
Your Hawaii High School Student's Future
First, think of what your Hawaii high school student has at stake when facing school misconduct charges or academic progress issues. High school is a big transition period from childhood to adulthood. A solid high school education and experience are a platform for your student's future success. Whether your student expresses it or not, your student doubtless has ambitions in life. Those ambitions could involve marriage, family, job, career, leadership, and adventure. They could also involve income, security, achievement, community, and reputation. Your student's high school experience should be one of maximal opportunity and growth, not discouragement and frustration. Keep in mind that your student, although perhaps of adult size and capability, is still growing neurologically, physiologically, socially, and emotionally. That growth, which is hard to replace once interrupted, is what makes the high school years so important.
Getting kicked out of high school for poor grades or for behavioral misconduct, or getting held back a year, or being shunted off to remedial programs or an alternative disciplinary placement places all that development and all those healthy ambitions at risk. Your student needs a reliable structure with high expectations and a supportive peer, teacher, and administrator community. Beware the impact of high school expulsion, suspension, or alternative placement on everything your student hopes to achieve. Let us help you and your student defend and defeat Hawaii High School disciplinary or academic progress charges so that your student can continue to grow and achieve.
Hawaii High School Parent Commitments
As a parent, you continue to have an important role in your student's growth through the high school years, when you may have your last best chance to help set your student up for life success. You not only want your student to have the opportunity to succeed as your student surely desires. You also have expectations for your students. Your student depends on your expectations, too. You can see things for your student that your student may not see for himself or herself. Your student needs your help in a Hawaii high school disciplinary matter. Your student not only needs you to set high expectations but also to see your student's successful future. Your student also needs your adult evaluation, planning, and implementation skills. Your student likely doesn't know what to do when facing Hawaii high school disciplinary charges. You can help. And your best move is to retain our highly skilled and experienced attorneys to advocate effectively for your student. We know the options and best outcomes. Put us to work for your students. Get the professional attorney representation your student needs in these circumstances.
Hawaii High School Discipline Impacts
Short-Term Impacts of Hawaii High School Discipline
Your Hawaii high school student's misconduct charges or academic progress issues can have severe short-term impacts. Your student's school disciplinary officials may remove your student from the regular classroom for in-school or out-of-school suspension. Doing so eliminates all the peer support and much of the teacher support for your student's continued academic progress. Your student could quickly fall behind, or fall further behind, to the point of not being able to recover. Your student's school officials may also remove your student from athletics teams, club leadership or participation, recreational activities, and social events, once again depriving your student of critical social support. Your student could also lose the course grades, academic rank, and academic honors that are pushing your student to excel. These short-term impacts may accumulate to adversely affect your student's mental, emotional, and physical health.
Long-Term Impacts of Hawaii High School Discipline
As deleterious as the above short-term impacts may be, the long-term impacts may be even more serious. Your student could lose the opportunity to gain admission to preferred college, university, or vocational programs if your Hawaii high school student suffers a significant interruption in high school studies, reduced grades, failing grades, or loss of class rank and academic honors. Your student could also lose the references, recommendations, mentoring, and other support of teachers and school administrators, as well as the social, professional, and even financial support of family members and other friends. Perhaps most alarming to your student, is that your student may suffer social isolation from peers, leaving your student navigating life without a critical network of support. The adverse impacts of school discipline are well documented. Don't let your student become another unfortunate statistic. Instead, let us help.
Hawaii's High School Disciplinary Authority
Hawaii's state legislature has equipped high school teachers, principals, and district officials, with the authority to punish your student up to school expulsion and alternative disciplinary placement. Hawaii Code Section 302A-1134 expressly authorizes high school principals to exclude any student from the school whenever “a child becomes a detriment to the morals or discipline” of the school. The same section requires a one-year suspension of any student bringing a firearm into the school. Hawaii Code Section 302A-1134.6 likewise requires the school to remove students for dangerous weapons, alcohol or drug possession, or being under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Hawaii Code Section 302A-1135 even holds the parent responsible when the student fails to attend school with reasonable diligence. Similarly, Hawaii Code Section 302A-1133.5 holds the student accountable to the high school code of conduct and the parent accountable for the student's property damage. Don't doubt the authority of the officials who are accusing your student of misconduct, punish your student, and even implicate you in certain situations. Instead, let us help you and your student defend the charges.
The Hawaii Board of Education
While Hawaii's state legislature has enacted the laws regulating your Hawaii high school student's discipline, the Hawaii Board of Education has adopted its own Student Code of Conduct for your student to follow. Moreover, the Hawaii Board of Education has followed through with its own elaborate administrative rules carrying out that disciplinary authority. Hawaii Department of Education Rule 8-19-5 reiterates the authority of school officials to remove your student from the school for long-term suspension or expulsion. The following Rule 8-19-6 lists four progressive classes of offenses that may result in your student's removal. Hawaii's Department of Education also establishes subject matter academic standards, to which your student's teachers must hold your student accountable. The Department of Education has a regulatory role in your student's accountability and discipline. Our attorneys know the Department's regulations and procedures. Let us help you and your student invoke those provisions for your student's best outcome.
