Audio Transcript Auto-generated
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Hello, I'm back and ready to talk about the law.
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So thankfully massachusetts law does protect students to a degree
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from being the victims of unfair or harsh school discipline
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policies. The state government passed a law back in 2012
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that is commonly referred to as Chapter 222, also titled
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an act relative to student access to educational services and
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exclusion from schools.
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This law had three big important parts.
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I'm going to briefly list and go into them first,
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but then I'm going to explain each of them more
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in depth right after.
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So if you're confused, don't worry.
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Okay, Okay, so, first, it includes a due process regime
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for students, which means that there are procedural requirements that
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schools must follow before they suspend or expel any student.
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Okay, second, it has a framework that encourages schools but
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does not require them to seek alternative disciplinary options before
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suspending or expelling a student, especially if if the discipline
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was for a non serious offense.
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And finally, it it includes a requirement that schools must
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provide expelled or suspended students with the opportunity for continued
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academic progress.
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Okay, so let's dive into what the heck a due
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process regime is.
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Mhm. Okay.
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So due process is a term in the law that
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basically just means that the state must treat every individual
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fairly when they are involved with state action against them.
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So believe it or not, that includes schools which are
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actually part of the state acting to discipline you in
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some way.
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So, one of the things that they tell you when
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you go to law school is that you're going to
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learn to think like a lawyer and you might wonder
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what that means.
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But one example is if you if you were thinking
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like a lawyer, after I said what I just said,
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you might wonder, well, what makes up fair treatment?
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You said they have to treat everyone fairly, but what
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means that they did treat you fairly?
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How do we know if they did?
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That would be a great question.
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Under the law, we know that a few big things
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are required in order for there to have been fair
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treatment or due process.
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So, first, the individual must have notice of any legal
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action or claim that's against them.
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This means that they are required to be notified, usually
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in writing um of any claim that they have been
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involved with in the judicial judicial process.
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They must also have the opportunity to be heard.
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That means they are owed a chance to share their
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side of the story by speaking in front of an
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audience before any action can be taken against them.
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In the context of school discipline, due process means that
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schools which remember are part of the state, cannot suspend
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or expel students without providing them with written notice of
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their intent to do so beforehand.
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And that was not the case, always before the Chapter
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222 was passed.
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And even better before being suspended or expelled, the student
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must have the chance to tell their side of the
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story so that, you know, there's an audience that listens
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to their perspective, what, what happened from there from their
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eyes because it could be different.
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Okay, moving on to number two, what are alternative disciplinary
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options? Well, that can be a lot of things and
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we're going to talk about some of them actually more
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in depth next class for now, just know that this
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second piece of the puzzle basically means that schools are
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encouraged but not forced to be problem solvers and try
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to brainstorm other possibly more effective ways to educate and
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to resolve conflict.
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Besides simply expending or expelling or suspending students.
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And this is actually really important because schools are supposed
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to be places of learning, including learning from mistakes and
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not punitive places, punitive meaning places that punish okay, this
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last component, continued academic progress essentially means that schools must
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allow suspended students the chance to keep up with their
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school work when they aren't allowed at school because they're
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suspended. And also that new districts must admit or provide
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educational services.
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Two expelled students that moved to the district after their
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expulsion and that just gives students a chance to keep
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up with their school work so that they can still
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pass their year in time and not get more and
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more behind.
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Finally, a data reporting provisions also requires schools to report
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the specific reasons for all suspensions and expulsions to the
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Department of Education.
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You can find further details explaining that provisions of the
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legislation at the Department of Education's website.
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D O e dot mass dot gov.
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Okay, that's all for now.
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Thanks for sticking around with me for five whole minutes
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and learning about the law.
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It's kind of confusing, but it's really important because it
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protects you so till next time.