Suspended, bullied, or accused at a Delaware school: what the state's rules say

Delaware's compulsory attendance law, the rule that says a child must be enrolled in school, covers every child between 5 and 16 years of age. The parent or guardian must enroll the child in the public district where the family lives, or in a charter, private, or approved home school instead. At 16 the law stops requiring attendance, though school stays free.

The same chapter defines a truant: a student who misses more than 3 school days in a school year without a valid excuse. After that the school can start the truancy steps in the statute, and those steps can reach the parent too.

In Goss v. Lopez (1975), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a public school student facing even a short suspension has a right to due process: the school must say what the student is accused of, explain the evidence, and let the student answer before sending them home, except in an emergency.

Delaware adds to it. The Delaware Code defines a suspension as any external or internal removal of a student from the general school population, so in-school suspension counts. After a suspension or expulsion, the superintendent can call the parent to a conference; the notice must come by mail, state the reason, and be scheduled around the parent's work hours where possible. An expelled student cannot enroll in another Delaware district or charter school until the expulsion ends.

The hearing and appeal steps for longer suspensions and expulsions are in Delaware Department of Education regulations and in each district's code of conduct, which the school must give you. Ask for it in writing and read the appeal section first.

Delaware's school bullying prevention law is section 4164 of Title 14. Every district and charter school must have a written policy that bans bullying from kindergarten through grade 12, covers bullying done through school computers and networks, and bans retaliation against the student who reports it or the witnesses.

The law sets deadlines. Every reported incident, even one the school could not confirm, must be reported to the Delaware Department of Education within 5 working days. The school must use the Department's template to notify the parents of the targeted student and of the accused student.

State law also requires every school to display the phone number of the Department of Justice School Ombudsperson in the building and on its website. An ombudsperson is a state official who takes complaints when a school does not handle a report the way the law requires.