Delaware — school discipline
- The lines the state draws
- Delaware's regulation names each removal and gives it a length. Short-term suspension is "Disciplinary Action approved by the Principal or School Discipline Committee resulting in the student being removed from his Regular School Program for at least one (1) school day and not more than ten (10) consecutive school days." Long-term suspension is "Disciplinary Action approved by the Superintendent upon recommendation of the Principal or District Alternative Placement Team resulting in the student being removed from the Regular School Program for eleven (11) consecutive school days or more and not to exceed the total number of school days in a school year." Expulsion is "Disciplinary Action approved by the Board of Education resulting in a student being removed from the Regular School Program for a duration not to exceed the total number of student days in a school year." (Regulation 616, 2.0) The regulation states the emergency case as a delay in the process rather than an exception to it: a student whose presence "poses a threat to the health, safety, or welfare to persons or property within the School Environment, as determined by the Principal, may be immediately removed from school provided that, as soon as practicable thereafter, the initial due process procedures outlined in subsection 4.1 of this regulation are followed." (Regulation 616, 4.2.1)
- Offices and appeal bodies in these sources
- Each level of removal has its own decider — principal or school discipline committee for a short-term suspension, superintendent for a long-term suspension, board of education for an expulsion. The expulsion hearing itself is "conducted by a district/charter Board of Education or Hearing Officer" (Regulation 616, 10.3.6), and the regulation separates the roles: the hearing officer "may be an employee of the district or charter school, but shall not have been involved in any review of the student incident at the building or district level"; the superintendent who notifies the family "shall not have been a participant in the disciplinary investigation or Building Level Conference resulting in the recommendation for Expulsion"; and "The Superintendent presenting the case on the part of the district/charter school shall not testify." (Regulation 616, 2.0, 10.3.1.1, 10.3.9) The regulation states the student's rights at that hearing: "To be represented by legal counsel at the student's expense;" "To cross-examine witnesses;" "To testify and produce witnesses on his/her behalf; and" "To obtain, at the student's expense, a copy of the transcript of the hearing." (Regulation 616, 10.3.11)
No state office, phone number, or email for parents appears in the sources; that absence is the finding. - Sources last checked
- Sep 29, 2026
Reproduced from the state's own regulation and statutes quoted below: potentially relevant official sources, not a determination of which one governs any situation.
This page assembles what Delaware publishes in regulation and statute about K-12 school discipline: who may remove a student from a classroom, a school, or the district and how, the due process the regulation requires at each level, what continues during a longer removal, the record made and where the appeal runs, and, because the regulation and the statute both leave real questions to the district's own policy, a map of those questions. The fullest single statement is 14 DE Admin. Code 616, "Uniform Due Process Procedures for Alternative Placement Meetings and Expulsion Hearings", together with 14 Del. C. Chapter 7's classroom-removal authority. Delaware's own vocabulary appears throughout: the Building Level Conference, the Alternative Placement Team, the School Discipline Committee, and Appropriate Educational Services. District Student Codes of Conduct and local board policy add procedural detail this page does not carry; the delegation map below points at exactly those questions. Confirm applicability with the district and the agencies. All dates on this page are quoted from the sources, not a deadline calculation performed for you.
