As the parent of a child attending school at any level in the Twin Cities area – from kindergarten, all the way through grade school, junior high, high school, and college – you have an intense interest in making sure they get the most out of their education. When issues arise that threaten the quality of their experience, you naturally want to do what you can to help. The last thing any parent wants is for their child to dread going to school because of a disciplinary or educational problem that makes the daily challenge of learning into a seemingly insurmountable burden.
That is where the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team can help. Our experienced attorneys are familiar with the range of problems that students can face at all levels of education, and we know how to navigate the systems and procedures that schools in the Minneapolis-St. Paul and the Bloomington area have in place to address these kinds of issues. We will fight for your students' rights and to protect their education and their future. Call us today at 888.535.3686 or fill out our contact form, and we will schedule a confidential consultation to learn more about your child's situation and to tell you how we can help.
Student Issues in Schools in the Twin Cities Area
At all levels, schools in the Twin Cities area have to navigate what can seem like an insurmountable web of federal, state, and local laws, regulations, rules, and procedures when it comes to dealing with the many types of issues that can affect a student's progress. When taken together, these requirements can be difficult to understand, even for trained school administrators and educators. And while most of them do the best they can to meet their legal obligations to their students, not every individual at every school will always get things right.
This is true at the college level. With the MSP area home to many excellent schools – including the University of Minnesota, the University of St. Thomas, Metropolitan State University, Concordia University, as well as many excellent community colleges – there are tens of thousands of students seeking higher education throughout the Twin Cities area.
At the grade and high school levels, whether students are enrolled in public or private schools in Minneapolis or St. Paul, or are attending school in a suburb such as Plymouth, Minnetonka, Edina, Lake Elmo or a nearby city like Bloomington, they all have the right to receive a quality education and to be treated fairly and consistently in line with the laws, regulations, rules, and policies that apply in Minnesota and their particular school.
That's where we come in. Our experienced education law attorneys can make it clear to school personnel what their legal obligations are when they fail to follow them. If your child is facing any kind of disciplinary issue, the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team is there to protect them through the process and defend them from start to finish. Here are some of the kinds of issues that our experienced attorneys can help with.
Special Education and Disability Rights
Minnesota has implemented a number of requirements in line with the ones established by federal law when it comes to how schools in the state, including, of course, those in the Twin Cities area, identify and educate students with disabilities. Federal laws that Minnesota public schools need to comply with include the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If you believe your child has a disability that may entitle them to receive special education benefits, or if your child has already been evaluated and is eligible for these kinds of benefits, you may already be aware of what your child's school's obligations are. These include obligations when it comes to the initial evaluation and, if a disability is identified, to make reasonable accommodations for that disability and to provide your child with a free and appropriate public education (also referred to as FAPE).
Minnesota's Department of Education (DOE) has a dedicated portion of its website that focuses on Special Education issues. It highlights, among other things, the state's focus on “person-centered principles and practices” that are designed to “assure that people with disabilities have the same rights and responsibilities as other people.” It also provides a summary of parental rights, which are also the same rights that adult students between the ages of 18 and 21 have when it comes to their education. The DOE's website also provides numerous links to other resources that specifically relate to students with disabilities.
There is a lot of information available on the DOE's website – in some cases, it might be too much for you to navigate if you have a specific question about your student or the way their school is treating them. That is where the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team can help. Our experienced education law attorneys can often provide you with the answers you need to your critical questions about your child's education in the Twin Cities area. You'll benefit from their experience, while also knowing that their answers will take into account your student's specific situation. Doing your own research can be a very good thing, of course, but when it comes to your child's future, it can be an enormous comfort to have specific answers from someone who has experience in this area.
Individualized Education Programs and 504 Plans
Students in public school in the MSP area who have been evaluated and are found to have disabilities are, in many cases, entitled to an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) from their school. That plan is a collaborative document that is supposed to include parental input and should be revised each year for each student. However, because the IEP is collaborative, it can also be the focus of conflict. Parents may not always agree with the way the IEP says their child will be educated. In other cases, the IEP may say one thing, but individual teachers may not follow it.
This is another area where the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team can help. We understand how important your child's IEP is to their education. We are here to work with you and your child's school to make sure your child's IEP properly addresses their educational needs and that their school follows the plan that has been created for your child. And when necessary, we know what steps to take to enforce your child's rights with their school.
Students who have disabilities are also entitled to what is called a “Free and Appropriate Public Education” under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. What this essentially means is that schools are required to make reasonable accommodations for and services that meet the needs of students with disabilities. But schools don't always do this. When they fail to, our education law attorneys are ready to take the necessary steps to correct the situation.
