Nebraska — school discipline
- The lines the state draws
- Nebraska defines its removals by length in one section. "Short-term suspension means the exclusion of a student from attendance in all schools within the system for a period not to exceed five school days." "Long-term suspension means the exclusion of a student from attendance in all schools within the system for a period exceeding five school days but less than twenty school days;" "Expulsion means exclusion from attendance in all schools within the system in accordance with section 79-283;" and "Mandatory reassignment means the involuntary transfer of a student to another school; and" (79-256) Emergency exclusion is separate and bounded by its own necessity: "Any emergency exclusion shall be based upon a clear factual situation warranting it and shall last not longer than is necessary to avoid the dangers described in subsection (1) of this section." Past five days it acquires a deadline: "If the superintendent or his or her designee determines that such emergency exclusion shall extend beyond five days, the school board shall adopt a procedure for a hearing to be held and a final determination made within ten school days after the initial date of exclusion." (79-264(2), (3)) The firearm case carries a floor the district must adopt and may lift: each district "shall adopt a policy requiring the expulsion from school for a period of not less than one year of any student who is determined to have knowingly and intentionally possessed, used, or transmitted a firearm" on school grounds or at a school activity, and "The policy shall authorize the superintendent or the school board or board of education to modify the expulsion requirement on an individual basis." (79-263(1))
- Offices and appeal bodies in these sources
- Nebraska routes a long-term suspension, expulsion, or mandatory reassignment to a hearing examiner rather than straight to the board, and gives the family a say in who that is. If a hearing is requested, "the superintendent shall recommend appointment of a hearing examiner within two school days after receipt of the hearing request." The family may object: they "may request designation of a hearing examiner other than the hearing examiner recommended by the superintendent if notice of the request is given to the superintendent within two school days after receipt of the superintendent's recommended appointment." On such a request the superintendent "shall provide one alternative hearing examiner who is not an employee of the school district or otherwise currently under contract with the school district and whose impartiality may not otherwise be reasonably questioned." (79-269(1)) The statute then enumerates what disqualifies a hearing examiner — a personal bias, personal knowledge of evidentiary facts, having served as legal counsel to the district, or having a spouse employed by or under contract with it — and states who pays: "Expenses and fees of any hearing examiner, in connection with the hearing, shall be paid by the school board." (79-269(1)(c), (2))
No state office, phone number, or email for parents appears in the sources; that absence is the finding. - Sources last checked
- Aug 30, 2026
Reproduced from the state's own statutes quoted below: potentially relevant official sources, not a determination of which one governs any situation.
This page assembles what Nebraska publishes in statute about K-12 school discipline. This is a baseline docket page: the governing sections, the lines the state draws, and the decision-makers and hearing rights, quoted with dates. The full sections (the framework route by route, the four hoisted process rows, every stated timeline, the district delegation map, and records access) follow as the discipline layer deepens behind its breadth sprint; the change log states exactly what is not yet captured. Nebraska starts the clock at the decision rather than the removal: "The decision as to recommend discipline shall be made within two school days after learning of the alleged student misconduct. On the date of the decision, a written charge and a summary of the evidence supporting such charge shall be filed with the superintendent. The school shall, within two school days after the decision, send written notice by registered or certified mail to the student and his or her parent or guardian informing them of the rights established under the Student Discipline Act". That notice must state the rule allegedly violated and the acts alleged "including a summary of the evidence to be presented against the student;", the penalty recommended "and any other penalty to which the student may be subject;", and two things most states do not require a disciplinary notice to carry at all: "Resources the school is able to provide or recommend to assist the student;" and "How the school plans to handle such behavior in the future, including an actionable plan aimed at maximizing strategies to keep the student in school;". The notice must also carry the hearing right and what happens to schoolwork in the meantime: "A statement that, before long-term suspension, expulsion, or mandatory reassignment can be invoked, the student has a right to a hearing, upon request, and that if the student is suspended pending the outcome of the hearing, the student may complete classwork and homework, including, but not limited to, examinations, missed during the period of suspension pursuant to district guidelines". (79-268(1), (2)) The hearing itself runs on short, stacked clocks: it "shall be held within a period of five school days after appointment of the hearing examiner, but such time may be changed by the hearing examiner for good cause with consent of the parties. No hearing shall be held upon less than two school days' actual notice to the principal, the student, and the student's parent or guardian, except with the consent of all the parties." And the file must change hands before it starts: the student and parent "have the right to receive a copy of all records and written statements referred to in the Student Discipline Act as well as the statement of any witness in the possession of the school board or board of education no later than forty-eight hours prior to the hearing." (79-269(3), (4)) The hearing examiner must be someone who "has not brought the charges against the student", "shall not be a witness at the hearing", and "has no involvement in the charge", and must be qualified: "an individual who has knowledge of the Student Discipline Act, training in the requirements of the act, or experience conducting student hearings." (79-269(1)(d), (2)) The conduct rules themselves are the board's — 79-262 directs each board to establish and promulgate rules and standards concerning student conduct, and 79-257 authorizes the board to act for conduct prohibited by those rules. Those delegations will anchor the full page's delegation map. For a student with an IEP or Section 504 plan, the disability layer lives on this site's Nebraska 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.
