Student Rights and Responsibilities

1. Student Rights and Responsibilities The Hungerford Law Firm December 2, 2015

2. What would you do? • A mother asks for help in stopping the “bullying” behavior of students toward her daughter, Jill. The mother learned of anonymous entries on social media, describing Jill as a “promiscuous slut.” • In investigating, the administrator is alerted to a Facebook entry by Sam: “Jill is not a person to be trusted. I have found she doesn’t keep her word.” • Sam denies making any entries calling Jill a “slut” or any other offensive or profane term. • Jill’s mother demands that Sam be expelled and not have any contact with her daughter ever again. • Learn and practice how to give and document direction and feedback to employees.

3. You choose: A. Recommend Sam for expulsion. He’s lied to you before. B. Transfer Jill to another school so she can get a fresh start with a new group. C. Transfer Sam to an alternative school on a different site so he has no contact with Jill. D. Other ______________________

4. What would you do? • Sam, an 8th-grader at one middle school, transfers at semester time to the other middle school in town as Samantha, who dresses and acts like a girl. • Samantha wishes to use the girl’s bathroom. • A unisex faculty restroom is in the same vicinity. • Samantha also wishes to use the girls’ shower/changing rooms during PE

5. You Choose: • Insist that Samantha use the unisex bathroom and discipline her if she refuses. • Assign Samantha to PE classes such as golf and bowling that don’t include showering or changing of clothes. • Allow Samantha to use girls’ facilities but insist that she use a closed stall inside. • Notify parents of other girls about the issue and allow their girls to use one of two faculty shower rooms or the unisex bathroom.

6. What would you do? • Your school’s dress code says shorts must extend at least to a student’s fingertips. Betsy was warned by the counselor that her rolled-up jean shorts violated the rule. Betsy rolled them down. • A few days later, Betsy was observed in the hall with the same shorts on, rolled up again. She was asked to come to the office. • Betsy says she won’t come to the office until she can call her mother. She denies rolling up the shorts. Videotape shows the shorts rolled up. • Betsy’s mother claims the staff is harassing her daughter because of her race, since non-minority students are not disciplined for the same dress.

7. You choose: A. Eliminate rules on length of shorts because they violate First Amendment rights. B. Show Betsy’s mom the videotape to prove the girl is lying, and suspend her for a day. C. Decide against any discipline because you review data showing that 60% of dress code violations involve minorities, which amount to only 40% of students. OTHER?

8. What would you do? •The editor of the student paper wants to run a story giving “ratings” of teachers on an anonymous survey of students, plus comments. • The newspaper adviser gives you a “heads up” that “this will make some staff members very upset.” • You review the story and decide it could be very disruptive; some comments could be defamatory.

9. You choose: A. Delete the entire story because the survey was not objective. B. Call the editor’s parents and warn that they could be responsible for money damages if some teachers sued. C. Alert the staff ahead of publication and then talk individually to teachers most vilified in the story. D. Delete negative comments about teachers

10. What would you do? • Students in a middle school art class were told to draw/paint “something I’m thankful for.” • About a third of the students’ work presented a religious scene or image. The art teacher has displayed all the students’ work in the hallway outside the art classroom. • A parent calls to complain that the images make his child feel very uncomfortable because they are atheists.

11. You choose: A. Tell the art teacher to take down the artwork in the hall. B. Have students redo the assignment if they had drawn/painted religious themes. C. Tell the art teacher to take down most of the artwork and leave up only the non-religious paintings/ drawings. D. Tell the art teacher to be more careful in giving open-ended assignments in the future.

12. What do you do? • The new choir teacher wants to showcase student talent and arranges for vocal groups to sing Christmas- related songs at local civic events, retirement homes, new business “openings,” and a local church’s charity bazaar • Students must participate in 4 of 8 events to earn an A in the class. • A parent objects to her child singing at the bazaar because of religious symbolism at the site, including a crucifix; demands choir withdraw from this venue.

13. You Choose: • Quietly cancel the performance at the church bazaar. • Continue the performances as planned. • Insist that the choir’s performance at the bazaar be in a spot where everyone can attend without paying a fee to enter/hear. • Tell the parent her child doesn’t have to participate in any of the events and won’t be penalized grade-wise.