Student Discipline
All schools in the Twin Cities area – both at the college level and below – have codes of conduct of some type that students are expected to follow. These codes may vary somewhat from one school to another, but they all tend to cover similar issues: academic misconduct such as cheating, and other types of misconduct such as physical or verbal confrontations, theft, skipping class, and dressing improperly. The consequences of violating school codes of conduct can vary from a verbal scolding in the classroom all the way to the student facing suspension or even expulsion in the most extreme cases.
The Minneapolis Public School system, for example, has a comprehensive set of policies and regulations that govern a wide range of student conduct, from bus safety to attendance to bullying to the use of electronic devices on campus. It organizes student misconduct into five levels of severity, with different potential consequences for each level. The Minnetonka School District has its own set of policies, as does each public and private school in the Twin Cities area. Colleges and universities also have codes of conduct; the University of Minnesota has a Student Conduct Code that applies at all five University of Minnesota campuses, including the Twin Cities campus.
These codes of conduct tend to be clear on paper, but can be less so when they are applied to specific situations involving students. They can also be applied unevenly, with some students treated more harshly than others, or with administrators failing to follow the appropriate guidelines or procedures in a particular case. That's where the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team can help. Our attorneys have a detailed understanding of school codes of conduct as well as the procedures that are supposed to provide students accused of misconduct with a fair resolution of the allegations made against them.
If your student has been accused of any kind of misconduct by their school, particularly misconduct that could affect their permanent record or their ability to continue in school, call us. The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team will make sure that your child's school respects your child's rights and follows the proper procedures for resolving their case.
Bullying and Harassment
Students are entitled to attend school in an environment that is free from bullying and harassment, and schools across the Twin Cities area prohibit that kind of behavior. Minnesota law requires it – the Safe and Supportive Minnesota Schools Act requires schools to have anti-bullying policies as well as procedures for investigating and responding to bullying incidents. When schools fail to have effective anti-bullying policies or to properly enforce their anti-bullying policies, it is possible to file complaints with the DOE's School Safety and Technical Assistance Center or, if that does not help resolve the matter, with the DOE itself.
It can sometimes be difficult to get schools to take action against bullying. And when bullying continues, it can make life absolutely miserable for the student who is the target. The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team is ready to step in when schools fail to meet their obligations to investigate and put a stop to bullying. We know what steps to take with the school and, when that isn't effective, what to do next – including when and how to file a lawsuit against the school for failing to act.
Discrimination
There are a wide range of federal and state laws that prohibit a number of different types of discrimination against students in Minnesota. Depending on the particular state or federal law, students in the state are protected against discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, sexual orientation, and disability.
The Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA) may apply in a number of cases. Federal laws that may apply along with the MRHA include:
- Title IV and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
- Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
- The Age Discrimination Act of 1975
- Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments of 2008
- The Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act
- USDA Title VI
For some of these, there are specific procedures that need to be followed if you want to enforce them based on discrimination that is happening at your student's school. In some cases, you may need to file complaints at the state level with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. In other cases, your remedy may be at the federal level.
The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team understands what laws and procedures may apply in a given situation where discrimination is happening. We can review your child's situation with you and recommend the best way to resolve it as quickly as possible. And when necessary, we are ready to take the matter to court to fight for your child's right to receive an education without being discriminated against.
Student Rights and Free Speech
Students have free speech rights just as adults do under the Constitution. That doesn't mean that schools cannot enforce rules designed to maintain order and provide a safe and effective learning environment. But when schools improperly try to restrict or prohibit student speech or other rights of self-expression, they can be taken to court to require them to allow the conduct or, depending on the case, to prohibit them from disciplining students for exercising their free speech rights.
The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team is ready to protect your student's right to free speech at their school in the Twin Cities area. Contact us to discuss the case, and let us tell you about how we can help.
The Lento Law Firm Can Protect Your Student's Rights in the Twin Cities Area
No matter the level of school in the MSP area – college, high school, middle school, or grade school – your child has rights that deserve to be protected. Whether they relate to a disability your child may have, their conduct, their speech, or their rights as a person, the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team is here to fight for those rights. Our attorneys understand the law, regulations, rules, and procedures that apply in these kinds of cases – whether at the school level, the DOE level, or the court level – and we know what it takes to build and assert a strong case on behalf of our clients.
At the same time, we also know that sometimes the best way to resolve a problem is through discussion. We can meet with you and school officials, explain the relevant law and policies to them, and help them understand what changes they should make to correct matters when your child's education and future is at stake.
If you have concerns about your child's rights at their Twin Cities area school, call the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team at 888.535.3686 or fill out our contact form and we will schedule a confidential consultation to review their case and explain how we can help. Your child's education is the key to their future – let us help you make sure they receive the education they deserve!