Source map
| Document | Location | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Neb. Rev. Stat. 79-256 (terms defined) | nebraskalegislature.gov | source laws on the section page; no separate revision date; retrieved Aug 30, 2026 |
| Neb. Rev. Stat. 79-263 (district firearms policy) | nebraskalegislature.gov | source laws on the section page; no separate revision date; retrieved Aug 30, 2026 |
| Neb. Rev. Stat. 79-264 (exclusion; emergency exclusion; procedure) | nebraskalegislature.gov | source laws on the section page; no separate revision date; retrieved Aug 30, 2026 |
| Neb. Rev. Stat. 79-268 (procedures for long-term suspension, expulsion, mandatory reassignment) | nebraskalegislature.gov | source laws on the section page; no separate revision date; retrieved Aug 30, 2026 |
| Neb. Rev. Stat. 79-269 (hearing; hearing examiner; examination of records) | nebraskalegislature.gov | source laws on the section page; no separate revision date; retrieved Aug 30, 2026 |
| Neb. Rev. Stat. 79-262 (board rules and standards), 79-257 (board authority), 79-266 (pre-expulsion procedures; alternative assignment; expungement) and 79-283 (expulsion term) | in the same Act, cited in the captured sections | capture pending |
| Nebraska Department of Education guidance on student discipline | — | not located in this review; capture pending |
| District rules and standards concerning student conduct | each board, per Neb. Rev. Stat. 79-262 | never captured; the full page's delegation map will point at them |
Change log
Aug 30, 2026 · Baseline page created (discipline-layer breadth sprint). Captured first-party under recipe tools/recipes/nebraska-discipline.json: Neb. Rev. Stat. 79-256, 79-263, 79-264, 79-268, and 79-269, each from its own address at the Legislature. Findings recorded: (1) Nebraska defines short-term suspension at up to five school days, long-term as more than five but less than twenty, and expulsion by reference to a separate section, with mandatory reassignment named as a removal of its own; (2) the family may object to the superintendent's recommended hearing examiner and the district must then offer an alternative who is not its employee or contractor, which is the only state captured so far that gives the family a say in who hears the case; (3) the statute enumerates what makes a hearing examiner's impartiality reasonably questionable, requires the examiner be qualified by knowledge, training, or experience, and puts the examiner's fees on the school board; (4) the clocks run from the decision to discipline rather than from the removal — two school days to decide, two more to send notice by registered or certified mail, five school days for the family to request a hearing, two for the superintendent to recommend an examiner, five for the hearing after appointment, with a two-school-day floor on notice of it; (5) records and witness statements must reach the family no later than forty-eight hours before the hearing; (6) the notice must state the resources the school can provide or recommend to assist the student and how the school plans to handle the behavior in future, which no other state captured so far requires a disciplinary notice to carry; (7) emergency exclusion is bounded by necessity and, past five days, by a hearing and final determination within ten school days of the initial exclusion; (8) no state office or parent contact appears in the sources. 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.