Determining Student Due Process and Privacy Rights
In the last module’s analysis assignment, you familiarized yourself with laws and policies governing student rights and special education. This information can prove useful to you as a principal if you have to take disciplinary action when students or staff engage in inappropriate behavior.
SAMPLES ARE PROVIDED FOR SECTION 1 and 2!
In this application, you will assume the role of a principal and consider the due process rights of two students, one of whom is served in special education.
Follow the steps to compose a 5- to 7-page paper (not including the title and references pages) for your response.
Write an introduction and conclusion for your paper.
Use APA format for the title page, references page, and in-text citations.
Step 1. Review the case study and the questions/prompts below as if you are the principal and Julia and Marcus are real students at your school.
Step 2. Respond to each set of questions/prompts in a well-developed paragraph.
Cite all references used. Use not only the course materials or materials you find through your own research but also relevant laws and district policies.
Case Study and Questions
A sixth-grade student, Julia, has been enrolled at your school, of which you are the principal, for about three months. Julia is prone to brief, disruptive outbursts in class and has had trouble getting along with her teachers and classmates. She also has difficulty paying attention in class and does not sit still during tests and quizzes. Julia has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), which includes a behavior plan. Just after Julia’s teacher passes out a quiz, Julia jumps up from her desk and runs around the classroom shouting profanities. In the process of running around the room, a marijuana joint falls out of Julia’s pocket. Campus security is called to restrain Julia, and she soon identifies another student from a different classroom, Marcus, as having given her the drugs earlier that day.
(a) Who will participate in the meeting in which potential consequences for Julia’s outburst are discussed? What typically are their individual roles in the IEP process? How will Julia’s IEP team determine the appropriate consequences for her regarding her classroom outburst?
(b) Assuming Julia’s parents wish to challenge the disciplinary action suggested for her by the IEP team, what recourse do they have? According to the law and school district policy, to what due process rights is Julia entitled in this situation?
(c) What actions will you take toward Marcus? Assuming Marcus did give Julia the drugs, how will you determine whether or not he has any more drugs either on his person or on his property? Explain what types of searches, if any, would and would not be warranted under the circumstances? What student privacy rights should be considered?
(d) What consequences will Marcus face as a result of his actions? According to the law and school district policy, to what due process rights is Marcus entitled in this situation?
(e) Identify aspects of your school district’s code of conduct, student discipline policies, and due process policies both for general and special education student. Which aspects are effective and ineffective? Use evidence to support your answers. Suggest improvements based on the course materials, the law and district policy, and your research.
