Does your child attend a K-12 school or college in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro area?
Are they facing misconduct allegations?
Although it can be easy to feel completely isolated when your student is at the center of an academic progress or misconduct investigation, you have company. Schools across the nation, as well as in the Portland metro area, are cracking down — hard — on alleged student misconduct. They're recommending startlingly steep sanctions for students who are struggling in school. And they're dismissing and suspending students with seemingly little rationale.
In today's incredibly competitive academic milieu, accusations of misconduct run rampant. Your Portland-area school will want to distance itself from inappropriate behavior, so the administration may pursue an aggressive timeline or heightened charges to close out your case.
You can't let that happen. You must ensure that your school follows due process and respects your student's rights. Otherwise, your student may face outsized sanctions that could impact their future.
Expert student defense advisor Joseph D. Lento is at your service to help you protect your student. Reach out to the team at the Lento Law Firm today to learn more about the Portland-area services we're able to provide.
Expert Student Defense in the Portland Metropolitan Area
Keep Portland Weird!
The metro area's reputation is known nationwide. The city and surrounding areas are known for a vibrantly quirky culture, unique eats, and a strong sense of internal community.
Unfortunately, that strong sense of community and innate quirkiness may not extend into collegiate and K-12 communities. Students often file allegations and complaints against others because of miscommunications and misunderstandings. Students make one mistake, and their schools expel them for it.
At the Lento Law Firm, we firmly believe that one mistake or misunderstanding shouldn't cost your child their future. Whether your student attends a school in Skamania or Clark County in Washington or Yamhill, Washington, Multnomah, Columbia, or Clackamas County in Oregon, we can help you.
You might wonder why you shouldn't just reach out to the attorney who lives down the street from your school. Here's why:
Student defense is a very niche area of law. It requires specific expertise to interface with an overzealous school administration, find the loophole in a school's code of conduct, or negotiate with a school on behalf of a student. Not every lawyer has that unique experience. That's why it's key to retain the services of a student defense advisor who can help you and represent your student, no matter where you are — including in the Portland metro area.
Which Types of School Concerns do Portland-Area Students Face?
The Portland metro area can be a difficult place to be a K-12 or college student.
Familiarizing oneself with the area's culture can take time, effort, and the ability to read between the lines. Especially if your child is an out-of-state student, they may have a tough time assimilating into their academic community.
This can hurt their academic progression (or an alleged one). It can also lay the groundwork for interpersonal difficulties — and increased numbers of misconduct allegations.
For many reasons, Portland-area schools can slap students with a suspension. A few of the more general categories of concerns include:
- Failure to progress academically
- Academic misconduct
- Behavioral misconduct
- Sexual misconduct
We'll go over each of these areas of concern later in this guide.
For right now, know that your takeaway is simple:
You need to retain a student defense advisor to help you protect your Portland-area student. Joseph D. Lento and the team at the Lento Law Firm are ready to guide your family through the complex, often-confusing world of student discipline defense.
What Schools Are in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro Metro Area?
The Portland metro area is home to many high-quality academic institutions, from K-12 schools to colleges known nationwide. At each of these schools, Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm are ready to provide a strategic defense in support of the best outcome possible for your student.
Here's a list of just some Portland-area colleges and universities at which Joseph D. Lento can provide support:
- American College of Healthcare Sciences
- Bushnell University
- Corban University
- Eastern Oregon University
- George Fox University
- Gutenberg College
- Lewis & Clark College
- Linfield University
- Multnomah University
- New Hope Christian College
- Oregon Health & Science University
- Oregon Institute of Technology
- Oregon State University
- Pacific Northwest College of Art
- Pacific University
- Portland State University
- Reed College
- Southern Oregon University
- Sumner College
- University of Oregon
- University of Portland
- University of Western States
- Warner Pacific University
- Western Oregon University
- Western Seminary
- Willamette University
However, college is far from the only time that a Portland student might need the assistance of a student defense advisor. As incredible as it may seem, many younger students find themselves on the wrong end of a misconduct investigation.
Fortunately, Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm can assist with a wide range of failure to progress and academic misconduct challenges at colleges and K-12 schools.
The Lento Law Firm can provide support in many Portland-area school districts, including:
- Beaverton School District
- Parkrose School District
- Lake Oswego School District
- David Douglas School District
- Centennial School District
- Tigard-Tualatin School District
- Reynolds School District
- Riverdale School District
- Portland Public School District
If your student attends any of these Portland metro area K-12 schools, Joseph D. Lento can provide student defense expertise:
- Abernethy Elementary School
- Ainsworth Elementary School
- Arleta Elementary School
- Buckman Elementary School
- Capitol Hill Elementary School
- Creston Elementary School
- Duniway Elementary School
- Forest Park Elementary School
- Glencoe Elementary School
- Grout Elementary School
- Hayhurst Elementary School
- Irvington Elementary School
- Kelly Elementary School
- Lewis Elementary School
- Llewellyn Elementary School
- Maplewood Elementary School
- Marysville Elementary School
- Rigler Elementary School
- Rosa Parks Elementary School
- Scott Elementary School
- Sitton Elementary School
- Vestal Elementary School
- Woodlawn Elementary School
- Creative Science
- Harrison Park
- Metropolitan Learning Center
- Odyssey Program at East Sylvan
- Winterhaven Elementary School
- Beaumont Middle School
- Harriet Tubman Middle School
- Jackson Middle School
- Lane Middle School
- Robert Gray Middle School
- Roseway Heights Middle School
- Sellwood Middle School
- Kellogg Middle School
- Benson Polytechnic High School
- Cleveland High School
- Franklin High School
- Grant High School
- Ida B. Wells High School
- Jefferson High School
- Lincoln High School
- Leodis V. McDaniel High School
- Roosevelt High School
This list is not exhaustive — if your student attends another Portland-area school, please reach out to our team, and we'll be happy to provide any assistance possible.
