Expulsion (academia)

Expulsion, exclusion, withdrawing, or permanent exclusion refers to the permanent removal of a student from a school system or university for persistently violating that institution's rules, or for a single offence of appropriate severity in extreme cases. Laws and procedures regarding expulsion vary between countries and states.

UK

State sector

If a child has been expelled from two schools, then any state school is legally allowed to refuse admittance of that student. (Schools on special measures may refuse to admit a student who has been expelled from only one school.) Therefore, a student who has been expelled from two schools might be totally removed from the state education system. As a result, it is rare for a pupil to be expelled (or permanently excluded) in the UK's state sector.

The exclusion of pupils is governed by the Education Act 2002.

The Secretary of State's guidance states that exclusion is a serious step. Exclusion should be used only in response to serious breaches of a school's discipline policy and only after a range of alternative strategies to resolve the pupil's disciplinary problems have been tried and proven to have failed; and where allowing the pupil to remain in school would be seriously detrimental to the education or welfare of other pupils and staff, or of the pupil himself or herself.

In practice, a student can usually be subject to permanent exclusion for a total of five disciplinary breaches, for which the student does not have to receive formal 'warnings'. Depending on his or her offense, a child can be excluded from the school system within any range of time after his or her misdeed. Though the teaching staff may recommend a pupil to be expelled, only the headteacher is legally empowered to exclude a student; he or she is not permitted to delegate that power to another person, but if he or she is ill or otherwise unable to perform his or her duties, another staff member may become the acting headteacher and inherit the power to expel students.

When excluding a student, the headteacher must inform the pupil's parents of the duration of the exclusion (whether it be temporary or permanent), reasons for exclusion, and the procedures which a parent may take to make an appeal. The headteacher must also inform the Local Education Authority of the circumstances surrounding permanent exclusions, fixed-term exclusions exceeding five days, and exclusions which result in a student being unable to take a public examination.

Reasons for expulsion from UK schools

There may be occasions a head teacher may decide that it is proper to expel a pupil for a first or one-off offence. For a single case of one of the following, a pupil can be excluded permanently:

• A serious act of violence, including actual or threatened violence against a staff member or another pupil.
• Possession of a weapon.
• A sexual offence, including sexual abuse and assault.
• A racially-aggravated offence.
• A drug offence, usually the supply of a controlled drug to other pupils (possession of a small amount of a 'soft drug' such as marijuana is not normally considered sufficient grounds for expulsion).
• Computer hacking.

If a student has a history of breaking other school rules, that too could result in expulsion. Some offenses which may lead to expulsion when repeated persistently include:

• Defiance and rebellion against authority.
• Bullying.
• Truancy. This may have nothing to do with expulsion, but it could certainly lead to expulsion when repeated persistently.
• Stealing, the second time it occurs.

Since many violent students often rebel against school rules, some head teachers may choose to expel a student who has performed an act of violence against another pupil for persistent defiance rather than violence. This is in order to protect the victim from being assaulted again as revenge for the excluded student's expulsion. Some regard this "totting up" process of persistent defiance to be unfair, as the pupil will have often been punished once already for each act, and expulsion can be seen as a second punishment imposed after the matter had been settled.

Appeals

The pupil and his or her parents can appeal to the school governors against the expulsion. If the appeal fails to reinstate the pupil, a further appeal can be made to an appeals board (which sits on the behalf of the Local Education Authority).

Appeals to the governors

The parents of an excluded pupil are entitled to appeal against expulsion or an exclusion exceeding five days to a panel of school governors acting as a court.

The panel, which consists of parents and staff and cannot include the headteacher, is not legally able to exclude a pupil or extend a term of exclusion, but it can:

• convert a permanent exclusion to a fixed-term one,
• reduce the length of a fixed-term exclusion, or
• cancel an exclusion.

The appeal must occur no sooner than six days after and no more than 15 days after the exclusion begins. The panel considers oral, written, or physical evidence from the school detailing the case for expulsion, and from the parents of the excluded pupil. The pupil and his or her parents may argue that the excluded pupil was not responsible for the act for which her or she has been excluded, or that the punishment is disproportionate to the offense.

Appeal to the Local Education Authority

If the appeal to the governors is unsuccessful, an expelled or excluded student and his or her parents may go to an appeals board. This panel, which is appointed by the Local Education Authority, must be autonomous of the Authority, the school, and the parents of the excluded student.

The majority of the appeals that these panels hear are not against exclusions, but are for the admission of pupils into schools. Although the Local Education Authority are in theory obligated to provide education to a pupil under school-leaving age (Year 11 and below), in practice (usually when the pupil is denied access to other schools and/or the pupil referral unit) the Local Education Authority employs techniques such as appointing a single tutor for one lesson a week.

Independent sector

In the independent sector, a pupil can be ‘permanently excluded’ at the discretion of the Head, with the interests of the school taking precedence over the rights and interests of pupil and parent. This disregard for natural justice was the basis of the play The Winslow Boy which brings into question a system that seeks to protect its reputation at the cost of truth in carrying out an expulsion. Currently, if the matter is not a disciplinary issue, a Head will refer to an expulsion as "a requirement to withdraw", and is "immediate and permanent".

