Toolkit · Education

The Discipline Hearing, Manifestation Determination, and School Records Toolkit

20 U.S.C. § 1232

Type
Toolkit
Jurisdiction
National
Date
2024-08-25
Topic
Education

This toolkit supplies the letters, worksheets, and forms that determine outcomes in school discipline matters. It opens with a records request and a video preservation demand, both of which become less effective with every day of delay. A removal day count worksheet captures the informal exclusions districts routinely omit, and a policy compliance matrix converts the handbook into a checklist of requirements the district must have met. A manifestation determination demand and an evidence assembly form follow, with attention to the failure-to-implement prong that is frequently stronger than causation. Additional tools include a hearing preparation outline, a functional behavioral assessment request, a discrimination comparator worksheet, an appeal statement of errors, and reentry agreement terms.

The Discipline Hearing, Manifestation Determination, and School Records Toolkit

Education > Student Discipline, School Searches, and Education Due Process | Published 25 August 2024 - Updated 10 September 2025 | UpLaw - uplaw.us

Tool 1 — Records request letter

[Date] — DELIVERED BY EMAIL AND HAND DELIVERY

To: [Principal] and [Records Custodian], [School] Re: Request to Inspect and Obtain Copies of Education Records — [Student], DOB [ ], Grade [ ]

As the parent of the above student, I request to inspect and review, and to receive copies of, all education records maintained by the District concerning my child, including without limitation:

  1. All disciplinary records, incident reports, referrals, and investigation files, including those relating to the incident of [date].
  2. All witness statements, whether signed or unsigned, and all notes of interviews.
  3. All video or audio recordings depicting my child or the incident of [date].
  4. All communications, including email and text messages, among District personnel concerning my child or the incident.
  5. All attendance records, including records of any early dismissal, removal, or exclusion.
  6. All evaluations, assessments, and screening records.
  7. Any individualized education program, Section 504 plan, behavior intervention plan, or functional behavioral assessment.
  8. All service logs documenting services provided.
  9. All grade reports, transcripts, and progress reports.
  10. Any threat assessment records, protocols, or determinations.

Please confirm receipt and provide the records within the period required by law. If the District withholds any record or portion, please identify it and state the basis.

[Name, address, telephone, email]

☐ Send before the hearing, not after ☐ ☐ Calendar the statutory response deadline ☐ ☐ Statutory basis: 20 U.S.C. § 1232g with regulations at 34 C.F.R. Part 99; survey and evaluation rights at 20 U.S.C. § 1232h ☐

Tool 2 — Video preservation demand

[Date] — URGENT — DELIVERED BY EMAIL

To: [Principal], [Superintendent], [District Counsel] Re: Preservation of Video and Electronic Records — Incident of [date]

Please immediately preserve, and suspend any automatic deletion of, all video and audio recordings from [time range] on [date] from the following locations: [hallway, cafeteria, classroom, bus route, parking area, entrance].

Please also preserve all electronic communications among District personnel referring to my child or to this incident, and all records within the District's student information and discipline systems relating to my child.

I understand that video retention periods may be short. This letter constitutes notice of a dispute, and I request written confirmation that preservation has been implemented, identifying the locations, dates, and time ranges preserved.

☐ ⚠️ Send within days. Retention windows are frequently two to four weeks. ☐ Request written confirmation ☐ ☐ Follow up if no confirmation is received within a week ☐

Tool 3 — Removal day count worksheet

Date Type Duration Documented as Services provided Counted by district Should count
Out-of-school suspension ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
In-school suspension ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Sent home early ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Parent asked to pick up ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Told not to attend ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Bus suspension ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Exclusion pending investigation ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Exclusion pending threat assessment ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Shortened day ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

District total: ______ Actual total: ______

☐ ⚠️ Informal removals count. Districts routinely omit them, and the omission is often the case. ☐ Bus suspensions count where transportation is a related service and no alternative is provided ☐ ☐ In-school suspension counts unless services continued and the program was implemented ☐ ☐ Pattern analysis performed: substantially similar conduct, proximity, and length ☐

Tool 4 — Policy compliance matrix

Convert the handbook and board policy into a checklist, then test each item.

Requirement (quote the policy) Source and section What was required What occurred Compliant
Notice content ☐
Notice timing ☐
Notice method ☐
Opportunity to respond ☐
Investigation steps ☐
Who decides ☐
Hearing rights stated ☐
Representation permitted ☐
Witness rights ☐
Record made ☐
Decision content and timing ☐
Appeal rights and deadline ☐
Services during removal ☐
Disciplinary alternatives considered ☐

☐ ⚠️ This matrix, not a fairness argument, is what resolves most matters. A district must follow its own rules. ☐ Use the version of the policy in effect on the date of the incident ☐ ☐ Quote the language rather than summarizing it ☐

Tool 5 — Manifestation determination demand

[Date]

To: [Special Education Director], [Principal] Re: Demand for Manifestation Determination Review — [Student]

My child has been removed from school for [number] school days during the current school year, itemized on the attached worksheet. That total constitutes a change of placement for disciplinary purposes.

