Ruling spotlights hole in dismissal of troubled students from charters
By Tom Chorneau
Thursday, August 01, 2013
Classroom security could be deminished as a result of a recent court ruling that found charter schools are under no obligation to notify neighboring school districts of a student’s dismissal – even if the separation was the result of dangerous or threatening behavior.
Under long-standing statutes, the parent or legal guardian of a child expelled from a traditional school district must notify a potential receiving school district of the circumstances and thus give administrators the opportunity to consider alternatives to simply placing the new student into the receiving school’s mainstream population.
But the Fourth District Court of Appeal made clear in a June ruling that charter schools have the right to dismiss a student without holding an evidentiary hearing or make written findings.
In Scott B. v. Board of Trustees of Orange County High School of the Arts, a three-judge panel ruled charter schools, as a school of choice, are not bound by the state’s Education Code that defines and regulates the expulsion process.
Thus, for the first time, the courts have made a distinction between “expulsion” and “dismissal” when it comes to charter operations.
But observers note that the ruling could also create security problems for traditional school districts who may be the unknowing receiver of a student with a troubling past.
“There is the possibility school districts will see a number of students being dismissed or "counseled out" of charter