Student Rights in the COVID Era: Special Education and College Safety Contracts

Posted on September 8, 2020

COVID-19 has upended life as we know it, but this fall, the focus of many will be on the education system – both public and private, secondary and higher education. Now that schools and colleges have reopened, and after a summer where secondary and college administrators and teachers were faced with incredibly...

Navigating Sexual Assault Complaints on Campus

Posted on November 2, 2017

Private and public colleges, as well as the federal government, have offered their various views and opinions on how sexual assault cases on college campuses should be handled. Title IX is the federal law that dictates how such cases must be handled procedurally by colleges who receive federal funding. Almost all colleges...

Student Discipline and Expulsion Procedures in Massachusetts Public and Charter Schools

Posted on February 25, 2016

Due Process and Educational Services From schoolyard pranks to serious offenses, students facing disciplinary action in Massachusetts public and charter schools have a right to due process and educational services. New Procedures for Suspending or Expelling Students Massachusetts schools used to have...

Kindergarten and Pre-K Students Suspended from Massachusetts Schools

Posted on February 4, 2016

A WBUR analysis of state data shows that 603 kindergarten and pre-kindergarten students were suspended from Massachusetts public and charter schools in the 2014-15 school year. Reasons for the suspensions included hitting, disrupting, disrespecting, throwing things, and fighting. Suspending children that young raises a host of questions for...