I request that a manifestation determination review be convened within ten school days of the District's decision to change placement, with the required participants, to determine:

  1. Whether the conduct in question was caused by, or had a direct and substantial relationship to, my child's disability; and
  2. Whether the conduct was the direct result of the District's failure to implement my child's individualized education program.

Please confirm the meeting date and identify the participants. Please also provide, before the meeting: the current program and any behavior intervention plan; all evaluations including any functional behavioral assessment; service logs for the past [ ] months; behavior data; and any teacher documentation regarding implementation of the program on the date of the incident.

Regardless of the outcome, I request written confirmation of the educational services my child will receive during any removal beyond ten school days.

☐ Send in writing as soon as the count approaches ten days ☐ ☐ Attach the day count worksheet ☐ ☐ Request the underlying documents before the meeting, not at it ☐ ☐ ⚠️ The failure-to-implement prong is often stronger than causation and is frequently overlooked.

Tool 6 — Manifestation evidence assembly

Evidence Obtained Relevance
Current individualized program, all versions ☐ The supports required
Behavior intervention plan ☐ What was supposed to happen
Functional behavioral assessment ☐ Function of the behavior
Evaluations, including private ☐ Nature of the disability
Behavior data: frequency, antecedents, consequences ☐ Pattern connection
Service logs ☐ Whether services were delivered
Teacher statements on implementation ☐ Failure-to-implement prong
Staffing records for the day of the incident ☐ Whether the required adult was present
Clinical or medical records ☐ Behavioral manifestations of the disability
Disciplinary history ☐ Whether the conduct is an established pattern
Prior manifestation determinations ☐ Consistency
Communications with the family ☐ Notice of concerns

☐ Organize by the two statutory questions ☐ ☐ Identify, for the day of the incident, every support the plan required and whether each was provided ☐

Tool 7 — Functional behavioral assessment request

[Date]

To: [Special Education Director] Re: Request for Functional Behavioral Assessment — [Student]

I request that the District conduct a functional behavioral assessment of the behavior described as [describe the behavior in observable terms], and that the assessment include:

  1. Direct observation across settings, times of day, and activities.
  2. Interviews with my child, teachers, support staff, and me.
  3. Review of records, including discipline history, attendance, and prior interventions.
  4. Antecedent-behavior-consequence data collected over a period sufficient to identify patterns.
  5. Identification of the function the behavior serves.
  6. Recommendations for replacement behaviors, environmental modifications, and supports.

I request written notice of the District's decision on this request within the period required by law, and, if the District declines, a written statement of the basis.

Following the assessment, I request that the team convene to develop or revise a behavior intervention plan, and that the plan specify who will implement each component, when, and how implementation will be documented.

☐ Describe the behavior observably rather than by label ☐ ☐ Request implementation documentation as part of the plan; it is the evidence for the failure-to-implement prong later ☐ ☐ Consent and evaluation rights arise under 20 U.S.C. § 1414 and 20 U.S.C. § 1415, with regulations at 34 C.F.R. Part 300 ☐

Tool 8 — Hearing preparation outline

☐ Threshold objections: notice defects ☐ policy violations ☐ manifestation determination not held ☐ records not produced ☐ ☐ Charge analysis: quote the rule; identify each element; test the conduct against each ☐ ☐ Evidence review: every statement ☐ video reviewed frame by frame ☐ inconsistencies catalogued ☐ ☐ Witnesses: who the district will call ☐ who the family will call ☐ availability confirmed ☐ ☐ Cross-examination outline where confrontation is permitted, focused on: who saw what, from where, when the statement was written, and what was not asked ☐ ☐ Student's account: whether the student will testify, assessed against criminal exposure ☐ ☐ Mitigation package: grades ☐ attendance ☐ teacher letters ☐ counselor statement ☐ outside providers ☐ community involvement ☐ ☐ Alternatives proposal, specific and implementable ☐ ☐ Objections preserved on the record for each ruling ☐ ☐ Closing framed around policy compliance and disposition, not fairness ☐

Tool 9 — Discrimination comparator worksheet

Item Student Comparator 1 Comparator 2 Comparator 3
Conduct
Rule charged
Prior discipline
Grade level
Disability status
Race and ethnicity
Referring staff member
Consequence imposed
Alternatives offered
Services during removal

☐ Comparators drawn from the same school and time period where possible ☐ ☐ Discipline data for the school and district obtained and reviewed ☐ ☐ Discretionary offense categories examined, where disparities concentrate ☐ ☐ Referring staff member patterns examined ☐ ☐ Legal theories mapped: 42 U.S.C. § 2000d with 34 C.F.R. Part 100 ☐ 20 U.S.C. § 1681 with 34 C.F.R. Part 106 ☐ 29 U.S.C. § 794 with 34 C.F.R. Part 104 ☐ 42 U.S.C. § 12132 with 28 C.F.R. Part 35 ☐ 42 U.S.C. § 1983 with fees at 42 U.S.C. § 1988 ☐

Tool 10 — Appeal statement of errors

STATEMENT OF ERRORS ON APPEAL

Error 1 — Notice. Board Policy [ ] requires written notice not fewer than [ ] days before the hearing, stating [content]. Notice was given [ ] days before the hearing and omitted [ ]. Record citation: [ ].

