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(8.3) Can school districts use an alternative to suspensions or expulsions?

(8.3) Can school districts use an alternative to suspensions or expulsions?

Yes. Suspension is appropriate only after other means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct. Other means of correction include, but are not limited to: a conference between school personnel and the parent/guardian/other education rights holder, a referral for special education assessments, and a positive behavior support approach with tiered interventions. School districts should use alternatives to suspension or expulsion to address problems of truancy, tardiness, and other absences from school activities. A student may not be suspended or expelled solely because the student is truant, tardy or absent from school.[1]

It is within the superintendent’s discretion to use alternative methods, such as anger-management classes, instead of suspension or expulsion.[2] A school district may also adopt a policy authorizing teachers to require the parent/guardian/other education rights holder of a pupil who has been suspended to attend a portion of a school day in the classroom of their child or ward.[3]

  1. Cal. Ed. Code Sec. 48900(w).[]
  2. Cal. Ed. Code Sec. 48900(v).[]
  3. Cal. Ed. Code Sec. 48900.1.[]