14. What would you do? • A student, Joe, tells you that yesterday he overheard a student (Frank) offer marijuana to a third student (Bill), who isn’t at school today. • Joe has had a number of disciplinary referrals for skipping school and disrespect to teachers. • You call Frank into the office; he denies Joe’s account and says that actually Joe was dealing. • Frank refuses to allow his backpack to be searched. You can’t get ahold of his mother.

15. You choose: A. Search Frank’s backpack anyway. B. Take no disciplinary action but call in Frank’s parents for a conference about reports of his dealing at school. C. Search both Frank and Joe’s lockers for drugs. D. Bring in sniff dogs and let students know this is happening because of the “drug culture” at school.

16. What would you do? • Steve’s mother was irate that he was interviewed by the SRO without her knowledge, even though he was just a witness, and said no school official could talk to her son without her lawyer present. • Later, a student reported that Steve had offered to sell a Ritalin tablet. • The Asst. Principal interviewed Steve, with the SRO present, and Steve said it was true. • The mother says she’ll sue for violation of Steve’s due process rights.

17. You choose: A. Write Steve’s mother an apology and agree that the SRO will have no contact with Steve. B. Tell the vice-principal not to involve the SRO in any investigations from now on. C. Tell the parent, “Bring it on.” D. Make no changes in procedure.

18. What would you do? • The student handbook says students can be disciplined for “making threats.” • After a second bomb threat in a week was phoned in, student Ray admitted he made the call from the pay phone in the lunch room after Huey and Duey dared him to do so, gave him money to make the call, and watched him. • Huey’s lawyer says Huey was denied due process because his client never made any threats. Ray has accepted a one-semester expulsion.

19. You choose: A. Schedule an expulsion hearing where Huey can describe what happened before and while the bomb threat was called in. B. Withdraw the expulsion recommendation because Huey did not actually make the threat. C. Proceed with the expulsion hearing but rewrite the letter to clarify the role Huey played and the disruptive effect on the school. D. Remove the pay phone from lunch room.

20. What would you do? • Lloyd is a disabled student due to ADHD. • Lloyd was suspended for 3 days for taking a MP-3 from the computer lab. Thereafter he was only allowed to go to a lab where the IA knew this. • Lloyd went to a different lab and stole a laptop. The next day he stole two power cords because the battery was dead on the laptop. • Lloyd was recommended for expulsion. • Lloyd’s parents say his misconduct was the result of his impulsive poor decision-making, due to ADHD. • Lloyd told the principal that he had thought about whether the laptop would fit in his backpack. • Was penalty reasonable?

21. You choose: A. Schedule a manifestation decision. B. Withdraw the expulsion recommendation if the parents agree to pay for the destroyed laptop. C. Convert the expulsion to another suspension but change Lloyd’s schedule so he has no computer assignments and have a 1:1 aide “shadow” him between classes. D. Look for an alternative placement for Lloyd.

22. What would you do? •The teacher finds a note titled “Ten people who need to die.” She recognizes the handwriting as Bettina’s. On the list is the vice-principal, a teacher, and 8 students. • Bettina’s mother says Bettina can’t be located but frequently spends the night with friends. • A student reports that Bettina carries a knife at school.

23. You choose: A. Report the threat to police and invite them to be at the school the next morning to search Bettina if she comes to school. B. Contact that evening each of the parents of the 8 students, as well as the teacher and VP to tell them about the note. C. Ask the police to pursue charges against Bettina so that she can be put in a detention facility and get the supervision she needs.

24. What would you do if: • Brandon “vents” on Facebook on a day when school wasn’t in session, about a teacher who gave him a “C grade,” writes, “Ya ha ha she needs to be shot.” • Within 24 hours, Brandon’s mother insists he delete the entire post, and he does. • Six weeks later, another parent sends a copy of Brandon’s post to the assistant principal. • The teacher is nervous and upset about having Brandon remain in her class. • Brandon’s mother says he can’t be disciplined for something occurring outside of school.

25. You Choose: • A. Suspend Brandon for the rest of the year • B. Don’t discipline Brandon but move him out of this teacher’s class. • C. Don’t discipline Brandon but report the matter to police. • D. Contact Facebook and ask them to bar him from any future Facebook activity. • Other?

26. More questions? • Contact Nancy Hungerford at 503-781-3458 (nancy@hungerfordlaw.com) • Contact Jennifer Hungerford at 503-467-9405 (jennifer@hungerfordlaw.com)