The framework, as the state writes it
Preliminary investigation and reporting (Regulation 616, 3.0). Before any removal of a day or more is pursued, "the Principal shall conduct a preliminary investigation to determine if there is reasonable basis to pursue Disciplinary Action." "The investigation shall be completed within three (3) school days of the date the incident in question was reported." (3.1.1, 3.1.2) Where the investigation reveals a mandatorily reportable crime under 14 Del.C. §4112, the principal "shall immediately notify the appropriate law enforcement agency of the incident." Those reports "must be made immediately by telephone or in person and shall be followed by a written report of the investigation within three (3) business days." (3.2.1, 3.2.1.1) The principal also reports the offense to the Department of Education "within five (5) business days of the incident by completing the information in the eSchoolPlus discipline center or successor Delaware Department of Education approved student database management application." (3.2.2)
Initial due process, and its delay provision (Regulation 616, 4.0). Owed "for discipline procedures which result in the removal of the student for one day or more from the Regular School Program", the notice and opportunity-to-respond content is quoted below in the published process. The delay provision for an immediate removal is quoted in the docket. Where a student is recommended for Alternative Placement or Expulsion, "additional due process rights as outlined in Sections 7.0, 10.0, and 11.0 of this regulation" apply on top of the initial rights. (4.3)
Suspensions (Regulation 616, 5.0). The short-term and long-term definitions, with their deciders and lengths, are quoted in the docket. A superintendent may "temporarily extend a student's Short-term Suspension beyond the ten school day limit pending a district/ charter Alternative Placement Meeting decision or the district/charter's Board of Education decision regarding an Expulsion hearing or other formalized Disciplinary Action hearing for the student." (5.1.2) Notice, the appeal to the next administrative level, and a pre-return conference for an out-of-school suspension of three days or more are quoted below in the published process. (5.4, 5.4.1, 5.5)
Grievance procedure (Regulation 616, 6.0). "Each district/charter school shall have a written Grievance procedure." "The district/charter school shall have the written Grievance procedures available for Parent review." (6.1) "Grievance procedures, shall, at a minimum, be similar to the Grievance guidelines applicable to this regulation as posted on the Department of Education's website." (6.2) Those Department guidelines were not themselves located in this review; recorded in the source map as capture pending.
Assignment to an Alternative Program (Regulation 616, 7.0–9.0). A principal may refer a student for Alternative Placement on several stated grounds — conduct within 14 DE Admin. Code 614's defined conduct, an offense listed in 14 Del.C. §4112, a charge tied to an Attorney General's Report or court disposition for a Violent Felony, or chronic Repeated Violations of the Student Code of Conduct after school-based interventions (7.1.1.1–7.1.1.4, not captured in this review beyond what 616 itself states) — followed by a Building Level Conference, a mailed notice at least five business days before the Alternative Placement Meeting, the meeting itself, and, for a student assigned, an Intake Meeting whose signed Intake Form "shall become part of the student's educational record as defined by 14 DE Admin. Code 252." (7.2.1.7–7.2.1.8, 7.3.1.1–7.3.1.2.1, 7.4.1.4.1) While placed, "A Student Review for each student in the Alternative Program shall be completed." Quarterly reviews are recommended; semi-annual reviews are required. (8.1) The review includes "an examination of student attendance, grades and Discipline Records, including the student's strengths and weaknesses in connection with their individualized goals and expectations at the time of the Student Review." (8.1.1) A recommendation to return leads to a Transition Meeting that "shall result in a document setting forth the terms of the return." (9.0)
Expulsion procedures (Regulation 616, 10.0). The notice, timing, and hearing-role sequence is quoted in the docket and below in the published process. The hearing itself: "The hearing shall be conducted by a district/charter Board of Education or Hearing Officer." "The Board of Education or Hearing Officer shall have full authority to admit or exclude evidence" and "is not bound by common law or statutory rules of evidence or by technical or formal rules of procedure except as herein stated." The Board or Hearing Officer "may limit unduly repetitive proof, rebuttal and cross examination." (10.3.6, 10.3.7, 10.3.7.2, 10.3.7.4) "The hearing shall be recorded in a manner that will permit transcription." (10.3.10) A student may instead "elect to waive the hearing and admit to the student's violation charge(s)." "The student and Parent shall submit a signed written hearing