Student athlete suspended based on unsupported claims and improper procedure

During the school prom, our client had been accused of vaping in the bathroom. But the school principal and the witness to the incident both agreed they did not see our client vaping, yet our client received five days of out-of-school suspension. Our client was an exceptional student who participated in several honorable extracurriculars and was on track to graduate early. The school committed several due process violations in handling the charges against our client and the following appeals. We helped our client express to the school board the inappropriateness of the school’s actions regarding the incident and the process for assigning our client’s suspension. After the school board appeal hearing, the superintendent agreed that the school’s administrators failed to follow the district’s requirements and standards to implement the suspension. The board of education also agreed with our request that the out-of-school suspension be expunged from our client’s student records.