Suspended Or Expelled
RCW 28A.600.015 — short-term up to 10 consecutive school days, no indefinite expulsion, and no suspending educational services
Short term means up to 10 consecutive school days. Short-term suspension procedures may be used for suspensions up to and including 10 consecutive school days, and the state rules allow informal due process for them to the extent constitutionally permissible.
Never indefinite. An expulsion or suspension of a student may not be for an indefinite period of time.
Educational services continue. A school district may not suspend the provision of educational services as discipline. A student may be excluded from a particular classroom or area for the period, but the district provides an opportunity to receive educational services during it.
Discretionary discipline. Districts may not impose long-term suspension or expulsion as discretionary discipline, meaning discipline for a conduct rule violation other than the serious offenses and behavior the section lists, such as behavior that adversely impacts the health or safety of others.
On appeal, and in an emergency. When a suspension or expulsion is appealed, a district may impose it temporarily after an initial hearing for no more than 10 consecutive school days or until the appeal is decided, whichever is earlier, with those days counted toward the term. An emergency removal ends or is converted to another corrective action within ten school days, with notice and due process when converted.
A district's own code of conduct and board rules fill in much of the detail, and they are not on this page. How a particular suspension applies to a particular student is a question for a licensed Washington attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- RCW 28A.600.015 — Expulsions and suspensions; rules incorporating due process; short-term and long-term suspensions
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Washington attorney.