School Expulsions

If you need an Orange County School Expulsion Lawyer then contact Mr. Bruzzo at (714) 547-4636.

The California public school expulsion process can be an intimidating experience for you and your family without proper representation. Mr. Bruzzo has successfully represented many families throughout this process.

A student can be subject to expulsion for a variety of reasons to include drug use or possession, sales of drugs, violence and possession of weapons. For some of these offenses the education code requires expulsion. However, even for those offenses requiring expulsion in most cases the school board has the power to stop the expulsion by suspending the expulsion. This has the effect of keeping the child in the district although he will probably not return to the same school. The process for an expulsion is the following:

1. The student has a hearing in front of a panel of three teachers from within the district. This is like a trial except there are no rules of evidence and almost everything can be considered by the panel to include letters and other written statements. The student can either fight the offense and require the panel to make a finding of whether or not they think the student committed the offense or the student can admit fault and offer information in mitigation like letters of recommendation and statements by his parents. The student’s attorney can also question the district officials (usually the vice-principal from the student’s school) about their case. After hearing evidence from the district and the student and his family the panel makes a recommendation to the school board about what should happen to the student. Usually in cases where expulsion is required the panel will recommend to expel the student. This is because the panel is required to expel the student if they find he committed the offense. The school board, however, is not similarly bound.
2. The second step of the expulsion process is to appear in front of the school board. Usually, the school board only permits limited testimony and will rely on the testimony at the panel hearing in coming to a decision. However, Mr. Bruzzo usually tries to get as much testimony in as possible to include statements from the student expressing remorse if that is appropriate and possibly the parents. The attorney is then given the opportunity to make a closing argument. After that the board will go into deliberation and usually render a decision within a day or so.

The decision of a school district board can be appealed to the county board. Santa Ana California criminal attorney Will Bruzzo can answer all of your questions regarding expulsion proceedings.