Hawaii Local School District Authority
While the Hawaii state legislature and Department of Education hold students and parents accountable and responsible for the student code of conduct and academic standards; the local district and high school officials will apply those rules and standards. You and your student will deal first and foremost with district and school, not state and department officials. The Hawaii Department of Education authorizes the local district and high school to adopt school rules governing your student's conduct. While Rule 8-19-6 defines the four progressive classes of offenses, the same rule authorizes the local district and high school to punish as a Class D offense violation of any other school rule. Our attorneys can help you and your student deal with local district and school officials in any of the following locations:
- the Honolulu District and its Farrington-Kaiser-Kalani and Kaimuki-McKinley-Roosevelt Complex Areas;
- the Hawaii District and its Hilo-Waiakea, Kau-Keaau-Pahoa, and Honokaa-Kealakehe-Kohala-Konawaena Complex Areas;
- the Central District and its Aiea-Moanalua-Radford and Leilehua-Mililani-Waialua Complex Areas;
- the Windward District and its Castle-Kahuku and Kailua-Kalaheo Complex Areas;
- the Leeward District and its Campbell-Kapolei, Pearl City-Waipahu, and Nanakuli-Waianae Complex Areas;
- the Maui District and its Baldwin-Kekaulike-Kulanihakoi-Maui and Hana-Lahainaluna-Lanai-Molokai Complex Areas; and
- the Kauai District and its Kapaa-Kauai-Waimea Complex Area, or any other Hawaii K-12 school.
Hawaii Local School District Student Codes of Conduct
While your Hawaii high school student may attend a school in any of the above districts, the student code of conduct your student must follow is likely to take the form of one of the following examples:
- the Kaimuki High School in Honolulu adopts a Student Handbook including the state Board of Education's Student Code of Conduct, the Department of Education's Class A, Class B, Class C, and Class D offenses, and the school's own rules;
- the Pearl City High School adopts Student Conduct Expectations, including not only the Board of Education Student Code of Conduct and Department of Education Class A through Class D offenses but also elaborate school rules on everything from contraband to skateboards, water balloons, water pistols, and other items;
- the Leilehua High School Student/Parent Handbook includes the Department of Education Class A through Class D offenses plus a student dress code, attendance policy, and other school rules.
These are the kinds of local student conduct codes with which our attorneys will be familiar in applying and interpreting the school rules and procedures while advocating and negotiating for your student's effective relief. Let us help you and your student navigate this state, district, and local authority for the best possible outcome.
Hawaii High School Academic Misconduct
Academic misconduct is the first issue that Hawaii high school students may face. Academic misconduct involves some form of cheating, which means trying to take undue advantage by skirting school academic rules. The problem for your Hawaii high school student may be that high school students are still learning academic conventions and rules. What looks to your student like a reasonable practice or simple shortcut may instead violate an academic rule.
Generally, high school teachers and principals can be lenient toward cheating which they construe to be part of the learning process. But they won't generally be so lenient if they believe instead that your student knew the rule and decided to violate it deliberately. And they especially won't be lenient if your student's academic misconduct interfered with instruction, undermined the teacher's authority, involved other students, or destroyed confidential exam materials. High school officials also generally don't like cover-ups and lying in the course of academic misconduct proceedings. So, don't underestimate the seriousness of academic misconduct charges. You don't want your student labeled as dishonest, of bad character, and a cheater.
Definitions of Hawaii High School Academic Misconduct
As just indicated, academic misconduct involves some form of undue advantage. You'll see district policies and school conduct codes; principals and teachers call it different things, including academic misconduct, cheating, and academic dishonesty. The rules may be in the district policy, the school conduct code, or even the teacher's course syllabus or on the exam or assignment itself. Unwritten academic customs and conventions may also apply, especially around things like plagiarizing (copying) another's work, using unauthorized resources, or getting prohibited help from a tutor, parent, peer, or online service. Bringing unauthorized materials into an exam, looking at another student's answers, or getting another student's help with a paper or problem set that the student should have done alone are common forms of cheating.
The Leilehua High School Student/Parent Handbook, for instance, states in overly dramatic emphasis that “plagiarism is a criminal act,” reiterating that “[s]tudents shall not use information from the Internet, reference sources, or another person's work and claim this information as their own.” The same document adds that “cheating on classroom assignments will not be tolerated.” Your student's high school may have similar statements. Even if not, school officials may apply teacher rules and instructions and call a violation of those rules and instructions “insubordination,” punishable in the Kaimuki High School Student Handbook and across the state as a Class C offense.
