Suspended in Louisiana? Your hearing, your appeal, and the bullying clock

Before any out-of-school suspension, alternative placement, or expulsion, Louisiana law says the principal must tell the student what misconduct they are accused of and the basis for the accusation, and give the student a chance to explain. This matches the federal floor. In Goss v. Lopez (1975), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a public school must give a student notice of the charges and a chance to tell their side before a suspension of up to 10 days.

The school must also contact a parent by phone, electronic message, or certified letter, with the reasons and a time for a conference with the principal. For an expulsion, that contact must include a certified letter. A parent can appeal a suspension to the local superintendent, who holds a hearing on the merits.

Missed work matters too. A student suspended for 10 days or fewer gets the missed assignments and the same credit if the work is done on time.

When a principal recommends expulsion, the superintendent or a designee must hold a hearing within 15 school days. The family gets written notice of the hearing and of their rights. The student may be represented by any person they choose, and until the hearing the student stays suspended but keeps access to classwork. A student expelled or suspended for more than 10 days must get instruction at an alternative site.

After the hearing, a parent has five days to ask the local school board to review the decision. After the board rules, a parent has 10 school days to appeal to the district court for the parish (Louisiana's word for a county). Both rights exist even if the expulsion is reduced to a suspension.

The youngest students have one extra protection. A student in prekindergarten through grade five cannot be suspended or expelled for a uniform violation that is not tied to willful disregard of school policy.

Louisiana's bullying law, R.S. 17:416.14, defines bullying as a pattern of acts such as threats, taunting, spreading untrue rumors, hitting, or repeated shunning, including by text or social media. Once a report is properly made, the school must start investigating the next school day and finish within 10 school days. The school must notify each involved student's parent, and a student can never be the one who delivers that notice.

Louisiana also passed a CROWN Act (Act 529 of 2022). It says no one can be refused admission to or excluded from a public school because of a natural, protective, or cultural hairstyle, such as afros, locs, braids, twists, or Bantu knots.