Suspended in Tennessee: the five-day appeal, the ten-day hearing, and bullying reports

Tennessee law requires parents to send children to a public or nonpublic school from age 6 through age 17. Nonpublic includes home schools, private schools, and church-related schools.

There is a Tennessee twist for drivers. If a student 15 or older withdraws from school, the school notifies the Department of Safety, and the student's license can be suspended in 30 days. That can last until the student returns to school or turns 18.

Every public school discipline case also sits on top of Goss v. Lopez (1975). The Supreme Court held that before even a short suspension, a student must get notice of the charges and, if the student denies them, an explanation of the evidence and a chance to tell their side.

Tennessee treats suspensions of more than 10 days differently from short ones. The student and parents must be told in writing, and the student is usually sent to an alternative school, meaning a separate school program run by the district, for the length of the suspension.

The family, or the student, can appeal to a disciplinary hearing authority (a small panel the school board appoints to hear discipline appeals). The appeal can be made orally or in writing, and it must be filed within five days of getting the notice. State law says the hearing must happen no later than 10 days after the suspension begins.

The panel can keep the suspension, remove it, change its terms, or move the student to an alternative program. After that, the family can ask the school board to review the decision, again within five days. Board hearings are closed to the public unless the family asks in writing for an open one.

If a student is suspended for more than five days, Tennessee law requires the principal to write a behavior improvement plan, with input from the student and parents.

Some zero-tolerance offenses, a list of serious violations set by state law and district policy, carry a mandatory one-year expulsion. Those can still be appealed.

Tennessee law requires every school district to adopt a written policy against harassment, intimidation, bullying, and cyber-bullying. The policy must include a way to report anonymously, a procedure for prompt investigation, and a ban on retaliation against anyone who reports.

In middle and high schools, the principal or a designee must investigate when a student reports physical harm or a threat of physical harm. The principal must also inform the parents of the students involved right away and tell them about available counseling.

We could not confirm on an official Tennessee page whether the state has a student-press law or a hair-discrimination law for schools, so this article does not cover them.