Increasing the dialogue among stakeholders in New Jersey’s special education system

Better IEPs: Know Your Rights: Short- and Long-Term Suspension

Mar 17, 2022 | Better IEPs

picture of a early teen girl in a hoody with bowed head looking sad and the image is distorted in an abstract manner

When a student with disabilities faces school disciplinary action, there are important protections in IDEA that must be followed.

A school may suspend a student with a disability for up to 10 consecutive school days, as long as the suspension doesn’t constitute a “change in placement.” School staff decides whether a “change in placement” occurred. In making this decision, they consider:

  1. whether the series of suspensions total more than 10 school days in a school year,
  2. whether the student’s behavior is similar to her behavior in previous incidents that resulted in the series of suspensions, and
  3. additional factors such as the length of each suspension, the total amount of suspension time, and the proximity of the suspensions to one another.

If school staff determines suspension is a change in placement, long-term suspension rules apply.

Long-term suspension

A school may impose a long-term suspension of more than 10 consecutive days on a student with a disability if:

  1. the student’s IEP does not provide otherwise, and
  2. the student’s conduct is determined not to be a “manifestation” of the child’s disability.

Manifestation determination

The district must hold a meeting within 10 school days from the date of suspension to determine whether the student’s conduct was a manifestation of the student’s disability.

  1. If conduct is not a manifestation, the student may be suspended more than 10 days.
  2. If conduct is a manifestation, the student must return to school placement immediately, unless the 45-day exception applies. The school must also conduct a functional behavioral assessment. This assessment identifies the causes of a student’s problem behavior(s), and helps the school develop a plan to address those causes.

The 45-day exception

A school may place a student with a disability in an alternative educational setting for 45 days, even when the behavior was a manifestation of the student’s disability, for the following behaviors:

  1. possession of a weapon
  2. knowing possession or use of illegal drugs
  3. infliction of serious bodily injury upon another person

(from: https://edlawcenter.org/assets/files/pdfs/publications/Student_discipline_manual.pdf).

Resources

If you believe that a student has been subject to inappropriate disciplinary action, or disciplined in a way that violated their rights, help is available:
Advocates for Children of NJ: 973-643-3876
Disability Rights New Jersey: 1-800-922-7233
Education Law Center: 973-624-1815
Legal Services of NJ: 1-888-576-5529
SPAN Advocacy: 973-642-8100