Error 2 — Manifestation determination. The student's removals totaled [ ] school days as of [date], constituting a change of placement. No manifestation determination was convened. Record citation: [ ].

Error 3 — Evidence. The decision rests on written statements from students who did not appear, over objection. Policy [ ] provides [ ]. Record citation: [ ].

Error 4 — Charge. The rule charged prohibits [quote]. The conduct found does not satisfy [element]. Record citation: [ ].

Error 5 — Disposition. Policy [ ] requires consideration of [alternatives]. The record contains no evidence that alternatives were considered. Record citation: [ ].

Relief requested: [reversal / reduction to [ ] / remand for a manifestation determination / expungement of the record / compensatory services].

☐ One error per requirement violated, each with a policy citation and a record citation ☐ ☐ Preserve disposition arguments separately from liability arguments ☐ ☐ File within the deadline; deadlines in this field are short and strictly applied ☐

Tool 11 — Reentry agreement terms

☐ Return date and grade placement ☐ ☐ Schedule, including any modification ☐ ☐ Designated adult contact, named ☐ ☐ Behavior plan in place on the return date, with implementers identified ☐ ☐ Staff training on the plan completed before return ☐ ☐ Credit recovery mechanism, with deadlines ☐ ☐ Work from the removal period accepted, with a stated deadline ☐ ☐ Attendance coding for the removal days ☐ ☐ Compensatory services for services missed, specified by type and hours ☐ ☐ Discipline record content, and any expungement date ☐ ☐ Whether the record transfers on a school change ☐ ☐ Check-in schedule for the first [ ] weeks ☐ ☐ Process for addressing a new incident short of removal ☐ ☐ No-retaliation provision ☐ ☐ Review meeting scheduled at [ ] days ☐

Tool 12 — Authority map

Question Authority
What process is due for a short suspension? Goss v. Lopez
Are officials liable for violations? Wood v. Strickland; 42 U.S.C. § 1983; fees at 42 U.S.C. § 1988
Does the Eighth Amendment reach corporal punishment? No — Ingraham v. Wright
What standard governs school searches? New Jersey v. T.L.O.; scope limits in Safford Unified School District v. Redding
Is suspicionless testing permitted? Vernonia School District 47j v. Acton; Board of Education v. Earls
When may student speech be punished? Tinker v. Des Moines; Bethel School District v. Fraser; Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier; Morse v. Frederick
What about off-campus speech? Mahanoy Area School Dist. v. B. L.
Religious expression by employees Kennedy v. Bremerton School District
What are the disability discipline protections? 20 U.S.C. § 1400; 20 U.S.C. § 1401; 20 U.S.C. § 1412; 20 U.S.C. § 1414; 20 U.S.C. § 1415; 20 U.S.C. § 1416; 34 C.F.R. Part 300; 34 C.F.R. Part 303
Is there a dangerousness exception to stay put? No — Honig v. Doe
What is the substantive standard? Board of Education v. Rowley; Endrew F. v. Douglas County School Dist. RE-1
Who bears the burden at a hearing? Schaffer v. Weast
Are health supports related services? Cedar Rapids Community School District v. Garret F.
Is private placement reimbursable? Florence County School Dist. Four v. Carter; Forest Grove School Dist. v. T. A.
May parents proceed on their own rights? Winkelman v. Parma City School Dist.
When is exhaustion required? Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools; Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools
Section 504 and disability discrimination 29 U.S.C. § 705; 29 U.S.C. § 794; 29 U.S.C. § 794a; 34 C.F.R. Part 104; 42 U.S.C. § 12131; 42 U.S.C. § 12132; 42 U.S.C. § 12182; 28 C.F.R. Part 35
Race and national origin 42 U.S.C. § 2000d; 34 C.F.R. Part 100
Sex discrimination and harassment 20 U.S.C. § 1681; 20 U.S.C. § 1682; 34 C.F.R. Part 106; Davis v. Monroe County Bd. of Ed.; Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School Dist.
Education records 20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 20 U.S.C. § 1232h; 34 C.F.R. Part 99; Owasso Independent School Dist. No. I-011 v. Falvo; Gonzaga University v. Doe
Enrollment of children not lawfully present Plyler v. Doe

Tool 13 — Intake questions

☐ What is the student accused of, and what rule was charged? ☐ ☐ What did the notice say, and when was it given? ☐ ☐ How many days has the student been out of school this year, counting every kind of removal? ☐ ☐ Does the student have an individualized program or a plan? Has anyone ever requested an evaluation? ☐ ☐ Was a manifestation determination held? ☐ ☐ Has anyone asked the student to explain what happened? To whom? ☐ ☐ Could this conduct be charged criminally? ☐ ☐ Is there video, and has preservation been demanded? ☐ ☐ Have you requested the records? ☐ ☐ What does the handbook say the district must do? ☐ ☐ What services is the student receiving right now? ☐ ☐ What do you want — return, a reduced consequence, a different placement, or a record change? ☐

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