Washington Public School Discipline: Suspensions - A Practical Guide for Families
A call from school saying that your child has been suspended alarms every parent it happens. to. It can also leave very little time to understand what happened, what the school is alleging, and what you should do next. Washington law distinguishes between several kinds of school exclusions, and the procedures and deadlines for each are not identical. As a parent, job number one is to know and understand what really happened so that you can decide (1) how to address your child’s needs and behaviors and (2) whether an appeal to correct a misunderstanding by the school is needed.
*Note: this is not legal advice to take any specific course of action. Each situation is different and the intention here is to help explain the rights that are available to all public K-12 students in Washington state.
This post is meant to address the most common form of school discipline: long and short-term suspensions. Expulsions from school are rarer (but more serious as well) and often call for more nuanced analysis, preferably with the help of an attorney. On the other side of the disciplinary spectrum are “emergency expulsions.” These are like “administrative suspensions” in the workplace: they are meant to keep order in a chaotic situation until more investigation can determine what really took place and needs to happen next. To learn more (if interested), read about them in the state regulation that defines each type of discipline in the Washington Administrative Code (“WAC”) chapter 392-400.
*Note: years ago, I complained to OSPI that I was getting many calls from families saying that schools had sent their children home because they “weren’t ready” for school. No discipline notices, no appeal rights, just saying that the child could not attend. Eventually, OSPI created rules about the length of classroom exclusions so that parents had clearer appeal rights to challenge any denial of educational opportunities for behavioral reasons. Do NOT accept any explanation from a public-school administrator that your student cannot come to school if it is not attached to the notice and procedural due process rights that exist in the law.
Step 1: Find out what happened
That first call will tell you some version of events about what happened at school. Before deciding what to do about it, make sure you have a clear picture of what took place. Ask questions and make it clear that you are an involved parent/caregiver, but do not admit anything on your child’s behalf at this stage. Determine exactly what action the school has taken and obtain the written notice describing it. Take notes about what the school administrator said about the incident and compare them to the records you will later obtain if you appeal the suspension or expulsion. How long is the proposed exclusion from school, what behavior does it describe, and which published school rule are they saying was broken? If you do not understand any of these elements, there is a problem with the due process being provided to you and your student.
Step 2: Keep your student on track academically
School discipline cannot, by law, interfere with your student’s ability to pass their classes, progress from grade to grade, or graduate. See WAC’s 392-400-330 and 392-400-610. So, to facilitate that important right to ongoing educational services, work with your school to gather classwork and other necessary materials to help them stay on track academically. Make sure that all teachers are putting this together (and then make sure your student does the work!).
Decision #1: Do you appeal?
Under Washington law (for public schools), you will have 5 business days to request an appeal of your student’s discipline. WAC 392-400-465. In general, there is less chance of harm to your child’s well-being if you request the appeal and later drop it than there is from missing the appeal deadline. Make the request in writing so you can prove that you met the deadline (but verbal requests are legally valid; just follow them up in writing also). In only the rarest of circumstances have I advised that requesting an appeal is not the best course of action. If there are any concerns or questions about whether to appeal school discipline, call Aegis and speak with an attorney.
Secondly, ask for all records that will be used by the school to prove what is alleged against your student. You have a right to this information as part of the school discipline laws. See WAC 392-400-465. These records are often very insightful for parents. And there have been more than a few times when going through the work of gathering this evidence shows a principal that the behavior was not as serious as it seemed originally. On the one hand, parents do not always understand what their children are doing as they get older. This can be life-saving information that triggers families to get supports and interventions in place before anything more serious takes place. On the other hand, appealing and getting the records about an incident makes sure the school is not jumping to conclusions and making allegations that are not true.
Many school discipline problems can be resolved by families working directly with the school. I am more concerned, however, when the proposed discipline is lengthy, the facts are genuinely disputed, the allegation could follow the student into college or another school, disability or discrimination may be involved, the student faces an emergency removal, or the appeal deadline is approaching before the family understands the evidence.
How to handle any disciplinary hearing
You have a right to an “informal conference” with your school’s principal for any suspension. WAC 392-400-460. This is separate from the discipline appeal, although you may be able to work out a solution there. Do not, however, think that by requesting this conference that you have “appealed” the suspension - make sure to do both. If that is not productive, a hearing will be scheduled with some hearing officer that should be an impartial and objective decision-maker. After identifying everything you can about what happened, analyze any differences between what your student and the school say. Your strategy will be to either disprove what rule they say was broken and/or to show why the proposed punishment/sanction is inappropriate.
