Idaho — school discipline
- The lines the state draws
- Idaho separates temporary suspension from expulsion and states a length for each step of the first. "A temporary suspension by the principal shall not exceed five (5) school days, and the school superintendent may extend the temporary suspension an additional ten (10) school days." A third extension is available only on a stated finding: "on a finding by the board of trustees, which finding shall be made in executive session, that immediate return to school attendance by the temporarily suspended student would be detrimental to other pupils’ health, welfare, or safety, the board of trustees may extend the temporary suspension for an additional five (5) school days." (§ 33-205(6)) Expulsion is the board’s, and the section states its grounds by list, including a pupil "Whose conduct, in the judgment of the board, is such as to be continuously disruptive of school discipline or of the instructional effectiveness of the school;". (§ 33-205(1)(b)) One expulsion is mandated with a stated minimum: "the board shall expel from school for a period of no less than one (1) year, twelve (12) calendar months, or may deny enrollment to a student who has been found to have possessed a firearm on school property in this state or any other state." That mandate is expressly modifiable: "The board may modify such expulsion or denial of enrollment requirement on a case-by-case basis when the board determines reasonable conditions apply and the student’s presence is not detrimental to the health and safety of other students." (§ 33-205(4))
- Offices and appeal bodies in these sources
- The two decisions sit with different officers. A temporary suspension is the superintendent’s or the principal’s, and the statute states the process owed first: "Prior to suspending any student, the superintendent or principal shall grant an informal hearing on the reasons for the suspension and the opportunity to challenge those reasons." (§ 33-205(6)) Expulsion is the board of trustees’, and the statute states the notice and the hearing rights together: "No pupil shall be expelled or denied enrollment without the board of trustees having first given written notice to the parent or legal guardian of the pupil, which notice shall state the grounds for the proposed expulsion or denial of enrollment and the time and place where such parent or legal guardian may appear to contest the action of the board to deny school attendance and which notice shall state the rights of the pupil to be represented by counsel, to produce witnesses and submit evidence on his own behalf, and to cross-examine any adult witnesses who may appear against him." (§ 33-205(5)) No further appeal forum beyond the board, and no state office, phone number, or email for parents, appears in the sources; that absence is the finding.
- Sources last checked
- Nov 1, 2026
Reproduced from the state's own statute quoted below: potentially relevant official sources, not a determination of which one governs any situation.
This page assembles what Idaho publishes in statute about K-12 school discipline: who may exclude a student and on what grounds, the notice and hearing owed before each level of exclusion, what happens to the case record and who else is told, and, because the statute itself hands the temporary-suspension procedure to each district, the one delegation that anchors this page's map. The whole scheme sits in a single section, Idaho Code § 33-205, which the Legislature publishes with its session-law history and no separate revision date. Idaho's own vocabulary appears throughout: temporary suspension, expulsion, denial of enrollment, and the informal hearing that precedes a suspension. District board of trustees policy adds procedural detail this page does not carry, most directly the temporary-suspension procedure itself; the delegation map below points at exactly that question. For a student with an IEP or Section 504 plan, the disability layer lives on this site's Idaho special education page. 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
Expulsion grounds (§ 33-205(1)). "The board of trustees may deny enrollment or attendance at any of its schools by expulsion, to any pupil:" who is "habitually truant;" whose conduct is "continuously disruptive of school discipline or of the instructional effectiveness of the school" (quoted in the docket); whose presence "is detrimental to the health and safety of other pupils;" who "has possessed a deadly or dangerous weapon or firearm on school property;" who has been denied enrollment, disenrolled in lieu of discipline, or expelled from another school "in this state or any other state;" or who "has a conviction or adjudication for any of the offenses under section 20-525A(5), Idaho Code, or chapter 9, 61, or 66, title 18, Idaho Code." That last ground carries its own disclosure duty: a parent or guardian must disclose such a conviction to any district where the pupil enrolls, and "The parent’s or legal guardian’s failure to disclose such convictions shall constitute adequate grounds to deny enrollment or attendance to such pupil." (§ 33-205(1)(f))
Firearm expulsion (§ 33-205(4)). The mandatory minimum and its case-by-case modification are quoted in the docket. The section adds a reporting duty beyond the family: "An authorized representative of the board shall report such student and incident to the appropriate law enforcement agency."
Readmission (§ 33-205(3)). "Any pupil having been denied enrollment or expelled may be enrolled or readmitted to the school by the board of trustees upon such reasonable conditions as may be prescribed by the board; but such enrollment or readmission shall not prevent the board from again expelling such pupil for cause."
Temporary suspension authority (§ 33-205(6)). "The superintendent of any district or the principal of any school may temporarily suspend any pupil for disciplinary reasons, including student harassment, intimidation or bullying, or for other conduct disruptive of good order or of the instructional effectiveness of the school." The three-step length ladder is quoted in the docket, and the notice and hearing owed before a suspension are detailed in section 02.
