New York State is home to 731 school districts serving approximately 2.5 million students in public education alone. But every parent knows that the most meaningful metric of all is simply the success and happiness of their own child or children. All parents want to see their students thrive.
Sending your Kindergartener or elementary school student off on the first day can be exciting, joyful, and sometimes a little scary! You know your child's potential, gifts, anxieties, hopes, and dreams. You hope that the adults in their school will see the same promise in them and will recognize their inherent brilliance and worth.
For a parent of a middle school student, it doesn't get any easier. Watching your pre-teen enter a whole new world of social structures, school rules, expectations, and possibilities can feel like the first day of Kindergarten all over again. More than anything, you want your child to be accepted, loved, valued, and seen. All children are capable of succeeding in school. It's a belief we share, but in reality, sometimes schools struggle or fail to uphold this vision.
When this happens, school dealings can become emotional, draining, frustrating, and confusing. It's not uncommon for parents to feel as though they are being ganged up on, dismissed, devalued, or even bullied. While we all know many teachers, principals, and other school staff who are simply amazing human beings we would trust unequivocally with our children, we and our kids are not always that lucky. Schools aren't necessarily charged with ensuring that your particular child succeeds academically, socially, and emotionally. They have an entire student body to manage, not to mention standards and quotas, and bottom lines to meet. This means the focus is often on the big picture. And when an individual student's behavior or academic record doesn't support or facilitate this, it's often the student who pays the price. This can be heartbreaking and disillusioning. You might feel alone like no one is in your corner, and under pressure like it's you against the system – and this isn't entirely by mistake.
Your student deserves the best start they can have in the world – no matter their learning style, abilities or disabilities, or challenges they may face. School should be a place of learning and growing. A place for making mistakes, getting back up, and getting back on track with the help and support of caring adults. If you feel your child is not being supported, is being targeted, or is being treated unfairly, help is available. Calling on the support of a legal team in such times can give your child a chance and a positive start to the life they deserve. There is no rewind button in education. Childhood goes by just once. Your student deserves a positive experience they can leverage through the next chapters of life.
New York sets the standards and limits that school districts operate under throughout the state in terms of student conduct and consequences. These are outlined in Chapter 16 of the Consolidated Laws of New York.
New York Middle and Elementary School Academic Misconduct Charges
Misconduct charges. It sounds like something you'd hear coming out of the office of a high school or college dean's office. But students 5 years old and even younger can and do get punished for misconduct in school. It might involve academic misconduct such as cheating or plagiarism.
The largest school district in the state, New York City Public Schools, for example, penalizes K-5 students for “level 2” infractions of their code of conduct. Examples include copying from someone's paper, working with another student on a test without authorization, not crediting a source, copying written work from the internet, stealing test content, doing work for another student, or using technology inappropriately.
In Rochester Public Schools, cheating and plagiarism are seen as either “level 1” or “level 2” infractions when these actions continue to negatively affect their peers' learning.
Yonkers Public Schools' Code of Conduct calls out a variety of behaviors associated with academic dishonesty – cheating, plagiarism, signing a parent's name, changing school records, among them – that can rise to “level 3” offenses and may even involve contacting police.
New York Middle and Elementary School Behavioral Misconduct Charges
Perhaps your K-5 or middle school student faces behavioral misconduct charges. New York State describes “disruptive pupils” as those who interfere with a teacher's authority over a classroom. A student who is “insubordinate or disorderly or violent or disruptive” may be suspended from school, a punishment that removes them from the learning environment and interrupts their academic progress. Suspensions may not last more than five days without a fair hearing, where the student has a right to be represented by legal counsel.
School districts often over-rely on suspensions as a means of dealing with student behavior. The Buffalo Public School System recently came under fire for its high number of student suspensions, and for good reason. A bill was introduced in the state legislature called the Judith S. Kaye Solutions Not Suspensions Act, which would ban suspending students in pre-kindergarten through third grade and incorporate restorative practices in school aimed at reducing the over-reliance on punitive measures.
The state also outlines behavior or actions consistent with their definition of a “violent pupil” – including elementary and middle school students in possession of dangerous items such as a knife, razor, or even a stiletto and students who intentionally damage or destroy property.
We all understand that violence has no place in the classroom or school. We also understand that children's brains are still developing. They are still learning how to cope with disappointment, fear, and conflict. Even so, sometimes, students make poor decisions. In other cases, students may be dealing with stress and trauma at home or in the community and have been known to act out or even bring prohibited items to school as a way to feel more in control of their safety. The truth is, such misconduct can bring with it not only school repercussions but criminal consequences.
