Suicide and Antidepressants- the Candace Downing Story

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995

Many parents are pressured to medicate their children who may exhibit symptoms of depression, so they can allegedly do "better" at school or in life.  Here is a video which parents should watch before they ever pursue antidepressants for their kids based on their school functioning or otherwise.  Know the side effects before proceeding with any medication.

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Filing A CIF Appeal On Sports Denials, How Does The Hearing Process Work?

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Has your son or daughter been banned from playing sports by the local CIF office due to an alleged "sports motivated" t ransfer?  Is your initial sit-out period being denied on your first change of schools?  Or is your child banned for some other reason which you dispute?  If so, it may be time to move forward with a formal appeal to the State  CIF  Appeals Office .  How does this process work?   How things go with an individual school/site/student can vary, but usually the process starts before most parents realize the seriousness of the situation.  Let's take transfer eligibility as our example.  Other issues may also be sent to the local CIF office and a similar process would occur. If a parent is lucky, they may be notified that their child's transfer eligibility is being sent up to the local CIF Commissioner.  If they are really lucky, they may be notified that ...
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School Expulsion/Discipline For Knife Offenses: What IS a Knife Under the California Education Code?

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Many students are suspended or placed up for expulsion for possession of a "knife," pursuant to California Education Code 48900(b) .  Although what a "knife" is, seems somewhat obvious, it is specifically defined in  the Education Code and the definition is important. A sister section, 48915(g) contains the definition of a knife as it relates to suspension or expulsion.  Per 48915(g) a "knife" is: [A]ny dirk, dagger, or other weapon with a fixed, sharpened blade fitted primarily for stabbing, a weapon with a blade longer than 3 1/2 inches, a folding knife with a blade that locks into place, or a razor with an unguarded blade. Okay- you may feel like you are somewhere back in time when trying to figure out what a " dirk " or " dagger " is, but click the links to find out.  For our purposes, the two most important definitions are: 1)  Weapon with a blade longer than 3...
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Interdistrict Transfers in California: Can A School Require You To Reapply?

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