School Discipline Law (Chapter 222)
Through the incredible advocacy of MAC’s School Discipline coalition, on August 6, 2012, Governor Deval Patrick signed House Bill 4332 into law as Chapter 222 of the Acts of 2012. This law allows students who are excluded from school or facing exclusion to make academic progress during the period of their exclusion through alternative education programs and services provided by the school district.
This law also improves the fairness of the discipline process, and reduce the number and duration of school exclusions.
The underlying principle of the law and regulations is to make exclusion from school a last resort, especially for all but the most serious offenses. Central to the new law and regulations is the requirement that for all offenses, if a student is to be excluded for more than 10 consecutive school days, the school district must offer the student alternative education services. In addition, for all offenses, during the first 10 days of exclusion, schools are required to assist the student to make academic progress despite absence from classes. The law and regulations also require the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to collect additional school discipline data from school districts, post the data, analyze the data, and follow up when schools exclude high numbers of students and when students of color or students with disabilities are disproportionately disciplined.