waiver which indicates that the student is knowingly and voluntarily waiving their right to the hearing." "Such election may be exercised until the commencement of the hearing." (10.3.12) After a Hearing Officer presides, "a written report shall be prepared by the Hearing Officer for the Superintendent" within five business days, and "The Board of Education shall make its decision at the next scheduled public Board Meeting"; the Board "may accept, reject, or modify the recommendation of the Hearing Officer." (10.4.1.1, 10.4.1.2, 10.4.1.2.1) Eligible expelled students are placed in a Consortium Discipline Alternative Program under 14 Del.C. §1604 and 14 DE Admin. Code 611 (neither captured in this review); the Board decides expulsion with or without Appropriate Educational Services for students not eligible for that placement. (10.4.4) "In calculating the period of time for the term of the Expulsion, school days will be used." (10.5.1)
Students with disabilities (Regulation 616, 11.0). "Nothing in this regulation shall alter a district/charter school's duties under the Individual with Disabilities Act (IDEA) or 14 DE Admin. Code 922 through 929." The same preservation is stated for Section 504 and the ADA. (11.1, 11.2)
Classroom removal and local board policy (14 Del. C. § 701). Teachers and administrators "have the same authority to control the behavior of the student and to discipline or punish the student as a parent, custodian, guardian, or other person similarly responsible for the care and supervision of the student except as provided in §§ 702 and 4112F of this title." "The authority includes removing a student from a classroom or school-sponsored activity." (§ 701(b)) An administrator may override a teacher's removal "upon a written showing of good cause", but "shall strongly presume that the teacher's decision to remove the student was reasonable and necessary under the circumstances." (§ 701(c)) Due process, readmission, and a rebuttable presumption of reasonableness are quoted below and in the framework's delegation map. (§ 701(d)–(f))
Corporal punishment (14 Del. C. § 702). "No public school teacher, administrator, official employee or agent of the School Board may subject a student enrolled in the school district to corporal punishment." Stated exceptions cover reasonable and necessary force to quell a disturbance, obtain a weapon, act in self-defense or defense of others, protect property, prevent a student from harming themselves, protect the bodily safety of others, or "incidental or minor physical contact necessary to maintain order and control." (§ 702(b)–(c))
Statewide discipline reporting (14 Del. C. § 703). Quoted in full in the timelines and records-access sections below.
No 14 DE Admin. Code 614 (the definitions of conduct warranting Alternative Placement or Expulsion that Regulation 616 cross-references throughout), no 14 DE Admin. Code 609 (school-based intervention programs) or 14 Del. C. Chapter 16 (Consortium Discipline Alternative Programs), and no Department of Education Grievance Guidelines were located as their own documents in this review; each is cited by Regulation 616 and recorded in the source map as capture pending.
The published process
- Notice of charges and the hearing right before long-term exclusion
- Before any removal of one day or more, "The administrator/designee shall inform, orally or in writing, the student of the allegation(s) against him/her, the conduct which forms the basis of the allegation(s), and the policy, rule, or regulation violated." "The student shall be given an explanation of the evidence supporting the allegation(s) and an opportunity to present his/her side of the story including any evidence." (Regulation 616, 4.1.1.2, 4.1.1.3) On a recommendation for expulsion, the notice and hearing sequence stacks: "Student will be given written notice of charges and the Parent shall be notified verbally and in writing as soon as practicable thereafter." (10.2.1) A Building Level Conference follows, with documentation "delivered to the Superintendent within two (2) business days of the Building Level Conference or seven (7) business days of the incident, whichever is sooner." (10.2.3, 10.2.4) The superintendent "shall, within ten (10) business days of the date of the incident, notify the student and the Parent by letter that a district-level Expulsion hearing will be held to consider the recommendation." (10.3.1) "The hearing shall be held not less than seven (7) business days or more than twenty (20) business days after receipt of written notice. The written notice shall be deemed to be received on the fourth business day following the day of mailing." (10.3.3) If requested, the student and parent also receive "The reason(s) for the recommendation;" "The name(s) of witnesses who may appear;" and "Copies of information that may be submitted as evidence." (10.3.4.1–10.3.4.3) The student's hearing rights — counsel at the student's own expense, cross-examination, testimony and witnesses, and a transcript at the student's own expense — are quoted in the docket.
