Under federal special education law, before a school district may discipline a student with a disability for greater than 10 days, it must first determine whether the student's actions were a manifestation of his or her disability (IDEA, 2004). This requirement, referred to as manifestation determination review (MDR), aims to ensure that students…

With the passing of the Gun Free School Act of 1994, the 1990s bore witness to the birth of zero-tolerance policies. During the remainder of that decade, several school shootings occurred that solidified zero-tolerance in schools across the United States. With the possibility of threats constantly increasing, school personnel having a thorough…

In this article, we consider a series of U.S. Supreme Court rulings that place public school students under an expansive shield of constitutional rights while often hampering the ability of administrators to engage in flexible and creative conflict resolution in the context of the school's mission. The court's readiness to adjudicate a large range…

Discusses recent federal court rulings setting minimal procedural requirements governing the administration of student discipline by school officials. (JG)

This third edition expands coverage on such topics as the law and students with disabilities, confidentiality, sexual harassment, student searches and tuition vouchers. It also includes some new topics such as bullying, copyright law, and the law and the internet. Both public and nonpublic school educators are aware that courts, over the last…

Using Goss v. Lopez as an example, this paper discusses how a Supreme Court decision impacts at three different levels: the extent of compliance with a decision, the direct effects of a decision, and--of greater importance--the unintended consequences. The latter occur, for example, when school districts engage attorneys where they had none…

Principals, teachers, and counselors in 15 Indiana high schools were interviewed to determine what procedures they believed were required in various disciplinary actions, and what authority they believed had sanctioned these procedures. The interviewees came from small, medium, and large schools in rural and urban settings. Nearly 71 percent of…

Traces the Court's delineation of three kinds of suspension--simple short-term, unusual short-term, and long-term--and the due process that must be accorded in each. (IRT)

Reviews case law related to disciplining handicapped students, highlighting two 1975 landmark cases ("Wood v Strickland" and "Goss v Lopez") involving suspensions and one seminal case ("Stuart v Nappi") involving expulsion. Although specially protected, handicapped students are neither immune from a school's…

One of a series of secondary level teaching units presenting case studies with pro and con analyses of particular legal problems, the document presents a student's lesson plan, a teacher's lesson plan, and a lawyer's lesson plan designed to expose students to the concept of procedural due process with particular reference to the Supreme Court's…

Instead of viewing the Goss and Wood decisions as a disruptive and intrusive element in the operation of the school system, educators can look at them as an impetus for improving the relationship of students and educators to each other and to the education system. (Author)

Since the Supreme Court's Goss v. Lopez decision of 1975, both the number of students suspended and the number of suspensions successfully challenged in courts have increased. A survey of Illinois high school disciplinarians suggest that their level of recognition of substantive due process, as measured by the standards of Fundamental Fairness and…

School administrators have the statutory authority and the legal obligation to maintain discipline in the schools. They must, however, preserve discipline with affirmative policies that respect student rights. Available from Willamette University College of Law, Salem, OR 97301. (Author/IRT)

Fourteen years ago in "Goss v. Lopez," the Supreme Court dealt with the procedural due process required when students are suspended for 10 days or less. Examines how case law has developed in lower federal and state courts from this decision. (MLF)

This chapter deals with due process in student suspensions, including the implications of the Goss v. Lopez decision. In the Goss case, the Court essentially said that prior to the imposition of any suspension an informal hearing must occur in which the student charged has the opportunity to present his side of the controversy and thereupon…