Discipline Law

Student discipline in New York City schools is governed by over 200 pages of regulations, not including the federal due process requirements, and requirements arising out of case law.

The SAVE legislation requires extensive compliance measures. In addition, various provisions of the New York State Education Law, the Regulations of the New York City Chancellor, and Decisions of the New York State Chancellor of Education govern discipline.

The Discipline Code explains the rules' and regulations' relation to student behavior, including Student Rights and Responsibilities.

Under the Code, Student Rights include due process rights set out in Chancellor's Regulation A-443, which is almost 100 pages long. The regulation is explained in our charts: How Do I Suspend a Special Education Student and How Do I Suspend a Disruptive Student.

All entries into student records must be made in accordance with Chancellor's Regulation A-820, a 10-page regulations ensuring compliance with FERPA.

For more information, read this letter to parents regarding The Discipline Code.

See also Chart of Infractions and Weapons Chart which are also part of The Discipline Code.

Guides put out by Advocates for Children also provide helpful information to students about their rights. Some sample advice for students and parents:

"Deciding to have your child testify. Your child does not have to testify unless you choose to let him/her. It will not be held against your child if s/he doesn't testify. If your child does testify the hearing officer is then allowed to ask him/her questions too. This is risky, because students often say things that they think will help, but actually hurt, like 'Well, I did hit him, but I was really angry and now I'm sorry.' If you do choose to have your child testify, go over his/her story a few times and make sure your child makes eye contact with the hearing officer.

...

"The school must prove that your child did what they have charged. . . . It must bring people who have first-hand knowledge of the incident. . . . A suspension cannot be upheld with written witness statements alone; the charges can only be proved with the direct testimony of a witness at the hearing or with the written admission (confession) of your child (if your child admitted the charges)."

Complete text of the AFC guides:

Elementary/Jr. High Superintendent's Suspension Guide

High School Superintendent's Suspension Guide

A Principal's Suspension Guide

In addition, the Chancellor launched Operation Safe Schools in November 2002. Operation Safe Schools involves deployment of additional surveillance equipment and school safety agents, and the introduction of new disciplinary options:

• Immediate deployment of 129 new School Safety Agents. Hiring and training 300 additional School Safety Agents in Spring 2003; 
• Installation of new surveillance cameras in 11 large high schools with a history of safety issues;  
• Creation of new disciplinary options, to include: 
  • Any student committing a minor infraction will be required to sign a student behavior contract; the student's parents/guardians must also sign the contract; 
  • Students committing repeated minor infractions will be assigned visible, supervised in-school service assignments, such as graffiti removal. The student may also be required to attend Saturday or evening violence prevention and conflict resolution programs;
  • Students who commit serious but non-violent infractions may be assigned to transitional classrooms for a period of several weeks. Previously, such students could only be assigned to in-school suspension centers for several days;
  • Even more serious infractions may result in assignment to twilight schools, which involve assignment to community service projects during the day and class attendance in the late afternoon and early evening;
  • Students committing the most serious will continue to be assigned to Second Opportunity Schools; the capacity of these schools will be increased, high school and middle school students will be separated, and the rules will be changed to allow easier assignment of students to these schools. 

View the Student Behavioral Contract and the Internet Acceptable Use Policy.

See also, The School Discipline Advisor, a publication designed to help educators comply with the web of laws in the area and What Do I Do When ...The Answer Book on Discipline to "find out when - and how - you can legally remove potentially violent and dangerous students from the school environment and what constitutes discrimination under Section 504. And, The Answer Book on Discipline examines changes made by the 1999 IDEA Regulations, so you know your obligations and alternatives for disciplining students with disabilities. This handy guide covers topics such as expulsion, short- and long-term suspension, corporal punishment, disciplinary record management under FERPA and the IDEA, functional behavioral assessments, detention, and much more."

And also, "Keeping Your District From 'Disciplining' Your Child For 'Up To Ten Free Days' At A Time" by Reed Martin, J.D. Some of the advice:

"Does your school tell you they can do anything they want to do to your child so long as it is not for more than 10 days? That is a perfect example of a school administrator, faced with 100 pages of statutory amendments, 111 pages of regulatory changes, and 26 pages of a new Appendix A, missing everything that helps children and focusing on one sentence fragment that suggests they have a free hand for anything less than 10 days."