By Attorney Thomas B. Mooney, Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut

The “Legal Question of the Week” is a regular feature of the CAS Weekly NewsBlast. We invite readers to submit short, law-related questions of practical concern to school administrators. Each week, we will select a question and publish an answer. While these answers cannot be considered formal legal advice, they may be of help to you and your colleagues. We may edit your questions, and we will not identify the authors. Please submit your questions to: legalmailbagcasciacorg. _________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Legal Mailbag:

I have had complaints about one of my students causing trouble at the bus stop. We brought the student down to the office and warned her that she should behave at the bus stop. She denied any wrongdoing at all. In fact, she told me that whatever trouble there was at the bus stop was the result of other children picking on her, calling her names and making her feel bad. I told her that I was not going to make this into a federal case and that she should just mind her own business at the bus stop.

Apparently the student did not heed my good advice because another student came into school this morning with a black eye, claiming that she punched him out. I immediately brought the first student down to the office, and when she didn’t deny hitting the other student, I suspended her from the bus for a week. I told her that she could ride the bus home today, but that she should tell her mother that, starting tomorrow, she will be having to find another way to get to school. I have an uneasy feeling about this. Tell me that I did everything right, OK?

Signed,
Busy Principal

Dear Busy:

I wish I could, but I cannot. Waiting for the school bus is a school activity, and, therefore, you do have the authority to deal with student behavior at the bus stop. However, your actions were inadequate and incomplete.

First, when the student told you that others were picking on her at the bus stop, you were alerted to a possible bullying situation. Conn. Gen. Stat. Section 10-222d provides that your school district must have a safe school climate plan that “require(s) school employees who witness acts of bullying or receive reports of bullying to orally notify the safe school climate specialist, described in section 10-222k, or another school administrator if the safe school climate specialist is unavailable, not later than one school day after such school employee witnesses or receives a report of bullying, and to file a written report not later than two school days after making such oral report . . . .” Your decision not to make “a federal case” out of her claim that she was being bullied was inconsistent with that obligation. In accordance with Conn. Gen. Stat. Section 10-222k, as principal you serve as your school’s safe school climate specialist, and you should have investigated her claims promptly. You did not, and there was further trouble.

Second, once the other student was hurt, you should have talked to all the students involved so that you could know exactly how it happened that the other student got the black eye. From your letter, all I know is that the first student did not deny hitting the other student. While resort to physical violence is never tolerated, before suspending the student from transportation, you should have investigated the situation to get all the facts.

Finally, while the statutes permit you to suspend a student from transportation services, there was more for you to do here. Before suspending a student from transportation, you need to know that the student will be able to get to school safely during the period such services are suspended. Presumably, the student was receiving transportation services because of distance and/or safety concerns. You do not want to require her to get to school unless her parent assumes such responsibility. Thus, you should have been in touch with her parents before deciding to suspend transportation services. In any event, the statutes also require that you employ an “effective means of notifying parents” of the disciplinary action within twenty-four hours of your taking it. Expecting a student to notify her parents herself of her suspension is a bad idea.

Other than the foregoing, you did great.