The student discipline pendulum in California has swung from the “zero tolerance” days of the 1990s to a persistent mantra of interventions and other means of correction. And for good reason. Exclusionary discipline has been shown to negatively impact students and families in a variety of ways and can even rise to the level of civil rights violations. At the same time, school safety is still paramount, and schools must have the legal tools to exercise a continuum of discipline options (including expulsion) when appropriate. This presentation will provide an overview of student discipline fundamentals (i.e., the legal nuts and bolts), while highlighting best practices to avoid civil rights violations along the way.
