New Hampshire — school discipline
- The lines the state draws
- Suspension comes in two stages with two different deciders. A superintendent or chartered public school director, or a written designee, "may suspend pupils from school for a period not to exceed 10 consecutive school days" for stated behavior. Beyond that, the board or its designee "may, following a hearing, extend the suspension of a pupil up to 10 additional consecutive school days" for enumerated acts — and the statute forbids the same person doing both: "The school board's or board of trustee's designee may be the superintendent or any other individual, but may not be the individual who suspended the pupil for the first 10 days under subparagraph (a)." (RSA 193:13, I(a), (b)) The firearm case carries its own floor: a pupil who brings or possesses a firearm in a safe school zone without written authorization "shall be expelled from school by the local school board for a period of not less than 12 months." (RSA 193:13, IV) The policy each board writes must itself use four stated bands: it shall "Set forth standards for short term suspensions up to 5 days, short term suspensions up to 10 days, long term suspensions up to 20 days, and expulsion." (RSA 193:13, XI(b))
- Offices and appeal bodies in these sources
- A suspension beyond ten days imposed by anyone other than the board "is appealable to the school board or board of trustees, provided that the superintendent, school board, or board of trustees received such appeal in writing within 10 days after the issuance of the decision being appealed." The board must hear it, though not necessarily afresh: it "shall hold a hearing on the appeal, but shall have discretion to hear evidence or to rely upon the record of a hearing conducted under subparagraph (b)." The removal continues meanwhile unless the board says otherwise: "The suspension under subparagraph (b) shall be enforced while that appeal is pending, unless the school board or board of trustees stays the suspension while the appeal is pending." (RSA 193:13, I(c)) Expulsion goes further than any other state in this collection: "any parent or guardian has the right to appeal any such expulsion by the local board or board of trustees to the state board of education at any time while the expulsion remains in effect. All appeals of final action by the state board of education shall be in accordance with RSA 541." (RSA 193:13, III-b)
No office address, phone number, or email for parents appears in the sources; that absence is the finding. - Sources last checked
- Sep 22, 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 New Hampshire publishes in statute about K-12 school discipline: who may remove a student and how, what continues during a removal, where the appeal routes run, and, because the statute assigns much of the graduated-response detail to each board, a map of the questions answered only in a district's own discipline policy. The whole scheme sits in one section, RSA 193:13. Before expelling, the board must weigh six things the statute lists, the closest thing in these sources to a limit on the decision: "The pupil's age." "The pupil's disciplinary history." "Whether the pupil is a student with a disability." "The seriousness of the violation or behavior committed by the pupil." "Whether the school district or chartered public school has implemented positive behavioral interventions under paragraph V." and "Whether a lesser intervention would properly address the violation or behavior committed by the pupil." (RSA 193:13, III-a) For a student with an IEP or Section 504 plan, the disability layer lives on this site's New Hampshire special education page; the statute states that "The provisions of this section shall be construed in a manner consistent with RSA 186-C." (RSA 193:13, X) Confirm applicability with the district or chartered public school 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
Initial suspension (RSA 193:13, I(a)). "A superintendent or chartered public school director, or a representative designated in writing by the superintendent or chartered public school director, may suspend pupils from school for a period not to exceed 10 consecutive school days for:" "Behavior that is detrimental to the health, safety, or welfare of pupils or school personnel; or" "Repeated and willful disregard of the reasonable rules of the school that is not remediated through imposition of the district's graduated sanctions under paragraph X." No notice-of-charges or hearing requirement precedes this first-stage suspension in the sources reviewed; that absence is recorded rather than inferred from the hearing the statute does require for an extension, below.
Extended suspension (RSA 193:13, I(b)-(c)). "The school board or chartered public school board of trustees, or a representative designated in writing may, following a hearing, extend the suspension of a pupil up to 10 additional consecutive school days for an act that constitutes an act of theft, destruction, or violence as defined in RSA 193-D; bullying pursuant to school district policy when the pupil has not responded to targeted interventions and poses an ongoing threat to the safety or welfare of another student; or possession of a firearm, BB gun, or paintball gun." A role-separation rule accompanies it, quoted in the docket, and any suspension "shall be valid throughout the school districts of the state, subject to modification by the superintendent of the school district or chartered public school in which the pupil seeks to enroll." The appeal from an extension, quoted in the docket, follows in subparagraph (c).
Expulsion (RSA 193:13, II-III-c). "Any pupil may be expelled from school by the local school board or board of trustees for an act that poses an ongoing threat to the safety of students or school personnel and that constitutes:" a repeated act under I(b), "Any act of physical or sexual assault that would be a felony if committed by an adult;" "Any act of violence pursuant to RSA 651:5, XIII; or" "Criminal threatening pursuant to RSA 631:4, II(a)." "A pupil who has been expelled shall not attend school until reinstated by the local board or chartered public school board of trustees." (III) The six pre-expulsion factors are quoted in the lede; the review-and-appeal route is quoted in the docket. Expulsion, like suspension, travels statewide: "Any expulsion shall be valid throughout the school districts of the state. However, upon application by the pupil, any school district or chartered public school may choose to admit an expelled pupil at the school district or chartered public school's sole discretion. The decision by a chartered public school or superintendent to accept a pupil under this paragraph shall not be binding upon any other school district or chartered public school until the pupil is reinstated by the pupil's local school board or chartered public school board of trustees." (III-c)
Firearm expulsion (RSA 193:13, IV, VII). The mandatory twelve-month floor is quoted in the docket; it does not bar continued instruction, quoted under services during exclusion below. The board must itself adopt a modification policy: "The local school board or chartered public school shall adopt a policy which allows the superintendent or charter public school director to modify the expulsion and enrollment requirements under paragraphs IV and VI on a case by case basis." (VII)
Out-of-state Gun-Free Schools Act expulsion (RSA 193:13, VI). A separate route addresses a pupil arriving with an existing out-of-state record: "A pupil expelled from school in another state under the provisions of the Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 shall not be eligible to enroll in a school district in New Hampshire for the period of such expulsion." An indefinite out-of-state expulsion does not foreclose enrollment permanently: "If the out-of-state expulsion is for an indefinite period of time, such pupil or the pupil's parent or guardian shall have the right to petition the pupil's local school board for enrollment upon establishing residency. If the pupil is denied enrollment, the pupil's expulsion shall be subject to review pursuant to paragraph III-b." That is the same review-and-appeal route that governs a New Hampshire expulsion itself.
