Children’s Law Clinic Resources

A student who has an identified disability and receives special education is entitled to some additional protections in the school discipline process.  Most particularly, a student with disabilities may not be subject to long-term suspension from school for engaging in conduct that is symptomatic of the disability.  Thus, prior to the discipline hearing, the school must schedule a special meeting known as a “Manifestation Determination Review.”  At this meeting, to which the student’s parents must be invited, a decision must be made about whether the misconduct was “caused by, or had a direct and substantial relationship to the child’s disability,” or was the direct result of the school’s failure to follow the child’s special education plan (known as the IEP, Individualized Education Program).  If either of these standards is met, the suspension must be withdrawn.  The decision at the Manifestation Determination Review is appealable through a due process proceeding at the N.C. Office of Administrative Hearings.