Suspended Or Expelled
ORC 3313.66 — ten school days, eighty school days, and the notice that has to come first
Two different things get called being thrown out of school and they are not the same in length, in who decides, or in what has to happen first. The section separates them clearly, and the separation is the part worth knowing before anything else.
| The question | Suspension | Expulsion |
|---|---|---|
| The questionWho may impose it | SuspensionThe superintendent or the principal | ExpulsionThe superintendent |
| The questionHow long | SuspensionNot more than ten school days | ExpulsionNot more than the greater of eighty school days, or the school days remaining in the semester or term |
| The questionWhat comes first | SuspensionWritten notice of the intention and the reasons, and an opportunity for an informal hearing | ExpulsionWritten notice of the intention and the reasons, and an opportunity for a hearing |
Ten school days is the ceiling on a suspension. The superintendent of schools or the principal of a public school may suspend a pupil from school for not more than ten school days. School days are not calendar days, so a suspension runs past weekends, holidays and breaks without spending any of its length on them.
Notice and a chance to answer come before the suspension, not after. Before suspending a pupil, the superintendent or principal gives the pupil written notice of the intention to suspend and the reasons for the intended suspension, and provides the pupil an opportunity to appear at an informal hearing before the principal, assistant principal, superintendent or the superintendent's designee, to challenge the reason for the intended suspension or otherwise to explain the pupil's actions.
An expulsion is the superintendent's, and it is measured in school days too. The superintendent may expel a pupil from school for a period not to exceed the greater of eighty school days, or the number of school days remaining in the semester or term in which the incident that gives rise to the expulsion takes place. Which of those two is longer depends on when in the year the incident happened, and the section takes the longer one.
Every notice has to say that there is an appeal. Each notice includes the reasons for the expulsion or suspension, and notification of the right of the pupil, or the pupil's parent, guardian or custodian, to appeal the expulsion or suspension to the board of education or to its designee, to be represented in all appeal proceedings, and to be granted a hearing before the board or its designee in order to be heard against the suspension or expulsion.
In the case of an expulsion, the board's policy does not specify a date for the appeal that is less than fourteen days after the date of the notice given to the pupil or the pupil's parent, guardian or custodian under the division the section names. The board adopts that policy under its own section of the chapter, so the local policy is where the exact steps and dates are written.
The procedural floor under these steps is constitutional as well as statutory. The United States Supreme Court held in a case arising out of Columbus, Ohio that a public school student facing a suspension is entitled to notice and some opportunity to be heard.
Permanent exclusion, removal from curricular or extracurricular activities, discipline of a student with a disability, and the separate rules for particular offences such as bringing a firearm to school are each dealt with elsewhere in the chapter and are not on this page. The district's own code of conduct and board policy carry the local detail. Whether a particular discipline decision can be challenged, and on what ground, is a question for a licensed Ohio attorney, and legal aid offices in Ohio handle school discipline matters.
Sources for this section (4)
- ORC 3313.66 — Suspension, expulsion or permanent exclusion of a pupil
- ORC 3313.661 — The board's policy on suspension, expulsion and removal
- Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565 (1975) — A public school student facing suspension is entitled to notice and an opportunity to be heard
- U.S. Const. amend. XIV — Due process and equal protection as against the states
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Talk to a licensed Ohio attorney about your situation.