Federal Discipline Guidance

On January 8, the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Education issued new guidance on the obligations of elementary and secondary schools to administer student discipline without discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin.  

The Departments initiate investigations of student discipline policies and practices at particular schools based on complaints the Departments receive from students, parents, community members, and others about possible racial discrimination in student discipline.  The Department may also initiate investigations based on public reports of racial disparities in student discipline combined with other information, or as part of their regular compliance monitoring activities.

The legal framework scrutinizes school districts' use of resource officers and other parties that a district may lend authority in implementing discipline.  It emphasizes the legal protections over the entire course of the disciplinary process, specifically discussing initial referrals of students to administration for discipline issues.

The investigations include use of direct evidence and circumstantial evidence to show different treatment of, or a disparate impact on, students of a specific race, color, or national origin.  Similar to other OCR investigations, the information the Departments consider is broad and non-exhaustive, and so the importance of keeping appropriate records is the ultimate take-away for districts.  Even if an investigation leads to a determination that there was no violation of Title IV and VI, the Departments may require a school to implement intense record-keeping processes and report those to the Department.  If a school is found in violation, the possible remedies are broad and include extensive monitoring.

Overall, the guidance makes the ever-increasing breadth of OCR investigations all the more clear, and reinforces the need of Districts to assess their record-keeping practices and the data entry procedures for all disciplinary actions.

You can find multiple examples and recommendations in the Dear Colleague Letter itself.  And in addition, the new guidance package includes:

• Guiding Principles for Improving Climate and Discipline
• A Directory of Federal School Climate and Discipline Resources
• A Compendium of School Discipline Laws and Regulations
• An Overview of the Supportive School Discipline Initiative
• Additional resources and scheduled webinars.