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A sophomore in Rockford is sent home on a Tuesday with a three-day suspension after a hallway fight. That evening the family wonders what the school had to tell them, whether they can challenge it, and how long the school could have gone. Illinois answers those questions in its School Code, and the answers are more specific than most families expect.
Who has to be in school, and how long a suspension can last
Illinois's compulsory attendance law covers children from age 6 to 17, unless they have already graduated from high school.
On discipline, the School Code lets a principal, assistant principal, or dean suspend a student for 'gross disobedience or misconduct' for no more than 10 school days. The only exception in the statute is misconduct on a school bus, where a longer suspension is allowed for safety reasons. A student suspended out of school for more than 3 days must be offered support services during the suspension, and the school has to give the chance to make up work for credit.
An expulsion, which means removal from the school for a set period, can last up to 2 calendar years.
Notice, review, and the expulsion hearing
Any suspension must be reported immediately to the parents or guardians, with a full statement of the reasons and a notice of their right to a review. If the parents ask, the school board or a hearing officer it appoints must review the suspension, and the parents may appear and discuss it. Ask for the review. The statute says you are entitled to it.
Expulsion has a stricter path. It can happen only after the parents or guardians have been asked, by registered or certified mail, to come to a meeting of the board or with a hearing officer to discuss the student's behavior. At that meeting the board must state the reasons and the date the expulsion takes effect.
These Illinois rules sit on top of a federal floor set by Goss v. Lopez (1975), where the U.S. Supreme Court held that a public school student facing a suspension of 10 days or less must at least be told the charges and, if the student denies them, given the evidence and a chance to tell their side. Illinois's written-notice and review rights go further than that minimum.
Bullying, student journalists, and your hair
Illinois defines bullying in its School Code as any severe or pervasive act, in person or online, directed at a student that causes fear of harm, hurts health, interferes with school, or has similar effects. Every public school, charter school, and non-religious private school must have a bullying prevention policy on file with the Illinois State Board of Education.
Two other Illinois laws are worth knowing by name. The Speech Rights of Student Journalists Act gives a student journalist the right to decide the news, opinion, and feature content of school-sponsored media, with no prior restraint, except in limited situations the Act lists. And the School Code's dress code section says a uniform or dress code policy may not apply to hairstyles historically tied to race or ethnicity, including braids, locks, and twists, or to religious hairstyles and facial hair.
Where to take a complaint
The Illinois State Board of Education says the first stop for a bullying problem is the school principal. If that does not fix it, go to the district superintendent, then to the local school board, and then to the regional superintendent of schools for your county.
If the bullying targets race, national origin, sex, disability, or religion, it may also count as discrimination under federal law. The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights takes those complaints at ocr@ed.gov or 1-800-421-3481, and anyone can file, not only the student.
For a suspension or expulsion, the written notice you receive should tell you how to request the review. If it does not, call the district office and ask for the board's review procedure in writing. We could not confirm a single statewide form for discipline complaints to the State Board, so the district and board levels are where the formal appeal lives.
Da ricordare
- Illinois requires school attendance from age 6 to 17, and caps a suspension at 10 school days and an expulsion at 2 calendar years.
- Parents must be told immediately, with reasons, and can ask the school board or a hearing officer to review any suspension.
- Expulsion requires a certified-mail invitation to a board meeting first; Goss v. Lopez (1975) is the federal minimum underneath these rules.
- Illinois protects student journalists from prior restraint and bars dress codes from targeting braids, locks, twists, or religious hair.
Fonti
- Illinois General Assembly: 105 ILCS 5/10-22.6, Suspension or expulsion of pupils (si apre in una nuova scheda)
- Illinois General Assembly: 105 ILCS 5/26-1, Compulsory school age (si apre in una nuova scheda)
- Illinois State Board of Education: Bullying Prevention (si apre in una nuova scheda)
- Legal Information Institute (Cornell): Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565 (1975) (si apre in una nuova scheda)
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