Why Might a Portland Metro Area Student Require Student Discipline Defense?
The simple answer is this:
There is an unsettlingly high number of reasons a student might need some help (and a great defense).
Your Portland-area school's code of conduct will have a very long list of the types of problematic behaviors that could attract negative attention from your school.
As noted above, the main types of punishable actions tend to fall into a few different categories — e.g., academic dishonesty, academic failure to progress, behavioral misconduct, and sexual misconduct. We'll take a moment to go over each of these sections in detail.
How Can a Student Defense Advisor Help With Academic Progression Issues?
Your school has expectations about your student's performance. If your student isn't progressing through their studies as quickly as desired or making high enough grades, your school might notice.
You might hope that, in this situation, your school's priority would be providing support for your student, particularly if your student has communicated that they're struggling.
This may not be the case. If your student's educators notify your school that your student is not progressing satisfactorily, your student could face stern (and unexpected) disciplinary measures. These measures may include suspension and expulsion and would undoubtedly end up on your student's permanent record.
Bouncing back from this won't be easy.
It's key to realize that a note from your school regarding your student's failure to progress may not be the final say or even accurate. School administrators and educators frequently make mistakes when calculating GPA and entering grades into their databases.
Your student defense attorney can help find any errors informing your school's actions, protect your child's rights during due process, and negotiate directly with your school to help ensure that your student is not subjected to unfair disciplinary measures.
How Can a Student Defense Advisor Help With Academic Misconduct Issues
Academic misconduct, dishonesty, or integrity issues — as distinct from failure to progress situations — involve breaking your school's honor code or code of conduct.
Common examples of academic misconduct include:
- Cheating
- Plagiarism
- Unauthorized collaboration
- Access to unauthorized materials
- Academic sabotage
This isn't a complete list; any action of your student's that could be seen as going against your school's code of conduct in the academic sphere may qualify.
Suspension and even expulsion (for severe infractions) are common sanctions recommended for academic misconduct. If these types of disciplinary measures end up on your student's permanent record, it could be challenging for your student to pursue higher education or even get a great first job.
A student defense advisor can help you protect your student's future by holding your school accountable to its own processes, sifting through evidence, pulling together a strong defense for your child, and more. Joseph D. Lento is ready to put his extensive student defense expertise to work for you!
How Can a Student Defense Advisor Assist With Title IX or Sexual Misconduct Issues?
Few student behavioral issues are more severe than sexual misconduct.
Your school will likely share this belief. Under Title IX, one of the Education Amendments of 1972, all schools must follow up on and investigate all serious allegations of sexual misconduct promptly — or risk losing their funding.
This means that if your student is accused of responsibility for sexual assault, discrimination, harassment, or related infractions, your school could pursue sanctions against your student.
And, because your school's funding is at stake, those sanctions could be particularly outsized (or the processes used to determine them, unusually aggressive).
A student defense advisor can help ensure that your school respects your student's rights during the process and provide the strongest possible defense. As a result, your student will have the best possible chance of avoiding permanent reputation damage.
How Can a Student Defense Advisor Help With Behavioral Misconduct?
Outside of more clear-cut categories like academic and sexual misconduct, there exist several types of behavioral or interpersonal issues that most schools will consider punishable.
These include:
- Cyberbullying
- Weapons on school premises
- Use of controlled substances
- Use of alcohol while underage
- Fighting
- Bullying
- Threats
- Trespassing
- Theft
- Endangering behavior
- Classroom insubordination
- Property damage
No matter what type of misconduct your student may have allegedly been involved with, you will need professional expertise to move forward in the most effective way. Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm will look at the specifics of your case, provide unique-to-you recommendations, delve through your school's code of conduct, help you home in on a defense strategy, and even provide representation and handle negotiations as needed.
For a Strong Defense in the Portland Metro Area, Call Joseph D. Lento
If your student is facing disciplinary sanctions from their K-12 school in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro area, you need representation—and you need it fast.
Student disciplinary investigations and procedures can get far messier than you think. They can also escalate from ‘seemingly nothing' to ‘future-wreaking' in the blink of an eye. Moreover, while your student is going through this stressful situation, you will want to be there for your student—not overwhelmed by paperwork and footnotes in your school's code of conduct.
Joseph D. Lento has years of experience as a national student defense advisor, and he's ready to put that specific expertise to work for your student. Instead of being at the mercy of your school's administration, your student can proactively work to pursue a more favorable outcome.
When your student's future is at stake because of school disciplinary sanctions, call Joseph D. Lento for a strong defense. Call us at 888.535.3686 or contact us online for more information.
