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By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 California is a diverse state, with many different cultures, nationalities and languages being spoken.  Residents' children, regardless of language spoken by students or their parents, have the right to attend California public schools.  Still, while non-English speaking students may attend classes (e.g. Spanish/English transition classes) which help them transition to English, their parents may remain non-English speakers.  How do they stay informed about their child's school progress, development, and any issues which might arise? Education Code  � 48985  mandates that documents be translated for non-English speaking parents if pupils speak a language other than English and total more than 15% of a school's population: "(a) If 15 percent or more of the pupils enrolled in a public school that provides instruction in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, speak a single ...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Have you been hit by notice that a school expulsion hearing is being scheduled against your son or daughter?  Should you go to hearing?  How do you get rid of it?  Most parents get a notice and don't do anything but show up at the hearing. However, that may not always be the best strategy. With school expulsion hearings, there often is no "winning."  Schools line up a myriad of student statements which may conflict with each other to prove guilt. The accused student's statement is ignored, along with his/her friends' statements.  When the hearing occurs, many schools do not even bring any live witness testimony to the hearing (this is a whole different evidentiary issue), and the panel evaluating the matter is made of school district employees already biased against the student.  Does this sound like a fair system?  Regardless, it is the system that exists for students and their pa...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 With school expulsions, it can sometimes seem hopeless.  The school may be able to prove a child "did it," and isn't that it?  Not necessarily.  Schools have at least one more hurdle to jump over to expel a child in most cases (excluding the big 5 mandatory expulsion offenses ): proving that other types of correction have been attempted or repeatedly failed and/or the act itself makes the child physically dangerous. Specifically, California Education Code sections   48915 (b) and (e) , require (for non-mandatory expulsion offenses ) the following: [A] decision to expel a pupil for any of those acts shall be based on a  finding of one or both of the following: (1) Other means of correction are not feasible or have repeatedly failed to bring about proper conduct. (2) Due to the nature of the act, the presence of the pupil causes a continuing danger to the physical safety of the...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Expulsions from school unfortunately occur more often than one might think. Parents who believe life is going along smoothly with their children, may find themselves on the end of a phone call with a Vice Principal telling them to come pick up their child as they are up for suspension.  Upon arrival and discussing the situation, they may also be told their child is up for expulsion and the matter is going to hearing.   Is there any hope for resolution before the dreaded expulsion hearing?  There may be. Usually, parents with a child up for expulsion wait for the expulsion hearing to take place to plead their case, believing the expulsion hearing panel and/or hearing officer will believe them and have mercy.  Unfortunately, the expulsion panel usually takes a limited view of their punishment options and may feel they have no choice but to expel a student irregardless of a parent's plea and even on...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Waivers of rights are significant things.  However, more and more, parents are subjected to high pressure to sign documents waiving their and their child's rights: to hearing, to a properly noticed hearing, to time limits for the hearing...in school expulsion matters.  Waivers under pressure can be disastrous for students. One parent told me that their school district provided them with a document for a "stipulated" expulsion ( meaning you simply consent to the expulsion in writing) and told them to sign by Friday or FACE A HEARING!  The parent had a picture painted of doom and gloom if they DID NOT sign the document.  Yet, the document bound their child to be expelled for the maximum time possible. Nothing at all would have been gained by signing the document and they could potentially have improved their punishment by simply going to hearing, or involving legal counsel.  How could they ge...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Bullying has been a hot topic recently, due to its prevalence in schools: on the bus, in the classrooms, in the bathrooms, and generally wherever students interact.  Do you remember the school bully?  Or, maybe you have seen movie depictions such as the red haired youth with his raccoon fur hat who terrorizes the main character Ralphie in  A Christmas Story .  Did you know that students can be suspended or expelled from school for bullying? Per the California Education Code, section 48900(r) , students who bully can be kicked out of school. Such discipline is limited to pupils in the fourth grade or above and the legal definition of bullying is as follows ( summarized below): "Severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct, including communications made in writing or by means of an electronic act ...that has or could be "reasonably predicted" to have the following impact on a "reasonable...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 As school expulsions are occurring at such an alarming rate to our children, it is important for parents to know what NOT to do when embroiled in an expulsion hearing.   Here is what you should NOT do at a school expulsion hearing: 1)   Do not allow your child to testify.    Make the district prove their case, and don't do it for them.  One  exception could arise if your child has already fully confessed to having "done it" in writing. 2)   Do not forget to object to evidence.  If the school district attempts to admit evidence which should not be allowed into the hearing record (e.g. evidence from another student), object and ask for it to be removed. 3)  Do not get emotional at the hearing if you are the one making the arguments.  If you do not bring an attorney with you and are the one making the arguments to the expulsion panel or board,  you should no...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Parents often need all the help they can get in handling school expulsion hearings. One of my favorite cases to attack expulsion hearings for an utter lack of proper evidence is John A. v. San Bernardino City Unified School District , decided in 1982 by the California Supreme Court. In this beautiful case, the California Supreme Court evaluated an expulsion of "John A." for allegedly being involved in a large altercation not witnessed by anyone but students.  