Punishing Hawaii High School Academic Misconduct
A simple mistake violating teacher instructions, school rules, or district policy may not warrant severe punishment. If, for instance, your student mistakenly carries unauthorized materials or an unauthorized device into an exam, the school may simply remove the item and perhaps require your student to retake the exam. However, any act that instead appears to be a known violation of a teacher's instruction or that of another school authority could quickly become a Class C “insubordination” offense. See the Pearl City High School Student Expectations for another example of insubordination as a Class C offense under the Department of Education rules. Department of Education Rule 8-19-13 treats Class C offenses as worthy of a warning for a first offense and school release for further offenses, at least as to summer school. But again, if the misconduct involves other students, destroys confidential materials, or interferes with the school's orderly operation, school suspension or expulsion may be a risk.
Hawaii High School Academic Misconduct Defense
Fortunately, Hawaii Department of Education rules and local high school codes tend to grant teachers and principals greater discretion when the question comes to academic misconduct than for behavioral offenses like guns or drugs in school. Even if school officials claim to have caught your student red-handed, appearing to have deliberately violated an academic rule in a clear form of cheating, our attorneys may well be able to show those school officials that remedial relief is better than disciplinary punishment. We may be able to show that your student did not cheat at all and instead followed teacher or aide instructions. But even if the act appeared dishonest or even insubordinate, we may be able to prevail upon school officials to take a remedial approach, keeping your student's record clean and clear. If school officials do not relent, we may help you pursue an appeal of your student's discipline to the district level and beyond, where cooler heads may prevail. Don't give up if your student has already lost hearings and appeals. We may find alternative special relief through a general counsel's office.
Hawaii High School Behavioral Misconduct
Your Hawaii high school student may instead face allegations of behavioral misconduct. While academic misconduct involves coursework of some kind, behavioral misconduct instead involves your student's allegedly disruptive or endangering non-academic actions on school grounds or at school events. The classic example would be the student who pulls a fire alarm without cause, just to disrupt the school day or perhaps in retaliation against school officials. Vandalism, trespass, bullying, hazing, and health and welfare issues like smoking or other tobacco use, alcohol, drugs, and weapons are other behavioral issues Hawaii high school students sometimes face. Don't be surprised at how long the list of behavioral violations may be, as in the Pearl City High School Student Expectations. Your student attends and studies in a highly regulated environment.
Punishments for Hawaii High School Behavioral Misconduct
In Hawaii high school, behavioral misconduct charges can involve severe discipline, including automatic and immediate removal from the school, especially when the behavior is endangering. For example, Hawaii Department of Education Rule 8-19-6 requires school removal for one year for the student bringing a weapon onto school grounds. The same rule authorizes school removal for up to 92 days for any student bringing a knife, alcohol, or drugs onto school grounds. Otherwise, the same rule authorizes any form of progressive discipline from correction and detention all the way up to suspension, expulsion, and disciplinary placement, depending on the judgment of the school's disciplinary official. The Leilehua High School Student/Parent Handbook, for instance, authorizes everything up to expulsion for Class A and Class B offenses and even long-term suspension for Class C and D offenses.
Hawaii High School Behavioral Discipline Impacts
The adverse impact of Hawaii high school behavioral discipline can be especially severe, well beyond the short-term impact of school removal. Yes, your student could suffer academic issues if removed from school. Your student could also suffer the loss of honors, class rank, athletics, and other privileges. However, discipline for behavioral wrongs that appear to endanger other students, damage school property, or disrupt school operations could lead to long-term impacts. Colleges, universities, and vocational programs may refuse your student admission, for instance. And beware of the mental and emotional impacts of school exclusion for behavioral wrongs. Students disciplined severely and removed long-term from school can have higher rates of depression, suicidal ideation, and drug or alcohol abuse.
Hawaii High School Behavioral Misconduct Defense
Fortunately, your student is likely to have significant procedural protections if facing long-term school suspension or expulsion and disciplinary placement. For instance, Hawaii Code Section 302A-1134 expressly requires high school officials to follow the state's protective procedures whenever removing a student alleged to have possessed a firearm on school grounds. Hawaii Code Section 302A-1134.6 similarly requires school officials to provide due process to students removed from school for dangerous weapons or alcohol or drug possession. Our attorneys know how to invoke these procedures for your student's best outcome. The procedures generally require clear notice to you and your student of the alleged wrongs and an opportunity to present your student's side of the matter before an independent decision-maker at a hearing. We can help make that presentation. We can also make available appeals and even seek court relief in appropriate cases.