- Services during exclusion
- A student whose short-term suspension is extended past ten days "shall receive Appropriate Educational Services beginning on the first day of the extension." "Educational services shall continue until the student's district/charter Alternative Placement Meeting decision has been rendered or the district/charter's Board of Education decision regarding the student's Expulsion hearing or other formalized Disciplinary Action hearing has concluded." (Regulation 616, 5.1.2.1) That subsection also states districts are not barred from providing services earlier: "This does not preclude a district/charter from providing Appropriate Educational Services during a Short-term Suspension prior to the extension." A student expelled without them "shall be unenrolled from the district/ charter during the term of the expulsion." (2.0, "Expulsion")
- The record made, and the appeal route, forum by forum
- For a suspension, "Written notification of the Suspension and information regarding the districts/charters appeal or Grievance process shall be given or sent to the Parent as soon as practicable, but no later than three business days." "The Parent or student may appeal the Suspension to the next administrative level in accordance with the district/charter's appeal or Grievance process." (Regulation 616, 5.4, 5.4.1) For an expulsion, "Except as is otherwise provided herein, within ten (10) business days of the decision by the Board, the Board, through its designee, shall submit its decision to the Superintendent and Parent and student in writing. The written decision shall include notice of the right to appeal to the State Board of Education." (10.4.6) "Any decision to expel a student shall be reported to the Delaware Department of Education within five (5) business days of the Board's decision to expel." Where the Board expels without Consortium placement, "the written decision shall address with specificity the reason for non-placement and the evidence in support thereof. Such decisions shall be submitted to the Delaware Department of Education's Office of School Climate and Discipline within five business days of such decision, with a copy to the student's Parent." (10.4.5)
- If the student has an IEP or Section 504 plan
- The disability layer lives on this site's Delaware special education page. Regulation 616 preserves it directly: "Nothing in this regulation shall alter a district/charter school's duties under the Individual with Disabilities Act (IDEA) or 14 DE Admin. Code 922 through 929." The parallel sentence covers Section 504 and the ADA. (11.1, 11.2) 14 Del. C. § 703's statewide discipline report is itself disaggregated in part "if the student is identified as having a disability." (§ 703(a)(3))
The four rows above answer the questions an experienced adviser raises first, from the state's own statutes, or record that a question is not answered in them.
Timelines, as stated in the sources
All quoted; none calculated. From 14 DE Admin. Code 616 and 14 Del. C. §§ 701–703 as retrieved Sep 29, 2026.
On the preliminary investigation: "shall be completed within three (3) school days of the date the incident in question was reported." (Regulation 616, 3.1.2)
On the written law-enforcement report: "within three (3) business days" of the immediate notification. (3.2.1.1)
On the Department of Education incident report: "within five (5) business days of the incident by completing the information in the eSchoolPlus discipline center or successor Delaware Department of Education approved student database management application." (3.2.2)
On short-term suspension length: "not more than ten (10) consecutive school days." (2.0, "Suspension, Short-term")
On long-term suspension length: "eleven (11) consecutive school days or more and not to exceed the total number of school days in a school year." (2.0, "Suspension, Long-term")
On suspension notice to the Parent: "as soon as practicable, but no later than three business days." (5.4)
On the pre-return conference: owed "Prior to the student's return from an out-of-school Suspension of three (3) school days or more". (5.5)
On the Alternative Placement Meeting notice: "mailed to the Parent and the student via regular U.S. and certified mail at least five business days before the meeting is to occur." (7.2.1.8)
On the Alternative Placement decision notice: "within one (1) business day of the meeting." (7.3.1.2) With follow-up written notice "within three (3) business days" if assigned. (7.3.1.2.1)
On documentation to the superintendent after an expulsion recommendation: "within two (2) business days of the Building Level Conference or seven (7) business days of the incident, whichever is sooner." (10.2.4)
On the superintendent's expulsion-hearing notice letter: "within ten (10) business days of the date of the incident". (10.3.1)
On the expulsion hearing date: "The hearing shall be held not less than seven (7) business days or more than twenty (20) business days after receipt of written notice." "The written notice shall be deemed to be received on the fourth business day following the day of mailing." (10.3.3)
On the Hearing Officer's written report: "Within five (5) business days following the conclusion of an Expulsion hearing conducted by a Hearing Officer, a written report shall be prepared by the Hearing Officer for the Superintendent." (10.4.1.1)
On reporting an expulsion decision to the Department: "within five (5) business days of the Board's decision to expel." (10.4.5)
On the Board's written decision to the family: "within ten (10) business days of the decision by the Board". (10.4.6)
On the statewide discipline report: "The report must be posted on the Department's website no later than October 30." (§ 703(a)(2)) It covers data "collected over the 3 most recent consecutive school years." (§ 703(a)(1))
What any of this means for a particular situation is for the district, the Department, and their processes to determine.