District procedure for temporary suspensions (§ 33-205(7)). "The board of trustees of each school district shall establish the procedure to be followed by the superintendent and principals under its jurisdiction for the purpose of effecting a temporary suspension, which procedure shall conform to the minimal requirements of due process and afford the pupil privacy." This is the section's own delegation, and it anchors the map below.
Definitions by cross-reference (§ 33-205(8)). "As used in this section, "possess," "deadly or dangerous weapon," and "firearm" have the same meanings as provided in section 18-3302D, Idaho Code." Section 18-3302D was not reached by this capture.
The published process
- Notice and hearing before exclusion
- A temporary suspension is preceded by an informal hearing: "Prior to suspending any student, the superintendent or principal shall grant an informal hearing on the reasons for the suspension and the opportunity to challenge those reasons." (§ 33-205(6)) Expulsion is preceded by written notice and a fuller hearing: "No pupil shall be expelled or denied enrollment without the board of trustees having first given written notice to the parent or legal guardian of the pupil, which notice shall state the grounds for the proposed expulsion or denial of enrollment and the time and place where such parent or legal guardian may appear to contest the action of the board to deny school attendance and which notice shall state the rights of the pupil to be represented by counsel, to produce witnesses and submit evidence on his own behalf, and to cross-examine any adult witnesses who may appear against him." "Within a reasonable period of time following such notification, the board of trustees shall grant the pupil and his parents or legal guardian a full and fair hearing on the proposed expulsion or denial of enrollment." The statute states no fixed number of days for that gap; instead it states a purpose: "the board shall allow a reasonable period of time between such notification and the holding of such hearing to allow the pupil and his parents or legal guardian to prepare their response to the charge." (§ 33-205(5))
- Services during exclusion
- Not stated in the sources reviewed (§ 33-205 in its entirety was searched): the section does not say whether or how instruction, coursework, or any other educational service continues during a temporary suspension or an expulsion.
- The record made, and the appeal route
- The board may act out of public view, with a limit on what becomes public: "a decision to expel or to deny enrollment of a student may be made in executive session, and the student shall not be named in the minutes of the meeting." The decision itself is preserved: "A record of the decision shall be placed in the student’s educational record and in the official records of the board." (§ 33-205(5)) For a pupil within the age of compulsory attendance, expulsion or denial of enrollment triggers an outside notice on a stated clock, quoted below in the timelines. No further appeal forum beyond the board of trustees is stated in the section; that absence is recorded in the docket. Readmission after either a suspension or an expulsion runs on conditions the deciding officer sets: the board of trustees may readmit an expelled pupil "upon such reasonable conditions as may be prescribed by the board", and the superintendent or principal who suspended a pupil may do the same "upon such reasonable conditions as said superintendent or principal may prescribe." (§ 33-205(3), (6))
- If the student has an IEP or Section 504 plan
- the disability layer lives on this site's Idaho special education page. The statute states directly that "Discipline of students with disabilities shall be in accordance with the requirements of federal law part B of the individuals with disabilities education act and section 504 of the rehabilitation act." (§ 33-205(2))
The four rows above answer the questions an experienced adviser raises first, from the state's own statute, or record that a question is not answered in it.
Timelines, as stated in the sources
All quoted; none calculated. From Idaho Code § 33-205 as retrieved 2026-09-15.
On a principal's temporary suspension: "shall not exceed five (5) school days". (§ 33-205(6))
On the superintendent's extension: "an additional ten (10) school days". (§ 33-205(6))
On the board of trustees' further extension: "an additional five (5) school days", on the stated executive-session finding. (§ 33-205(6))
On notice to the county prosecuting attorney after an expulsion: "within five (5) days". (§ 33-205(5))
On the gap between expulsion notice and hearing: the statute states no number of days, only "a reasonable period of time" to allow preparation of a response. (§ 33-205(5))
What any of this means for a particular situation is for the agency and its processes to determine.
Assigned to district policy by the quoted provision
The statute writes the frame and expressly hands one part of it to each district's board of trustees. The entries below are questions the board's own procedure or conditions answer, with the delegating text quoted. No district's own policy is captured or quoted here.
How a temporary suspension is actually carried out. "The board of trustees of each school district shall establish the procedure to be followed by the superintendent and principals under its jurisdiction for the purpose of effecting a temporary suspension, which procedure shall conform to the minimal requirements of due process and afford the pupil privacy." (§ 33-205(7))
On what conditions a pupil is readmitted after an expulsion. "such reasonable conditions as may be prescribed by the board". (§ 33-205(3))
On what conditions a pupil is readmitted after a temporary suspension. "such reasonable conditions as said superintendent or principal may prescribe". (§ 33-205(6))
Whether a mandatory firearm expulsion is modified for a particular student. "The board may modify such expulsion or denial of enrollment requirement on a case-by-case basis when the board determines reasonable conditions apply and the student’s presence is not detrimental to the health and safety of other students." (§ 33-205(4))
Records access, as stated in the sources
The section states where the expulsion decision is kept — "in the student’s educational record and in the official records of the board" (§ 33-205(5)) — but does not state, in the text reviewed, a general parent right to inspect discipline records or an expungement procedure. That is recorded as an absence rather than filled: § 33-205 in its entirety was searched. Federal records rights under FERPA are not restated here.
