lawprofessors

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 When college issues arise, handling them can be a bear to say the least.  They can range from minor discipline matters to out and out exclusion from a college or university based on academics or some alleged wrongful conduct.  When these problems develop, a student must look toward and follow the college procedures if they want to "fix" the issue at hand. Colleges usually have quite a number of written policies.  As indicated in an earlier  blog , these policies are typically the main guide for a student with a problem.  Applicable policies are usually outlined in the school catalog, on-line, or in handouts and correspondence from the school. In a typical college matter, a student could be placed up for discipline for alleged bad acts.  When the student becomes aware of the allegations, the student needs to immediately research the policies relevant to discipline and take all steps to t...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 I have been approached in the past by families of students denied the right to walk at their commencement exercise (aka graduation ceremony).  They will be given a diploma, usually via mail, but have been told not to bother coming to the graduation ceremony itself.  Needless to say, families in this situation are very unhappy. Adding to the issue is usually the fact that the student's family heard about the matter a mere week or two prior to the commencement exercise, which is a once in a lifetime event. The bottom line is that if a student has met the academic requirements for graduation from, for example, a public high school, they DO have a legal right to a diploma from the institution they attended.  For example, if they get those 220 units, pass the CAHSEE (California High School Exit Examination), and meet their class requirements, they earn their diploma which cannot be denied. However, the "ri...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 School staff willfully inflicting physical pain to students is considered corporal punishment and prohibited in California unless certain exceptions exist.  As such, hitting, pulling hair, pinching, kicking, and other forms of physically painful contact with a student, usually is unacceptable and illegal. In California Education Code 49001 , "Corporal Punishment" is defined as: " willful infliction of, or willfully causing the infliction of, physical pain on a pupil ."  This means that any PHYSICAL PAIN caused intentionally to a student, by a person employed or engaged by a school, is not okay.  Would purposefully slamming a student into a wall, spanking a student, slapping their hand with a ruler, and/or lifting a student out of a pool by their hair be considered "corporal punishment?"  To determine this, ask yourself: was physical pain caused to the student?  Was the physical pain in...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 One of the top stories in my area (Sacramento, California) and apparently around the globe, is that of the female student whose coach attempted to lift her out of the water by her hair at a swim meet.  The student was thereafter told that she was kicked off the swim team and stripped of her swim badges, all because she and another student swam half of their portion of a freestyle swim race.  The word "overkill" seems in order. This incident has now gone global with internet access to the media.  The man involved, Geoff Capell, has now reportedly quit his position as assistant swim coach and the head swim coach (his daughter) remains.  This is BIG news and such actions can cause BIG problems for school districts. Meanwhile, despite the situation, when I heard from the family, they were getting nowhere as far as getting the student, and her teammate who was also kicked off, back on the team.  ...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 There are a multitude of bases for student discipline as described in my earlier blogs.  One of those bases involves fighting (aka "mutual combat"), threats, and/or physical violence to another.  Such conduct may or may not get a student suspended or placed up for expulsion. Per California Education Code 48900(a)(1) for a student to be suspended or expelled for this type of conduct, they must have: - Caused, attempted to cause, or threatened to cause physical  injury to another person, or - Willfully used force or violence upon the person of another,  except in self-defense. But, what does this mean in "real life?"  It means student fighting, threats to hurt someone (even vague ones), and responding in a physical way when attacked by another student, can get a student punished. Fighting is obvious as far as a basis for discipline, but what about defending yourself?  Although self defen...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Some time ago, a question was sent to me via  my Twitter account regarding just WHAT is enough to get a teacher terminated.  Termination is up to the individual school district involved and what is enough may be very fact specific.  However, some instruction on just what a teacher can be fired for was outlined by the California Court of Appeals, Fourth District in its decision San Diego Unified School District v. Commission on Professional Competence (2011) issued this week (May 3, 2011). In its opinion, the Court of Appeals upheld a District termination of a teacher for posting a highly explicit sexual ad on Craigslist seeking male-on-male companionship.  The ad included four pictures, two of which were very intimate pictures of the teacher, while another showed the teacher's face.  The ad did not reference the teacher's employment, name, nor was the ad connected in any way to the t...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Under both California and federal law, schools CANNOT make drugging kids a condition of attending school.  This means that if a child is alleged to have "behavior issues" there is no requirement parents seek out a mind-altering substance to control them in the classroom. Despite this, there is often a LOT of pressure from school officials, teachers, etc. for parents to control a non-conforming child by use of drugs.  Prior to giving in to the pressure, PLEASE look at alternative methods of controlling behavior as described below. Over the years, I have consulted with thousands of parents with problems in the schools. Conflict arises when a student cannot sit in their seat 4-6 hours a day without distracting other students with foot tapping, jokes, fidgeting, or other activity.  The intolerance is large and the schools have become much more focused on CONTROL of children. Many parents, as a result, hav...