If your student is facing behavioral conduct charges, especially if they cross over into the legal system, it may be time to seek outside support. Here, not only are your child's academic possibilities in jeopardy but anything they say at a fair hearing can be used against them if they are also subject to a criminal charge. New York's Office of Children and Family Services, Office of the Ombudsman advises that “Any person facing criminal charges should seek the advice of an attorney.” There is too much on the line to leave this to chance. Legal help is needed at this point. Your child, depending on the infraction, could be looking at a suspension from school for one or more years. Derailing their education isn't advisable, nor is leaving them vulnerable to criminal charges and related punishments.
Maybe your student is involved in a less-severe misconduct case. Level 1 infractions in NYC Public Schools, for example, are broken into Discipline Codes for students in grades K-5 and students in grades 6-12. Your student's academic future could be interrupted by something as innocuous as being late for school, something that may not even be their fault. As well unexcused absences may also land them unfairly in hot water, yet go on their record nonetheless. Disrespectful or rude words or behavior or using school equipment without permission are two other common examples that are not tolerated in elementary and middle schools in New York City. Yet the punishment for such behavior is antithetical to their educational future – again, removing them from school for an in-school or out-of-school suspension, for example, even for young students in grades K-5.
Those are just level 1 infractions. Additional levels bring with them harsher consequences, further separating them from the environments in which they need to learn and grow. Examples include graffiti, shoving, inappropriate behavior on the school bus, profane gestures, or spitting at someone. Of course, no one believes these behaviors belong in any school or school-related setting. But school should be a place where students can learn from their mistakes, and the damage having these infractions on a student's record can have on their future can be irreparable.
New York Middle and Elementary School Academic Progression Issues
Even though young students are just starting off on their educational journey, they can be penalized for failing to progress academically, which could be linked to a failure to truancy, absences, or tardiness, among other reasons.
In New York City Public Schools, “[f]or grades Kindergarten through 8, schools review many pieces of student work to determine if students are ready for the next grade level.” Parents who believe a decision was made in error can appeal to the school principal at the end of August, after summer programming. The appeal is forwarded to the superintendent, who makes the final decision. Being held back can have serious academic, social, and emotional consequences on a child, and these decisions should be made with parental involvement and feedback.
New York Middle and Elementary School Disability Issues
Like all states, New York is required to comply with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), providing all students – including elementary and middle school students – a free appropriate public education (FAPE). Federal and New York laws require schools to maintain Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students with disabilities.
New York's Office of Special Education, within the State Education Department's Office of P-12 Education, oversees the implementation of laws and policies for students with disabilities, ensures due process, supervises public and private schools serving students with disabilities, and more.
Accommodations included in a student's IEP might include modified class schedules, assistive devices, readers, note-takers, modified lighting, sound protection, counseling, or others.
When a student under an IEP faces discipline for alleged misconduct, schools must conduct a manifestation determination as part of the adjudication process, according to federal law.
School and district codes of conduct include provisions for penalties involving students with disabilities. For example, a code that outlines why and for how long a student may be suspended refers to “regular education” students, not necessarily students with a disability, which could be a state or federal violation of their rights.
In New York State, these protections go beyond students with the official “disability” designation. New York Education Law pertaining to suspending students with disabilities applies to students “presumed” to have disabilities, as well.
For example, in New York City Public Schools, students with disabilities, 504 plans, or who are “presumed to have a disability” are entitled to assert specific procedural safeguards under IDEA. A student is presumed to be a student with a disability if their parent has expressed concern in writing that they need special education or similar services, or has made a written request for them to be evaluated, or if a school staff person expresses concern about a behavioral pattern.
New York Lento Law Firm Education Law Team Can Defend Your Student
You, your student, or your family do not have to face these challenges alone. The Lento Law Firm wants to ensure they and you are treated fairly in the eyes of school district policy and state and federal law and fight for the best possible outcome.
The Lento Law Firm Education Law Team can help you analyze the school's claims, your student's rights, and any evidence available to help make your student's case. They can help you make a roadmap for your student's success and then put this strategic plan into action.
The Lento Law Firm Education Law Team can negotiate with schools and officials, including general counsel or outside retained counsel, and research, brief, and argue federal and state laws and regulations mandating or advising your student's rights and relief.
Discipline isn't a one-size-fits-all response to students' choices and actions, but schools often forget this. There are so many nuances to be considered when it comes to levying consequences on a young student, including their age and maturity, their unique circumstances, their social-emotional needs, past trauma, language or cultural barriers, and more.
Where the Lento Law Firm Can Help
The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team represents and defends elementary and middle school students nationwide, including throughout all regions of New York state. The skilled and experienced attorney advisors on the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team can represent students and their families from public schools, charter schools, alternative, programming, and private schools, throughout New York.
Premier New York Education Attorneys
No matter your location in New York, retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Education Law Team to help your New York middle or elementary school student with their school challenges. Their years of nationwide experience set them apart. Call 888.535.3686 or go online now for skilled and experienced attorney defense in New York.
