Hazelwood settlement raises questions about rights of expelled students

When a 13-year-old was expelled from his school in the Hazelwood district after an accusation that he sold pills to another student on campus, he didn’t have a way to get an education.

Unable to afford private school or even a computer to take classes online, the boy went for more than six months last year without schooling.

Now, under a settlement recently reached between the Hazelwood School District and Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, the district has agreed to pay for the boy to receive an education through a contract with an alternative learning center.

The case was one of the first of its kind filed in Missouri, said Dan Glazier, executive director of Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, which represented the boy through its .

Many districts have programs for alternative education for students who are having academic problems or behavioral problems in a traditional school. But that can end when a student is expelled.

And as part of the settlement, Hazelwood has agreed to consider similar arrangements to provide educational services on a case-by-case basis for students who are expelled.

Attorneys with the Children’s Legal Alliance said the case could lead to similar legal challenges, potentially exposing a gap in how some school districts in the state approach the legal rights of expelled students.

They argued that the district’s refusal violated the student’s right to a free public education guaranteed by law – rights they say should be honored, regardless of suspension or expulsion.

They further said the student’s constitutional right to equal protection of the law was violated because the state provides education to youth who are incarcerated for crimes and to youth who are referred to the juvenile courts. The student could not access such alternative education programs because he had not been charged with a crime or referred to juvenile court.

The suit also named the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Missouri State Board of Education.

“It has never really been interpreted. Does (the state) have the responsibility or the district after a student is expelled?” said Cindy Ormbsy, the attorney that represented Hazelwood.

Expulsions are somewhat rare in local districts.

Last year, Hazelwood expelled nine students, according to data reported to the state department of education. Three total were reported for the three years previous in the district of about 18,000 students. In public school districts statewide last year, there was a total of 57.

Through alternative education programs, districts have sought to find to solutions for students who are having problems.

But how other districts move forward with their own policies on education for expelled students is up to local boards.

The says that when a district decides a student must be expelled, the presumption is that educational services are optional.

“School districts need to do everything they can to prevent an expulsion, but if that happens, that relieves us of our obligation,” said Susan Goldammer, an attorney with the association. “You can give up your right with poor behavior. Yes, students have a right to free education, but that can be lost with due process.”

The Hazelwood settlement stops short of obligating the school district to always serve students who are expelled. Instead, after an expulsion, the board will vote on when such services should be offered.

Amanda Schneider, an attorney with the Children’s Legal Alliance, said she hopes Hazelwood’s policy change will lead other school boards to reconsider what they will provide for an expelled student.

She said that providing an alternative education to children who are suspended or expelled makes sense for school districts and society in the long run.

“It’s also far more cost-effective than doing nothing or paying possible welfare and prison costs in the future,” Schneider said.

That also was the message in guidance issued this year by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice on school discipline in public elementary and secondary schools.

It said that schools should remove students from the classroom only as a last resort, and that expelled students should receive instruction.

The Hazelwood middle-schooler is attending ACE Learning Centers at a cost of $4,400 each academic year during his expulsion, and hopes to be able to return to the district at some point.

At ACE, students receive instruction from an online program in all core academic areas and can graduate with an ACE diploma.

Gene Reynolds, founder of ACE, said it is rare for the program to have expelled students.

The program has contracts with school districts — including Hazelwood, Riverview Gardens, Pattonville and Ritenour — to provide alternative education for students who are behind in credits for different reasons.

He said the program, with its small student-to-staff ratio, has been successful for many who might be perceived as problem children.

“When they’re getting the attention they need, they are no longer a problem,” Reynolds said.

Schneider, of the Children’s Legal Alliance, said the expelled Hazelwood student is now on the right track.

“His grades are good and he’s doing well,” she said. “He’s re-engaged in the community in so many ways.”