Appealing A School Expulsion: When Does Filing Make Sense?
By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Imagine life is rosy, your son is a 4.0 gpa student, wants to go to college, has a job, a girlfriend and is participating in extracurricular activities. Then, one sunny afternoon, the phone rings and it is your son's Vice Principal, Mr. Jones, who says that your son is up for expulsion for having sold drugs to some kids on campus. Your heart sinks and your world spins. Is this a joke? Are you being punked ? No. This is real. There is no way your son did this. The school has to be making it up. He is a great kid with no discipline issues, and there is nothing in his room, on his computer or on his phone. You are confident that any school panel, despite the witness statements and evidence against your son (all lies!) will believe you. You decide you don't need help with the expulsion hearing and proceed to hearing alone. At the hearing, your son explains that he d...