Pertinent facts about the suspension of students from instruction in New York State:

• Gun Free School Act [Public Law 103-382] requires local education agencies to expel a student determined to have brought a weapon to school. A knife is not a weapon unless it is defined in that manner by the State.
• A board of education may adopt bylaws which allow a principal to suspend students up to five days. [Education Law 3214.3(b)]
• Suspension beyond five days must be determined by superintendents. [Education Law 3214.3(c)]
• Due process or a fair hearing is required prior to exceeding a five day suspension. [Education Law 3214.3(c)]
• The parent or person in parental relation to a student, suspended from school in accordance with Education Law 3214.3, shall be notified of the suspension by telephone and in writing, in the language used in the home, within 24 hours of the suspension. [Commissioner's Regulations 100.2(l)(4)]
• Where a student of compulsory school age is suspended, a district must provide immediate alternative instruction and may not mark a student absent unless alternative instruction has been offered and the student failed to attend. [Education Law 3214 and Matter of Ackert, 30 Education Department Reports 31]
• A student may appeal the disciplinary actions of a board of education to the Commissioner of Education. [Commissioner's Regulations 310]
• Schools may not suspend a student for actions which are not school related or which do not indicate that the presence of such a student in school poses a danger to the health, safety, or welfare of others. [Matter of Pollnow, 21 Education Department Reports 291]
• As of January 1, 1986, each school district has been required to adopt a written policy concerning conduct and discipline. [Commissioner's Regulations 100.2(1)]