Abnormal rates of expelling students are not an issue with child behavior. It is more of an adult perception issue. It is proof of the broken American child care system. These first few years are very important for your kid. So, if you are a victim of this situation, you can follow these measures:
- For a temporary suspension, take care of the child so they don’t repeat the mistake
- For a permanent expulsion, contact the local child care agency to know your rights and seek legal assistance
- See if the school offers any alternative offer to expulsion
- Ensure your child gets alternative educational services
- Enroll the child in the new school district
Laws have been cracking down on these expulsions, yet thousands of preschoolers are getting kicked out every year. However, many states have seen improvements in the situation.
In this article, we explain more than what to do when a child is kicked out of preschool. Please read the whole things so that we can make the path ahead clear for you.
Why Your Preschooler Might Got Kicked Out?
Two hundred fifty preschoolers are expelled or suspended from schools every day in the US, and according to Yale researchers, the number of preschoolers getting kicked out is three times that of school-age kids. But why? When asked teachers and authorities, they all came up with some similar reasons, which are somewhat as follows:
- The child kicks, bites or becomes a danger to others or the school property.
- Shows excessive disruptive behavior to violate the rights of education to other children.
- The child has trouble following rules.
But do they justify the kick out of the children who don’t even realize what they’re doing? Many think schools must know how to handle excessively active or disruptive kids. They may be blaming the kid and kicking them out, but many times it’s their fault, and they’re responsible for not being able to control the kid. The schools themselves could be:
- Ill-equipped that encourages an issue to become a problem
- Unable to diagnose issues like ADD/ADHD, learning disorder, or autism and provide lack of support
- Putting unwanted academic pressure
- Providing less time for free play
US Department of Education has guidelines urging suspensions and expulsions in early childhood or preschool settings should be “Prevented, Severely Limited, and Eventually Eliminated.” Mark these points, as they’ll help you if you need to seek legal assistance after your child gets kicked out.
Related: Think Twice About Sending Your Child to School Too Early
What To Do When Child Kicked Out Of Preschool?
The school may not be sound enough to handle your kid, but they can still kick out your child if the abovementioned reasons are met. But they have to follow a procedure to do that; they’ll first provide a written notice, arrange a hearing allowing you to apply the legal rights, make a temporary in-school or out-of-school suspension, and finally make a permanent expulsion.
If you know your child is about to get kicked out, you’ve something to do in every stage of the procedure. Here we’ll discuss them in detail.
1. After Getting a Notice
If a school plans to expel a student, they must issue a written notice to the student and the guardian about their plan of expelling. The notice has to be according to the guidelines.
It must state things like the facts, list of witnesses, witness statements, hearing details, rights of the student for the hearing, the school’s initiative to prevent the kick out, a list of attorneys, and a copy of the Pupil Fair Dismissal Act.
Some preschools may have warned you about your child’s disruptive behavior prior to the notice. If you haven’t responded, ask for the school’s help as soon as you get the notice. Since preschool disciplines have to be prevention-oriented, they might offer you to get your child’s behavior corrected to avoid further proceedings.
If you’re given a chance, ensure behavioral therapy or some mentoring programs to correct your child’s behavior. In the case of some disabilities like ADD or ADHD, let the school authority know about that because they can’t expel a student with such issues. But apart from disabilities, the violation can’t be settled between parties in most cases, and preventing the next proceedings is hard.
2. Preparation for the Hearing
If you’re about to face a hearing regarding your child’s kick-out, prepare yourself for the hearing. Firstly, know you and your child’s rights regarding the matter.
You can contact a childcare agency. If you have a list of attorneys, hire a lawyer to defend your child’s rights. Keep copies of all the documents and collect more evidence to help your child win the hearing. Your lawyer should also prepare well to cross-examine the witnesses.
3. Look for An Alternative After You Lose the Hearing
After you lose the hearing, the board, represented by a hearing officer, will decide on a kick-out. It could be either a temporary suspension or a permanent expulsion. You can appeal to challenge the decision or negotiate with the authority to shorten the expulsion or not to expel your child from the school district.
Some preschools can offer you an alternative deal to expulsion. They might ask you to willingly withdraw your child from their school, known as the “agreement in lieu of expulsion” or an “expulsion hearing waiver.”
In contrast, others might ask for your consent on an administrative transfer where your child will be moved from one school to a different school in the same school district.
These alternative deals could be beneficial as:
- There won’t be anything on the student’s record about the expulsion
- Your child will receive alternative educational services unless the transfer happens
- They won’t lose time facing the expulsion process and move faster with the educational plan.
Although it could be beneficial, it’d require you to give up legal claims and rights related to the expulsion.
4. Seek Alternative Educational Services During Suspension
If you’ve lost the hearing and don’t get an alternative deal, the school board will decide to expel the student. But before permanent expulsion, typically, students are suspended for a certain period. It could be In-School Suspension, where your child may be taken out of their class and put into a different room alone, and you may need to be with them to supervise the daily work.
Or, it could be Out-of-School Suspension, where your child may not be allowed to go to school and complete their studies from home. If you or any other family member can’t accompany them at home, you need to come with some other plan and maybe change the school.
For in-school suspension, your child will continue getting educational services. But for out-of-school suspension, which is more likely to happen in preschools, you must ensure your child gets Alternative Educational Services. The schools have the guidelines to provide educational services after the fifth day of officially written suspension.
They could use digital platforms to ensure your child’s educational progress at home. Or, they can enroll them in an Alternative Learning Center during the suspension or till they start class at a different school district in case of a transfer.
5. Enroll in a New School District
Unless it’s an Exclusion, a typical expulsion from one school district doesn’t stop your child from going to a school in another school district. Schools rarely apply exclusion on preschoolers, which can keep a kicked-out student from enrolling in a new school district until the end of the school year.
If your child is expelled from a preschool in one district, you must look for a new school district to enroll your child. Although we’re discussing this at last, many parents directly opt for this option when their child is kicked out of preschool. It’s because of the hassles associated with legal proceedings that they want to avoid.
Final Words
Know your child’s personality and whether they are disruptive or not. It can help you figure out ways to prevent your child from getting kicked out. You can ask the teacher or an outside expert to make your child abide by the school rules. A mentoring program, behavioral therapy, or a parenting class for you could help. You can also consider less presence in the school, choose classes with smaller sizes, and spend time with them in the school whenever possible.
If nothing works out and your child has broken a strict school rule, they might have to face the consequences such as suspension or expulsion. You can seek legal assistance, but they’re typically hard to challenge. See for an alternative deal, like withdrawing your child willingly. Also, ensure they get alternative educational services during the suspension. The last sort is to enroll your child into a different school in another district.