At John A's expulsion hearing, no direct witnesses (e.g. students who actually saw or were involved in the fight) testified, other than John A.  Rather, the district's case revolved around reading a summary from the school into the record and written witness statements.  When John A. spoke, he explained that he did not strike nor kick the boys involved.  Rather, he said the boys were "play boxing."  He denied any racial connection, ...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 School expulsions seem to be everywhere now.  Expulsion hearings are very important, and parents need to know their rights.  One of these rights is the right to request that subpoenas be issued to potential witnesses when a school expulsion is pending. The right to subpoena witnesses   (order to appear before a body or face consequences)  is an important part of our judicial system.  Courts and other agencies must be able to hear the complete case, listen to all the evidence, and see if the "story" turns out to be true.  This subpoena right also exists in the context of school expulsion hearings, but the subpoena power rests with the school district in question. California Education Code section 48918(i)(1)  states as follows: "Before the hearing has commenced, the governing board may issue subpoenas at the request of either the superintendent of schools or the superintendent's de...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 What happens when your child is put up for expulsion?  What is the process?  What happens at the expulsion hearing?  Who handles expulsion appeals? Check out my video now to find out! This video breaks down the process and provides an outline of what usually happens in California school expulsion matters, from the suspension and expulsion recommendation through hearing and appeal. Best, Michelle Ball Education Law Attorney LAW OFFICE OF MICHELLE BALL 717 K Street, Suite 228 Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone: 916-444-9064 Fax: 916-444-1209 Website: http://www.edlaw4students.com/ Blog: http://edlaw4students.blogspot.com/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/michelleaball Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/EdLaw4Students Please see my disclaimer on the bottom of my blog page [ http://edlaw4students.blogspot.com/ ]. This is legal information, not legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is formed by this postin...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 As a California expulsion lawyer, I frequently meet with parents regarding pending school expulsions.  One of the questions which often comes up is whether, if the parent removed the student from the school or district prior to the expulsion hearing, the school district would still have jurisdiction to expel?  Yes.  A school expulsion hearing cannot be avoided by running or disappearing. Once an expellable act is alleged to have occurred and an expulsion hearing is pending, even if a student moves out of state, the expulsion hearing may still proceed.  Not going to the hearing does not avoid the consequences no matter how much we wish that were so.  Additionally, when the student is enrolled somewhere else, their discipline records will follow them and they may be refused admission. If a parent has committed to not returning a student with a pending expulsion hearing to a school distric...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 A family came to my office about a month ago with a scenario which was absolutely baffling to me.  Their son had been expelled in a remote district in California for an interaction with a coach.  That was not the shocking part.  The stunner was HOW the expulsion went down. The "hearing" was not a hearing at all and the family was left to observe the whole process.  Their rights were severely trampled.  Needless to say, I went in and the expulsion was immediately reversed and expunged.  The boy is now back in school and everyone pretends the whole ordeal never happened.  What a joke.  The sad thing is, the school did not reverse itself until I officially got involved as even when the parents asserted their rights, they were ignored.  This is because districts don't listen to parents on legal matters, they only listen to lawyers. Let me tell you just some of the violations...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Does a parent really need an attorney to help them resolve and/or represent them at a school expulsion hearing?  Yes, yes and yes! Expulsions are serious matters and result in a permanent mark on the student's record which can arise later in life, such as during application to college and when attempting to get certain jobs (this even comes up when applying to be an attorney).  Additionally, once expelled, a student cannot return to their school district for a set period of time and may have to attend school in a less savory environment, such as a continuation school.  And, if an expelled student does not meet the "rehabilitation plan" terms in the expulsion, they may never return to that district. Parents are also going up against folks who "do this for a living" who are ultimately familiar with the expulsion hearing rules and requirements e.g. for witnesses, for evidence, for procedure, an...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 I have been representing parents and students since 1995 and often reflect on all the stories I have heard.  Some interesting ones come to mind in the expulsion arena. For example, some years ago I met a family whose young son was up for expulsion for positioning his FINGERS to resemble a gun (e.g. the thumb and index finger) and  going "pow pow" to another student.  For this, the student was UP FOR EXPULSION.  When we went to the hearing the teacher actually went off on how scary that was.  Fingers?  What threat do they pose?  The kid was playing with another student and had no access to any weapons.  Unbelievable.  I know there are teachers out there who could explain this, but I believe this went just a tad overboard. Another family found their son up for expulsion for having a "mental list" of potential student targets.  Now in case you don't know, a "mental list...

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995 Parents of students attending public schools often feel helpless when they are facing a school expulsion hearing.  After they receive notice of the hearing, they may have less than 10 days to prepare.  It is usually a new experience and is confusing.  As such, parents should be aware of their AUTOMATIC right to a postponement of any public school expulsion hearing in California. Per California Education Code section 48918(a), a student is entitled to at least one postponement up to 30 calendar days no questions asked. If a parent wants to get prepared or discuss the matter with an attorney, and time is tight, a postponement request can be made in writing to the school district.  Parents may request a mutually agreeable date be provide for the new hearing and can even let the district know some good dates for the family.  There is no guarantee the district will set the hearing on those dates,...