In the May-June 2009 issue of In Case (Council for Administrators of Special Education), Julie Weatherly (attorney with the Weatherly Law Firm), begins a series of articles addressing the discipline of students with disabilities. Here is the second essential point..."All students, disabled or not, are entitled to a level of 'due process' before they can be removed from public school for any period of time for disciplinary reasons. In 1975, the Supreme Court decided the case of Goss v. Lopez, which did not address entitlements to students with disabilities but addressed discipline generally. The Goss Court held that where a public school student is suspended from school for ten days or less a certain level of "due process" should be afforded, which includes oral or written notice of the charges against the student and a chance to present his/her side of the story. For exclusions for more than 10 days, a formal level of process is due, including an opportunity for a hearing with the right to confront and cross-examine witnesses and secure counsel. Should it be determined that a student with a disability will be suspended, it is important that these minimal rights are properly incorporated into the suspension process for that student as they are for a nondisabled student."
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