Hawaii High School Sexual Misconduct
Just as behavioral misconduct charges are generally more serious than academic misconduct charges, sexual misconduct charges may be even more serious than either of the above two forms of misconduct. Your student's Hawaii high school officials have a federal Title IX obligation to prohibit and address sexual misconduct. High school officials who fail to take swift and sure action against sexual misconduct may not only lose the school its federal funding but may also face civil liability to the students who suffered harm as a result. Hawaii's school districts and high schools thus uniformly prohibit sexual assault, sexual harassment, and similar forms of sexual exploitation, as one sees in the Pearl City High School Student Expectations. The Hawaii Department of Education likewise prohibits broad forms of sexual offenses. Take Title IX sexual misconduct charges most seriously. Get our help in defense of those charges.
Punishment of Hawaii High School Sexual Misconduct
Federal Title IX regulations and Hawaii Department of Education rules permit emergency removal of a student who presents a threat of sexual assault or other sexual offense against other students. If your student faces sexual misconduct charges, your student may not be able to return to school unless and until cleared of those charges. If found responsible for those charges, your student may face long-term suspension, expulsion, and alternative disciplinary placement. A campus ban and no-contact order may also be imposed so that your student suffers complete isolation from the school community and peer and teacher support. Punishment may, in short, be especially swift, sure, and severe without effective defense.
Hawaii High School Sexual Misconduct Discipline Impacts
Just as the discipline for sexual misconduct can be harsh, the impact of sexual misconduct findings can also be severe. Your student may simply be unable to attend another school or gain admission into a higher education or vocational program. Admissions officers may judge the liability and safety risks of admitting such a student to be too great. Poor character for sexual misconduct can be one of society's worst marks for general trust, success, and advancement, a red flag not just for further education or training but also for jobs and even housing and other rights and privileges.
Hawaii High School Sexual Misconduct Defense
Fortunately, your Hawaii high school student should have Title IX procedural protections for our premier attorneys to invoke for your student's best possible outcome. Your student will likely be entitled to a hearing before an independent decision maker, where we may be able to help your student present exonerating and mitigating evidence. We can also make available appeals to higher authorities at the district or state agency level. If you have already exhausted hearings and appeals, we may be able to negotiate alternative special relief through a general counsel's office or obtain court relief in special cases.
Hawaii High School Academic Progress Issues
Academic progress is the issue that many students fear most, as to which they face the greatest challenges. Failing a course, getting held back a year, having to repeat courses and years, and failing to graduate with peers can be huge blows to a student's motivation, confidence, and willingness to persevere. Your student's peer support group may be the primary reason your student is able to persevere. Removal of that support may mean failing to persist and graduate.
Hawaii high schools, though, must hold students accountable to the Hawaii Department of Education's academic subject matter standards. Hawaii schools, like schools in other states, also have reporting requirements and reputations to uphold among state regulators and parents. Unfortunately, some school officials may attempt to remove struggling students from an alternative school or through suspension or expulsion rather than provide the sensitive and effective instruction and other services and accommodations that rules and regulations require. Your student wouldn't be the first one to face misconduct charges of insubordination, disrespect, and disruption when, instead, the issue is the lack of appropriate instructional aides, services, and accommodations.
Addressing Hawaii High School Academic Progress Issues
Fortunately, federal and state laws provide our attorneys with various grounds on which to advocate for your student's instructional services and accommodations instead of facing school discipline over academic progress issues. Hawaii high schools must, for instance, follow the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as well as the equivalent Hawaii state laws and regulations. Too often, a student's struggles are due to the school's failure to provide mandated services and accommodations. Your student may alternatively face bullying from other students, affecting your student's ability and willingness to study earnestly and effectively. Or your student may simply have suffered a temporary illness, injury, or family or relationship disruption, interfering with academic studies. We can help you and your student identify the cause and advocate for remedial resolutions rather than discipline.
Hawaii High School Sanction Defense
Keep one more thing in mind when evaluating your Hawaii high school student's misconduct charges or academic progress issues. Just because your student may be responsible for exactly what school officials allege does not necessarily mean that the school must, should, or will remove your student. While school suspension is indeed a default sanction to which school officials often turn, our attorneys may be able to convince school officials to take a rehabilitative or restorative approach, which is popular in schools across the country. Your student is, after all, in a school the essential mission is student growth and learning. Hawaii high schools are not penal institutions intent on punishment. We may be able to present a case in mitigation of the traditional punishment so that your student instead has the opportunity for school service, additional education or training, or another non-punitive outcome that keeps your student's record clear.
Premier Hawaii High School Student Defense
The Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team is available in Urban Honolulu, East Honolulu, Hilo, Pearl City, Kailua CDP, Waipahu, Kaneohe, Mililani Town, Kahului, Ewa Gentry, and other Hawaii locations to defend your student against Hawaii high school disciplinary charges and academic progress issues. Our highly skilled and experienced attorneys have successfully defended hundreds of students in Hawaii and across the nation. Call 888.535.3686 or use our contact form now to tell us about your Hawaii high school student's case.
