Walk It Through: The School Year
A middle schooler bullied online, a fight and a suspension, and a teacher who sees bruises.
A seventh grader is mocked in group chats by classmates, and it spills into the hallway.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One student's year. Special education discipline, expulsion for weapons, school resource officers, criminal charges for the shove and the family court process after a report are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- GuardianA person the court appoints, on clear and convincing evidence that someone is incapacitated, to provide continuing care and supervision, with orders only to the extent the incapacity requires.
- MinorA person under the age of eighteen, which is what every reference to minors in the state's laws means, except in the laws on selling alcoholic beverages.
- Required reporterA professional, such as a doctor, teacher, counselor, police officer or childcare worker, who must report when information received in that professional capacity gives reason to believe a child has been or may be abused or neglected.
- Retaliatory conductA landlord raising rent above fair market value, decreasing essential services or bringing an action for possession after a tenant complained to a code enforcement agency or to the landlord.