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Due Process and the Principal

Due Process and the Principal. EDAD 689 The School Principal By: Melanie Dozier September 21, 2010. What is due process?. Due process is a Constitutional right that comes from the 14 th amendment.

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Due Process and the Principal

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  1. Due Process and the Principal EDAD 689 The School Principal By: Melanie Dozier September 21, 2010

  2. What is due process? • Due process is a Constitutional right that comes from the 14th amendment. • No state can “deprive a person of their life, liberty, or property without due process of law”. • “Procedures enacted to safeguard the rights of an employee, including the right to a fair and impartial hearing on allegations of noncompliance with the policies, goals, objectives, rules, and regulations of a school district” (Rebore, 2009, p. 376).

  3. Students’ Rights • The Fourth Amendment (privacy issues) prohibits “unreasonable” searches and seizures. • The Fifth Amendment (fairness) is the due process clause where the principal must provide the student with 2 rights when disciplining: • Specific information about the charges and the evidence behind it • A chance to tell his side of the story

  4. Searches and Seizures “REASONABLE SUSPICION” No warrant is necessary for school officials, where prohibited by the police. • Lockers: courts have upheld searches • Purse/Book Bags: reasonable suspicion • Body Searches: pat-down (minimally invasive; strip (highly invasive)

  5. Searches and Seizures (cont.) • Canine Searches: drug-sniffing dogs only explore what is within “plain smell.” • Student Drug Testing: random drug testing for students to participate in extracurricular activities • Student’s Car in Parking Lot: reasonable

  6. Students’ Rights (cont.) • If due process is not followed, any punishment can be overturned. • Small offenses with small penalties – principal’s office • Large offenses with suspensions, expulsions, and/or criminal charges usually merit a formal process with potential legal representation.

  7. Employees’ Rights • Each employee has a behavior file in the district protected by the law. • No material derogatory to an employee’s conduct, service, character, or personality can be placed in file without the teacher first reading it. • Employee has to sign saying she read it, but she doesn’t have to agree with it.

  8. Employees’ Rights (cont.) • If the written notice has not been put in file within 3 months of the incident, it may not be added to the file. • Employee can reproduce any material in her file and can review her file.

  9. Employee Discipline • Written warning. • Employee is given time to improve. • If satisfactory improvement is not shown, a second written warning with specific consequences if the problem is not rectified. • After a series of warnings, the employee can be dismissed, usually by board.

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