Assigned to district policy by the quoted provision
The regulation and the statute both leave real questions to the district or local board. Each entry below is a question a district's own documents answer, with the delegating text quoted. No district's Student Code of Conduct or local board policy is captured or quoted here.
The Student Code of Conduct itself. Defined as "the district/charter school approved document which specifies the rights and responsibilities of students, defines conduct that disrupts/threatens a positive/safe School Environment, standardizes procedures for consequences and Disciplinary Action, and defines due process and Grievance procedures." (Regulation 616, 2.0)
The suspension and appeal/Grievance process. A short-term suspension is imposed "in accordance with the rules of the district/charter school" (5.1.1), and an appeal runs "to the next administrative level in accordance with the district/charter's appeal or Grievance process." (5.4.1)
The written Grievance procedure. "Each district/charter school shall have a written Grievance procedure." (6.1)
Local board policy on classroom removal. "Each local board of education shall establish, adopt, publish, and distribute to students in the district and their parents or guardians policy or standards" that must "Specify the general circumstances under which a student may be removed from a classroom or school-sponsored activity, consistent with a teacher's and administrator's ultimate authority" to determine disruptive behavior and remove a student, and "Provide an explanation or examples of “disruptive behavior” set forth in paragraph (a)(2) of this section." The statute also bars the opposite move: "A district shall not establish or adopt a policy or standards that prohibit the removal of a student from a classroom or school-sponsored activity." (§ 701(g)(1)–(2), (h))
Records access, as stated in the sources
The regulation defines the record itself: "Discipline Record" means all information about Disciplinary Action taken against a specific student as a result of any infraction of the school's/district's Student Code of Conduct or other rules. (Regulation 616, 2.0) A signed Intake Form for a student assigned to an Alternative Program "shall become part of the student's educational record as defined by 14 DE Admin. Code 252" (not captured in this review). (7.4.1.4.1) A general parental right to inspect, correct, or expunge a discipline record beyond that is not stated in the sources reviewed (Regulation 616 and 14 Del. C. §§ 701–703 were searched). The statute requires a statewide, school-level discipline report, not an individual record: "The Department shall compile and release an annual report on student discipline in all schools as follows:" (§ 703(a)), based on data collected "as permitted under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g," and covering "the issuance of out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, alternative school assignments, and in-school suspensions, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, grade level, limited English proficiency, incident type, discipline duration, and if the student is identified as having a disability." (§ 703(a)(1), (a)(3)) That is a rule about aggregate public reporting, not about a parent's own access to a child's record. Federal records rights under FERPA are not restated here beyond the statute's own cross-reference to it.
Source map
| Document | Location | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| 14 DE Admin. Code 616 (uniform due process for alternative placement and expulsion) | regulations.delaware.gov | regulation carries the register citation 22 DE Reg. 583 (01/01/19); retrieved Sep 29, 2026 |
| 14 Del. C. ch. 7 (lawful authority of teachers over pupils, §§ 701–703) | delcode.delaware.gov | none published on the chapter page; retrieved Sep 29, 2026 |
| 14 DE Admin. Code 614 (uniform definitions for student conduct warranting alternative placement or expulsion) | cited throughout Regulation 616 | capture pending |
| 14 DE Admin. Code 609 (school-based intervention programs), 14 DE Admin. Code 611 (Consortium Discipline Alternative Program eligibility), 14 DE Admin. Code 252 (educational records), and 14 Del. C. ch. 16 (consortium discipline alternative programs) | cited in Regulation 616 | capture pending |
| Delaware Department of Education guidance on student conduct and discipline, and the Grievance Guidelines the regulation says are posted on its website | — | not located in this review; capture pending |
| District and charter school Student Codes of Conduct, and local board of education policy on classroom removal under 14 Del. C. § 701(g) | each district and charter, per Regulation 616, 2.0 and 14 Del. C. § 701(g) | never captured; see the delegation map |
Change log
