If your school has issued a complaint or sent you a strongly-worded notice regarding your student's in-school behavior or flagging academic prowess, you need to seek legal representation.
This might seem like an overreaction. It's not. Today's schools are recommending increasingly severe sanctions for students associated with misconduct. Worse, exclusionary sanctions such as suspensions and dismissals are not reserved for students who are clearly responsible for breaking school rules. More and more, students are getting punished for unfair, unproven allegations — or are receiving suspensions because their teachers allege that they aren't keeping up with their peers in the classroom.
Why is this happening? Your Stockton-area school has a general mission to educate and protect its students, but it also has a reputation of its own to protect. If your student is associated with behavioral issues or isn't making the high grades your school expects, that could harm your school's statistics. Instead of increasing the support, your school provides your student, your student could become a problem your school needs to solve.
You need to step in to make sure that your student's rights are at the center of their disciplinary experience. Experienced education defense attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento has the specific expertise you need to protect your student's rights and future.
Stockton, CA Schools, and Education Defense
Stockton sits squarely in the beautiful San Joaquin County in California on the very Western side of the United States. It's the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the San Joaquin Valley, with a population of over 750,000. Whether families moving to Stockton seek diverse cultures, historic neighborhoods, or a bustling downtown area, they'll find it in Stockton! The city itself is
home to a unique blend of architecture, including Victorian-era homes, modern high-rises, and historical landmarks — making hunting for houses in the Stockton area an exciting, exploratory process. The city is known for its vibrant arts and music scene; Stockton hosts several festivals, fairs, and activities throughout the year. Stockton is also home to the University of the Pacific, a nationally-recognized private liberal arts school.
Because Stockton has so much going on, it attracts a diverse range of young families and young professionals. This creates an influx of ambitious students at Stockton-area schools — which, itself, leads to steep academic pressure.
Pressure isn't always a good thing. Pressure in an academic environment leads to allegations of misconduct, slowed progress through required coursework, stressed students, and overwhelmed professors. It's a recipe for discontent — and the type of discipline and academic issues that can wreak the reputation of young students long before they seek their first job after college.
If your student faces undue pressure, unfair allegations from their school, or other academic issues and concerns, you need to take action now. By partnering with Joseph D. Lento, premier education defense attorney-advisor, you can start to protect your student's reputation, education, and future today.
Schools in the Stockton, CA Area
Premier education defense attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento and the experts at the Lento Law Firm can be available to help you defend your student from charges at their school. This availability is not contingent upon your school's specific location in the Stockton area — or the level or program your student is a part of.
Here, we'll provide an incomplete list of the schools, universities, and school districts at which Joseph D. Lento routinely provides assistance. If your student's Stockton, CA school is not on this list, please reach out to the Lento Law Firm anyway. We are pleased to be able to provide negotiation, defense, and representation services at a wide range of Stockton area schools.
Colleges and Universities in the Stockton, CA Metro Area
- University of the Pacific
- Stanislaus State Stockton Campus
- Xavier College
- Humphreys University
- De Brabander California College of Nursing
School Districts in the Stockton, CA Metro Area
- Banta Unified School District
- Escalon Unified School District
- Jefferson School District
- Lammersville Unified School District
- Lincoln Unified School District
- Linden Unified School District
- Lodi Unified School District
- Manteca Unified School District
- New Hope School District
- New Jerusalem School District
- Oak View School District
- Ripon Unified School District
- Stockton Unified School District
- Tracy Unified School District
K-12 Schools in the Stockton, CA Metro Area
- Middle College High School
- Stockton Unified Early College Academy
- St. Mary's High School
- Aspire River Oaks Charter School
- Aspire Vincent Shalvey Academy
- Aspire Benjamin Holt College Preparatory Academy
- John McCandless Charter School
- Millennium Charter School
- Lincoln High School
- Modesto Christian School
- Stockton Collegiate International Secondary School
- Lodi Academy
- Aspire Benjamin Holt Middle School
- Merrill F. West High School
- Tokay High School
- Bear Creek High School
- Stockton Collegiate International Elementary School
- Venture Academy
- John Muir Elementary School
- Podesta Ranch Elementary School
- Mable Barron
- Rio Valley Charter School
Disciplinary Defense in the Stockton, CA Metro Area
If your student attends any of the schools listed above (or others in the Stockton, CA area), you need to get in contact with Joseph D. Lento the moment your student starts to receive worrying notices from that school.
Why?
Student disciplinary issues can get very serious very fast. And local criminal defense or general practice lawyers simply don't have the niche knowledge and depth of expertise required to make a difference for students in tricky academic situations.
Your student's school could decide to give your student a life-changing sanction for a wide range of possible issues, from property damage to bullying, cheating, or even telling an inappropriate joke. Next, we'll provide a brief overview of the different academic issues and concerns your student may face. Joseph D. Lento has provided successful representation for hundreds of students facing school charges in these areas.
