childrens rights at schools

[JimA]

My six year old was suspended from school because she supposly told another student that she was going to kill him. The problem is that the school was notified the day before and they didn't notify me until half the day was over. They also questioned her and said that she told them 3 stories but they believe the one where she said she was going to shoot him. Do they have the right to sit and question her with out her parents being notifed? They put it in her record as a threat and said they wouldn't remove it even though there were three stories. Doesn't she have rights as she is only 6yrs to have her parents there during interagation? Instead I came to the school with my daughter crying. The principle also refused to setup a meeting with myself, the teacher and him. The teacher did call and told us how the other student has issues with all the students and is being moved around all the time. She also told us that he has picked on our kid, but she didn't realize how badly.

Could someone give me some help with this issue! The school refuses to remove this from her record

 

[irish223]

My six year old was suspended from school because she supposly told another student that she was going to kill him. The problem is that the school was notified the day before and they didn't notify me until half the day was over. They also questioned her and said that she told them 3 stories but they believe the one where she said she was going to shoot him. Do they have the right to sit and question her with out her parents being notifed?

Yes, they can question her without her parents' presence. They aren't the police, and she wasn't arrested. Nothing illegal there.

They surely had a report from the other child (or a witness) that included what your daughter said. The story they believe is probably the one that matched what was stated in the other child's report.

It's not unusual for the teacher or school to investigate an incident to determine what really happened before calling the parents.

They put it in her record as a threat and said they wouldn't remove it even though there were three stories. Doesn't she have rights as she is only 6yrs to have her parents there during interagation? Instead I came to the school with my daughter crying. The principle also refused to setup a meeting with myself, the teacher and him. The teacher did call and told us how the other student has issues with all the students and is being moved around all the time. She also told us that he has picked on our kid, but she didn't realize how badly.

Could someone give me some help with this issue! The school refuses to remove this from her record

The teacher should not have told you anything about the other child, except this:

She also told us that he has picked on our kid, but she didn't realize how badly.

She can face disciplinary action for that, so if you will need her help, I would be careful about repeating it.

The district's actions are pretty extreme, but not unheard of in this day and age of zero tolerance for violence in school communities. I am surprised that the principal refused your request for a meeting. In order to have this removed from your daughter's school record, you will probably need to have an attorney contact the school board on your behalf. You can try appealing to the board yourself, but an attorney will be more effective.

I understand how upset you are over all this, and I don't blame you. Young children say things when they're angry that they have no intention or possiblity of acting on. However, if the other parent made a complaint, then the school has to take action. It's unfortunate that the principal couldn't mediate the situation differently.

It may be little consolation, but it's possible that the incident in her school record will not follow her out of the district. When she goes on to another district for middle school or high school, or if you move out of the district, that information may be left behind. You can check with your state's department of education to find out what records are transferred between districts.

Good luck