Source map
| Document | Location | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Idaho Code § 33-205 (denial of school attendance; expulsion, denial of enrollment, temporary suspension) | legislature.idaho.gov | session-law history on the section page; no separate revision date published; retrieved Sep 15, 2026 |
| Idaho Code §§ 74-205 and 74-206 (the open-meeting provisions the section sets aside for these decisions) | cited in § 33-205(5) | capture pending |
| Idaho Code § 20-525A(5) and title 18, chapters 9, 61 and 66 (the offenses § 33-205(1)(f) names) | cited in § 33-205(1)(f) | capture pending |
| Idaho Code § 18-3302D (definitions of "possess," "deadly or dangerous weapon," and "firearm") | cited in § 33-205(8) | capture pending |
| IDAPA rules of the State Board of Education on student discipline | — | not located in this review; capture pending |
| District board of trustees policies and procedures on student conduct and temporary suspension | each district, per § 33-205(7) | never captured; see the delegation map |
Change log
2026-09-15 · Deepened to full depth (discipline-layer deepening pass). Recaptured first-party under the standing recipe tools/recipes/idaho-discipline.json (digest 8ddbf6c16b8d): Idaho Code § 33-205, the same single source as the baseline capture. The recapture reproduced the statutory text unchanged from the 2026-08-30 baseline; the only differences were in the Legislature's own page chrome (a breadcrumb-plugin comment and an authoring-tool comment, both outside the statute text), so the capture was retained as confirmed rather than as drift. Built out sections 01 and 02, the timelines block, the district delegation map, and records access entirely from this one section; no new source was fetched, and the section is dense enough on its own — eight subsections covering grounds, disability, readmission, the firearm mandate, notice and hearing, temporary suspension, the district's own procedure duty, and cross-referenced definitions — to support full depth without one. Findings recorded: (1) the section identifies one delegation squarely — subsection (7) requires each district's board to write the temporary-suspension procedure itself, bounded only by "the minimal requirements of due process" and a duty to "afford the pupil privacy" — the thinnest statutory floor for a delegated procedure captured so far in this layer; (2) the expulsion-hearing gap is deliberately not numbered: the statute states a purpose (time to prepare a response) rather than a day count, which this page records as the state's own choice rather than an omission to fill in; (3) services during a suspension or an expulsion are not addressed anywhere in the section — a genuine absence, not inferred from the readmission-conditions language, which governs return to school rather than what happens during exclusion; (4) a pupil within the age of compulsory attendance who is expelled triggers a five-day written notice to the county prosecuting attorney and comes under the juvenile corrections act, a consequence stated plainly and quoted whole; (5) records access is limited to where the expulsion decision itself is filed; general inspection rights and expungement are not stated. No state office, phone number, or email for parents appears in the section; that absence, recorded at baseline, stands unchanged. Still uncaptured, none of them blocking full depth: Idaho Code §§ 74-205 and 74-206 (the open-meeting provisions subsection (5) sets aside), § 20-525A(5) and title 18, chapters 9, 61, and 66 (the offenses subsection (1)(f) names), § 18-3302D (the definitions subsection (8) cross-references), and IDAPA rules of the State Board of Education. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.
2026-08-30 · Baseline page created (discipline-layer breadth sprint). Captured first-party under recipe tools/recipes/idaho-discipline.json: Idaho Code § 33-205 from the Legislature, which serves each section statically at its own address. Findings recorded: (1) Idaho carries the whole scheme in one section — the expulsion grounds, the notice and hearing rights, and the temporary suspension authority; (2) the suspension ladder is stated in three steps with three deciders: five school days by the principal, ten more by the superintendent, and five more by the board of trustees on a finding made in executive session; (3) the pre-suspension process is an informal hearing on the reasons and an opportunity to challenge them, stated to precede the suspension; (4) the expulsion notice must state the grounds, the time and place to contest, and the pupil's rights to counsel, to produce witnesses and evidence, and to cross-examine adult witnesses — the statute states those rights itself rather than leaving them to district policy; (5) the firearm expulsion is mandated at not less than one year and then made expressly modifiable by the board case by case; (6) expulsion of a pupil within the age of compulsory attendance carries a stated five-day written notice to the county prosecuting attorney and brings the pupil under the juvenile corrections act; (7) no appeal forum beyond the board of trustees, and no state office or parent contact, appears in the section; both are recorded as not stated in the sources reviewed. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter, reviewed 2026-08-30. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.
Oct 6, 2026 · Internet Archive captures recorded. Captures requested on 2026-09-06 by an automated capture pass and recorded this date; no human review is claimed for this entry. No quotation, date, finding or link above was changed by it. Each capture below was requested through Save Page Now and then confirmed to play back. Captures added: Idaho Code § 33-205 → https://web.archive.org/web/20260906130450/https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title33/T33CH2/SECT33-205/. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.