Mass expulsions in the UK independent sector occurred with some frequency during the 1970s as headmasters struggled to control outbreaks of drugs usage. For example, pupils at Oundle School may recall the entire school being summoned to assembly one afternoon to hear the headmaster, Dr BMW Trapnell, explain not only why he had to expel almost 10 boys for this offence, but also how none of these boys would subsequently be able to become chartered accountants.^{[citation needed]} Bruce Dickinson is another example of an Oundle pupil expelled by the same headmaster.^{[citation needed]}

Distinction between expulsion and rustication

Whereas expulsion from a UK independent school means permanent removal from the school, 'rustication' usually means removal from the school for the remainder of the current term.

United States

In the United States, expulsion criteria and process vary from state to state, though it is very difficult for a student to be expelled from school, except in cases of violence or drug use on school property.^{[citation needed]} Following the Columbine shooting event and many "zero-tolerance" policies, schools have become increasingly willing to expel students for minor offenses in certain categories.^{[citation needed]} Depending on local school board jurisdiction, approval from that school's local school board may be required before a student can be expelled, as opposed to a suspension, which may only require approval from the principal. Students are usually not expelled for academic violations such as plagiarism that would be punishable in college.

Reasons for expulsion from U.S. schools

Students may be withdrawn by their principals for a variety of reasons; those listed in one source include the following. Standards listed here are in accordance to California education standards.

Violence

• Causing, attempting to cause, or threatening to cause a physical injury to another person
• The use of force or violence against the person of another (except in self defense but even then one may be suspended)
• Possessing, selling, or otherwise providing a firearm, knife, explosive or other dangerous object
• Committing or attempting to commit robbery or extortion
• Possessing an imitation firearm
• Making terrorist threats against school officials or school property
• Making crude weapons out of office supplies
• Vehicular manslaughter(grades 9 to 12)

Sexual

• Rape or some other sexual assault or battery.
• The commission of an obscene act or engaging in habitual profanity or vulgarity.
• Severe sexual harassment (sex crimes) or general harassment (grades 5-12)

Theft

• motor vehicle theft
• frauds
• scams

Drugs

• Drug use, possession, supply on campus. This includes offering, arranging or negotiating to sell. This includes tobacco, alcohol, narcotics, cocaine, marijuana, and betel.^{[citation needed]}
• Offering of drugs, even legal non-prescription, to other students.

Hate crimes

Causing, attempting to cause, threatening to cause, or participating in an act of hate violence.

Other acts which are not explicitly mentioned

Property

• Vandalism of either school or private property.
• Stealing either school or private property.
• Knowingly receiving stolen property.

Acts which are prejudicial to good order at the school

• Harassing, threatening, or intimidating a pupil who is either a complaining witness or other witness in a school disciplinary case, or making a retaliation against a person for being a witness in a school disciplinary case.
• Hazing

Failure to attend

This has been cited by some as something which can result in expulsion. While it is not mentioned explicitly it does come under defying the valid authority of supervisors, teachers or other members of staff. Students are often expelled from school for truancy. In the United States, students under 18 (most states) are considered truants if they do not regularly attend school and charges against the parents can result. Students without disabilities that are under 18 who are expelled have the option to attend alternative schools. Students with disabilities who are expelled are required to have home instruction provided for them. Students without disabilities that are over 18 have the option to go to alternative schools but are not required to attend school.

Persistent rebellion

• Excessive rule infractions. Constantly breaking the rules will eventually result in being removed from school. This again is a case of "defying the valid authority of supervisors, teachers or other members of staff".

Returning to school after involuntary withdrawals

Depending on the reason, some students do have a chance of re-entering the school system after being expelled. Sometimes the student is even able to return to the school that they were withdrawn from. However, if the offense that causes expulsion is highly threatening to others, then the student may not be allowed to go on the grounds of their former school. If the person does, she or he risks arrest and prosecution.

New Zealand

Expulsion and exclusion are both terms for removing a student from a school for misconduct. The difference is students under 16 years of age are excluded and those 16 or over are expelled, but both are commonly referred to as expulsion. For any student that is excluded, because they are under the minimum school leaving age, the excluding school is required to find an alternative school for the student to attend, or reinstate the student if another school cannot be found. For students that are expelled, the expelling school is not required to find an alternative school, as the student is over the minimum school leaving age.

Exclusion/expulsion cannot be directly done by the principal. It must be done through suspending the student, and requiring the school's board of trustees, or a standing disciplinary committee of the board, to independently assess whether or not the situation is serious enough to justify exclusion or expulsion of the student.

In 2009, exclusions and expulsions rates were 2.41 and 2.01 per thousand students respectively. Students were more likely to be excluded or expelled if they were male, of Maori or Pacific Island descent, and/or attended a school with a low (1-4) socioeconomic decile.

The most common reasons for exclusions and expulsions in 2009 were:

• Continual disobedience – 41.2% of exclusions / 25.3% of expulsions
• Drugs (incl. substance abuse) – 14.2% / 25.8%
• Physical assault on other students – 17.3% / 16.8%
• Theft – 4.4% / 8.9%
• Verbal assault on staff – 5.0% / 2.6%
• Physical assault on staff – 4.5% / 1.6%
• Weapons – 2.5% / 2.6%
• Vandalism – 1.3% / 2.6%
• Alcohol – 1.0% / 3.7%
• Verbal assault on other students – 1.1% / 0.5%

Arson, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, and smoking were the other main reasons for exclusion and expulsion recorded.

See also

• Rustication (academia)
• Dishonorable discharge