Sep 29, 2026 · Full-depth build (discipline-layer deepening pass). Re-captured first-party under recipe tools/recipes/delaware-discipline.json (same two sources as the baseline pass): 14 DE Admin. Code 616 and 14 Del. C. Chapter 7. Findings recorded: (1) this capture reproduces the 2026-08-30 baseline's text; no drift; (2) the framework, hoisted process rows, timelines, district delegation map, and records access section have been built out from the same two sources, which turned out to carry far more procedural detail than the baseline docket alone showed — the preliminary investigation and law-enforcement/Department reporting sequence (3.0), the Alternative Placement referral and Student Review process (7.0–9.0), the full expulsion-hearing evidentiary and decision procedure (10.3–10.4), and the disability preservation clause (11.0); (3) 14 Del. C. § 701, only cited narrowly at baseline, turned out to carry its own delegation clause: each local board of education must adopt classroom-removal policy consistent with the teacher's and administrator's "ultimate authority," and is barred from adopting a policy that prohibits removal outright — added to the delegation map; (4) § 702 (the corporal punishment ban and its stated exceptions) and § 703 (the statewide discipline report, due on the Department's website no later than October 30 each year, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, grade level, English proficiency, incident type, duration, and disability status) were newly built into the framework, timelines, and records-access section; (5) the regulation's own definition of "Discipline Record" was newly quoted for the records-access section; a general parental right to inspect, correct, or expunge that record is not stated in either source; (6) the delegation map now carries four districted questions: the Student Code of Conduct itself, the suspension appeal/Grievance process, the written Grievance procedure, and local board classroom-removal policy; (7) the PDF's own line wrap occasionally splits "district/charter" across a page line with no hyphen, which the extraction reproduces as "district/ charter" in two quotations on this page (5.1.2 and the Expulsion definition in 2.0) — quoted here as extracted, the same convention CLAUDE.md documents for other states' PDF line-wrap artifacts, rather than silently rejoined. Capture pending, as at baseline, and newly identified this pass: 14 DE Admin. Code 614, 609, 611, and 252, and 14 Del. C. ch. 16 (all cited by name in the captured sources but not themselves captured), and Department of Education guidance and Grievance Guidelines. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter, reviewed 2026-09-29. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.
Aug 30, 2026 · Baseline page created (discipline-layer breadth sprint). Captured first-party under recipe tools/recipes/delaware-discipline.json: 14 DE Admin. Code 616 as the Department of Education publishes it, and 14 Del. C. Chapter 7 from Delaware Code Online. Findings recorded: (1) Delaware writes the due process floor at state level rather than delegating it — the regulation states the initial due process owed before any removal of one day or more, the short-term, long-term, and expulsion definitions with their own lengths and their own deciders, and the full expulsion-hearing procedure; (2) the clocks are stated in business days and stack: notice as soon as practicable, documentation to the superintendent within two business days of the building level conference or seven of the incident, a superintendent's hearing letter within ten business days of the incident, a hearing not less than seven and not more than twenty business days after receipt, with receipt itself deemed to occur on the fourth business day after mailing; (3) the regulation separates the roles at the hearing — a hearing officer not involved in any review of the incident, a superintendent who was not a participant in the investigation or the building level conference, and a superintendent presenting the case who does not testify; (4) educational services are required from the first day a short-term suspension is extended past ten days and continue until the placement or expulsion decision concludes; (5) the Student Code of Conduct is the district's, and the regulation defines it as the document that standardizes consequences and defines due process and grievance procedures — a delegation, not an absence, and the entry that will anchor the full page's delegation map; (6) no state office or contact for parents appears in the sources. Capture note: the regulation is read by the public at a client-rendered address, and the authenticated PDF that page links carries an opaque identifier in its URL; the capture fetches that PDF and the recipe records why. If the identifier changes on amendment, that is a finding for the review pass rather than something to route around. Not yet built, pending the deepening pass: sections 01–02 (framework, hoisted rows, timelines), the district delegation map, and records access. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter, reviewed 2026-08-30. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.