Getting the call that your child has been suspended or removed is frightening, and it can feel like the school holds all the power. It doesn't. If your child has an IEP or a 504 plan, the law gives them protections that other students don't have. Here's what they are, in plain English.
The heart of it: a child with a disability cannot be punished for behavior that is their disability. Before a school can remove your child long-term, it has to stop and ask whether the behavior was connected to the disability, or to the school's own failure to follow the plan. That pause is your child's protection, and it's the law in every state.
A school can suspend or remove a child with an IEP for up to 10 school days in a year, the same as any student. But once removals add up to more than 10 school days, it counts as a "change of placement," and a whole set of protections switches on. Keep a running count of every day your child is sent home, including partial days and informal "come pick him up" calls, which often count too.
Before removing your child beyond 10 days, the team must hold a Manifestation Determination Review within 10 school days of the decision. You are a member of that team. The meeting asks two questions:
1. Was the behavior caused by, or directly and substantially related to, your child's disability?
2. Was the behavior a direct result of the school's failure to follow the IEP?
If the answer to either is yes, the behavior is a "manifestation" of the disability. Your child generally returns to their placement and cannot be punished as if they were a non-disabled student, and the team must address the behavior with support instead of exclusion.
Even if your child is removed beyond 10 days, the school must keep providing their education and IEP services so they can keep making progress. A child with a disability cannot simply be sent home with nothing. If services stop, that's a violation you can act on.
Punishment doesn't change behavior that comes from a disability, support does. You can request, in writing, a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) — a study of why the behavior is happening — and a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) — a written plan of strategies the school will use to help. These turn "he keeps getting in trouble" into an actual plan.
If your child is being physically restrained or secluded (locked or held in a room alone), ask for the school's written policy and a written report of every incident, and know that many states sharply limit these practices. Document everything.
If you disagree with the MDR result or how your child is being disciplined, you have the same ladder as any dispute: a free state complaint, mediation, or a due-process hearing (and for disabled students, due process can move on an expedited timeline in discipline cases). See our "the school said no" guide for exactly how each one works, and your free state Parent Center can help you file at no cost.
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