Gather any evidence you can to prove your point to the hearing officer. By rule, you will have to show this to the school and hearing officer before the close of business the night before the hearing date. From my experience, it is very important to take an objective look at the situation and decide whether you need to focus on what happened versus what the proposed consequence should be. Those are different problems and often call for different kinds of evidence.
Then, listen to the school’s case and question the principal or school officials that testify. I cannot give you a full course on the art of cross-examination here, but know that you have a right to elicit facts from them through questions of your own. Do not give them a chance to retell or emphasize their testimony, but carefully focus on what parts of it (that they know about personally) that may have left out.
A practical point: Parents sometimes spend all their time explaining why their child is a good person or student. That may be true but will usually not win an appeal. Remember to focus on the legal issue at hand: what school rule was broken and what length of punishment is called for by school policies.
At any discipline hearing, there are important procedural rights that you should be aware of, which lawyers are trained to notice: the hearing should be conducted promptly according to deadlines in state law, there should be a neutral decision-maker, the decision should be based only on evidence that was presented at the hearing, and the hearing should be recorded so it can be reviewed later (by a court, for example). You also have the right to an attorney, to cross-examine witnesses, and (as explained above) review the school’s evidence and present your own.
All of this is why many parents and caregivers choose to use an attorney to handle school discipline matters. There are also important rights to consider such as the constitutional right against self-incrimination; you do not want your student talking about an incident at school that could also be a crime that a prosecutor might be interested in. Sometimes children’s behavior both violates a school rule and a state criminal law and people are often tempted to talk more freely about things in a school hearing. Remember that “anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law” applies here also!
You are entitled to a written decision within 3 business days of the hearing. WAC 392-400-465. If that is unsatisfactory, you have a right to appeal it and the process for that is also laid out in WAC 392-400. Things can get more complicated from that point on and again, a skilled attorney can be very important in helping you navigate those next steps as well.
The Follow-up
Note that if a student has a 504 plan or IEP, there are additional processes that must take place, such as a manifestation determination review hearing to decide whether the school is punishing a disability instead of a behavior. Those processes are important, but more complicated and beyond the intended point of this post. You can learn more about it here, and here.
No matter what happened, any school disruption that resulted in an attempt to suspend a student is a sign that something in the school environment went wrong. If it was unjustified, then school administrators made assumptions about a child that need to be corrected. If it was justified, then the causes of the behavior must be looked at and addressed. School discipline is usually - but not always - a red flag for other problems in a child’s life:
Was it the result of bullying, discrimination, or other victimization? There are processes for addressing each of these.
Does the student need special services? Maybe an IEP needs to be put in place or an evaluation to make them eligible must be started.
Would disability accommodations have prevented the behavior? If special education is not called for, would accommodations for a disability still have prevented an outburst or escalation (such as the right to take timeouts in a quiet space for a child with anxiety, for example)?
Is there a cause of the behavior that social work or other resources could help with? Sometimes children are trying to solve problems they shouldn’t have in ways that get them in trouble. If clean clothes, nutrition support, counseling, or other intervention is needed, the disciplinary incident may have been a cry for help. Get the child’s needs met and help them stay in school and get back on track.
The stakes can be high when it comes to being suspended from school. Scholarships and college acceptance offers can be at risk, and even in the early years of high school, administrators can often look at a student's discipline history and feel that they need to be harsher if they get into trouble again. All of that can be managed, but at experienced attorney can provide invaluable help. Reach out if you need assistance.
In Summary:
Obtain the written notice of discipline.
Determine proposed length of discipline.
Find the appeal deadline and make the appeal request (in writing).
Ask for the evidence and relevant records.
Check with teachers to maintain academic progress.
Gather evidence that preserves and proves the student's account of events.
Review the district’s discipline policy to see if the proposed action is compliant with it.
Determine whether an IEP, 504 plan, discrimination concern, or other additional protection may be relevant.
Decide what outcome you are actually seeking.
Useful references:
Relevant district discipline policies and protections (specifically, look to school board policies)
Chris Williams, Aegis Education Advocacy PLLC, 2026. 