AJE UPDATE: Student Fair Access to School Amendment Act of 2018 (SFASA)

Monday, March 4 -

Sponsored by: DC Councilmember David Grosso

http://www.aje-dc.org/legal-services-school-discipline-project/

Last spring, DC City Council passed the Student Fair Access to School Amendment Act of 2018 (SFASA). Several parts of the SFASA went into effect on August 25, 2018, while other parts will go into effect later in school years 2019 and 2020.

Important parts of the law now in effect include:

• Students in grades kindergarten to 5 cannot receive an out-of-school suspension for longer than five (5) consecutive school days for a single incident.
• Students in grades 6 to 12 cannot receive an out-of-school suspension for longer than ten (10) consecutive school days for a single incident.
• Students regardless of grade cannot receive more than twenty (20) cumulative school days of out-of-school suspension during a school year unless the head of the school provides written justification to the student and parent describing why exceeding 20 days is more appropriate than alternative responses.

All students are entitled to a hearing before they are excluded from school for 6 days or more unless there is an emergency that justifies removing the student prior to a hearing. Also, if a student who has an individualized education program (IEP) or a 504 plan is going to be suspended for more than 10 school days, SFASA makes it clear that schools must consider all of the student's disabilities when considering if the student's conduct is a result of the student's disability. This is called a Manifestation Determination Review (or an MDR).

To learn more about Manifestation Determination Reviews, SFASA, and your other rights, check out our know your rights handouts HERE.