Your Stockton, CA Student and “Failure to Progress” Allegations
Your Stockton-area school administration and your student's teachers will all have specific ideas about how quickly your student should progress through their studies. Your school may even have stated satisfactory minimum grades or other progression standards that your student must keep in line with.
If your student doesn't manage to meet these expectations, your school could take disciplinary action against them. This may not make sense, but it is the way some schools work.
To make matters worse, failure to progress allegations aren't always based on objective, clear, or even accurate information. Teachers make mistakes when assigning or recording grades, after all. Administrators may look at the wrong paperwork when following up on allegations. If something serious happened in your student's life during the semester they allegedly did not progress as expected, they might have the basis for a grade appeal.
These are all options your family needs to explore instead of letting your school dismiss or suspend your student. Joseph D. Lento can help you learn more about your options. Retain his services today.
What if My Stockton Student Is Involved in Academic Misconduct?
Failure-to-progress allegations are one thing. Academic misconduct is another. This separate group of infractions — sometimes referred to as “academic integrity issues” — tend to be specific punishable behaviors. These behaviors are often directly in conflict with a school's honor code.
As an example, let's look at the honor code of the University of the Pacific, which states:
“Students are expected to act honestly in all matters, actively encourage academic integrity, discourage any form of cheating or dishonesty by others; and inform the instructor and appropriate University administrator if a student has a reasonable and good faith belief and substantial evidence that a violation of the Honor Code has occurred.”
As you might expect from reading this code, typical examples of academic misconduct infractions include:
- Cheating
- Plagiarism
- Unauthorized collaboration
- Unauthorized access to materials
- Destruction of school property
- Fabrication of data
- Sabotage
The thing is: It's relatively easy to file an allegation of academic misconduct without any supporting evidence. Schools can sanction a student for cheating without having fairly demonstrated that a punishable action has really taken place. This can ruin a student's entire future for no reason at all.
If you believe this could be happening to your student, reach out to Joseph D. Lento without delay to start working towards a better outcome for your student.
How Will Stockton Schools Handle Behavioral Misconduct?
In addition to failure-to-progress issues and academic integrity concerns, your student's Stockton, CA, school will also have a list of specific behaviors that could merit sanctions. Many of these behaviors will center around your school's need to keep students safe. As such, common inclusions on behavioral misconduct lists are:
- Bullying
- Cyberbullying
- Fighting
- Threatening another student
- Having drugs on campus
- Having weapons on campus
- Disrupting your classroom
- Misusing a computer
- Stealing from another student
- Exhibiting violent behavior
At many schools, engaging in any of these actions once could lead to a severe sanction (such as a suspension or a dismissal).
While it is true that schools should work to keep their communities safe, it's important to give students a chance to explain their behavior. This is especially true when you consider the fact that many allegations of misconduct are unfairly filed. Many are simply untrue (or misidentify the involved student, or exaggerate the damage done).
If your student is facing allegations of behavioral misconduct from your school, talk to Joseph D. Lento about your next steps. With some skilled negotiation and defense from his team of experts, you may be able to shield your student from the longer-term repercussions of their disciplinary experience.
Sexual Misconduct Allegations at Your Stockton, CA School
A special subgroup of behavioral issues is that of sexual misconduct. Sexual violence, harassment, inappropriate actions, and other forms of sexual misconduct are often grouped together under Title IX policies.
Title IX is a federal regulation overseeing how schools in America respond to sexual misconduct allegations. If your Stockton, CA, school relies on federal funding or wishes to remain eligible for federal funding in the future, it must respond to all allegations in a timely manner.
Unfortunately, sometimes this can add to the pressure of meting out disciplinary decisions in an academic environment. Sometimes, school disciplinary professionals can make or give too much weight to unsupported or even false sexual misconduct allegations. This can even happen if the accused student has a clear defense.
Association with sexual misconduct allegations can be especially damaging for a young student's future. Retain attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento to support your student's best chances of success the moment you become aware that your student will undergo a sexual misconduct investigation.
The Incredible Value of an Experienced Education Attorney-Advisor
If your Stockton-area student is facing an allegation of misconduct, a concerned note from their teacher about their lack of progress, or the remotest whiff of an issue from their school's administration, you need to take that seriously.
Why?
Because your student's school will do it. Allegations of misconduct or slow progress can lead to sanctions, such as out-of-school suspensions. And suspensions lead to suspicious gaps on your student's transcript—which can make it much more difficult than necessary for your student to get into a good college later in life.
Fortunately, this chain of events is not inevitable. Joseph D. Lento and the education defense teamat the Lento Law Firm are ready to negotiate with your school on your student's behalf, comb through your school's documentation, brainstorm a strategic defense, and even provide representation if necessary.
Don't underestimate the harm that academic issues and concerns can do to your child. Instead, retain Joseph D. Lento, and know that you'll be well on your way to protecting your child's entire future. Call 888.535.3686 today, or contact us online for further information.
