Sent home from school: the first day
The call usually comes in the afternoon. What you do in the next few hours can matter more than what you say on the phone.
A suspension can start with a phone call. You may be told to pick your child up at once, and you may be told very little. That is a hard way to learn that something happened, and it is a normal moment to feel angry, frightened, or both.
On the phone
- Ask who is calling and what their job is
- Ask what happened and what the school plans to do
- Ask how many days, and whether there will be a hearing
- Ask for all of it in writing, by email if possible
Tonight
Write down what you were told while you remember it: the time, the names, the words. If your child will talk, ask what happened and write that down too, without correcting it. Take pictures of anything the school sends home.
Tomorrow
Ask the school for your child’s records, discipline and special education both. Ask whether your child has an IEP or a 504 plan on file, and tell them if you think there should be one. If the letter mentions a hearing or an appeal, find the date.
A phone call is not a record. A letter or an email is.
If your child has an IEP or a 504 plan, the school has to ask whether the behavior was connected to the disability once a suspension passes a certain length. We can tell you whether that applies to your child’s days.