Definitions and reinstatement (RSA 193:13, VIII-IX). "For purposes of paragraphs I, II, III, and IV school board may be either the school board or a subcommittee of the board duly authorized by the school board." Reinstatement is available at any point, at the superintendent's or director's own initiative: "Nothing in this section shall prevent the superintendent of the pupil's local school district or chartered public school director from reinstating a suspended or expelled pupil." (IX)
The published process
- Notice and hearing before exclusion
- The statute requires a hearing before an extension past the initial ten days — "following a hearing, extend the suspension of a pupil up to 10 additional consecutive school days" — and again before the board decides an appeal of that extension, quoted in the docket, where the board "shall hold a hearing on the appeal, but shall have discretion to hear evidence or to rely upon the record of a hearing conducted under subparagraph (b)." (RSA 193:13, I(b)-(c)) No comparable notice-of-charges or hearing requirement is stated for the first ten-day suspension itself. Before expelling, the board must weigh the six factors quoted in the lede (III-a); the statute does not itself use the word "hearing" for the board's own expulsion decision, only for the review it must conduct on request and the appeal that follows, both quoted below.
- Services during exclusion
- "School districts and chartered public schools shall make educational assignments available to the suspended pupil during periods of suspension. Except as provided in paragraphs II and IV, a school district or chartered public school shall provide alternative educational services to a suspended pupil whenever the pupil is suspended in excess of 20 cumulative days within any school year. The alternative educational services shall be designed to enable a pupil to advance from grade to grade." "Any time a pupil is suspended more than 10 school days in any school year, upon the pupil's return to school the school district shall develop an intervention plan designed to proactively address the pupil's problematic behaviors." "No pupil shall be penalized academically solely by virtue of missing class due to suspension." (RSA 193:13, V) Even a mandatory firearm expulsion does not foreclose teaching: "Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the local school district or chartered public school that expelled the student from providing educational services to such student in an alternative setting." (IV)
- The record made, and the appeal route
- For an extended suspension, the appeal to the board within ten days, the board's hearing, and the suspension continuing pending appeal are quoted in the docket (RSA 193:13, I(c)). For an expulsion: "Any expulsion shall be subject to review by the pupil's school board of attendance or the board of trustees of the chartered public school's board that issued the expulsion if requested prior to the start of each school year and further, any parent or guardian has the right to appeal any such expulsion by the local board or board of trustees to the state board of education at any time while the expulsion remains in effect. All appeals of final action by the state board of education shall be in accordance with RSA 541." (III-b) No stated filing window bounds that state-board appeal, unlike the ten-day window on a suspension appeal. Both a suspension and an expulsion are stated to be "valid throughout the school districts of the state" (I(b), III-c), and reinstatement by the superintendent or director is available at any time (IX).
- If the student has an IEP or Section 504 plan
- The disability layer (evaluations, the IEP team, manifestation determination, services during removal, and the dispute routes) lives on this site's New Hampshire special education page. The discipline statute itself preserves that layer: "The provisions of this section shall be construed in a manner consistent with RSA 186-C." (RSA 193:13, X) The pre-expulsion factors also require the board to consider "Whether the pupil is a student with a disability." (III-a)
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 RSA 193:13 as retrieved Sep 22, 2026.
On the initial suspension: "not to exceed 10 consecutive school days". (I(a))
On the extension: "up to 10 additional consecutive school days". (I(b))
On appealing an extension: the board must receive the appeal "in writing within 10 days after the issuance of the decision being appealed". (I(c))
On expulsion review timing: "if requested prior to the start of each school year". (III-b)
On the state-board expulsion appeal: "at any time while the expulsion remains in effect", with no separate filing window stated. (III-b)
On the firearm expulsion floor: "not less than 12 months". (IV)
On alternative educational services: required once a pupil is "suspended in excess of 20 cumulative days within any school year". (V)
On the return-to-school intervention plan: triggered "Any time a pupil is suspended more than 10 school days in any school year". (V)
On the board's own policy bands: "short term suspensions up to 5 days, short term suspensions up to 10 days, long term suspensions up to 20 days, and expulsion". (XI(b))
What any of this means for a particular situation is for the district, the state board, and their processes to determine.
Assigned to district policy by the quoted provision
The statute writes the frame and expressly hands much of the detail to each school board or chartered public school. Each entry below is a question a board's own policy answers, with the delegating text quoted. No district's own discipline policy is captured or quoted here.
The discipline-policy system itself. "School boards and chartered public schools shall establish policies on school discipline that contain a system of supports and consequences designed to correct student misconduct and promote behavior within acceptable norms." (RSA 193:13, XI)
The graduated response set. The policy shall "Include a graduated set of age appropriate responses to misconduct that may include, but are not limited to, parent conferences, counseling, peer mediation, instruction in conflict resolution and anger management, parent counseling and training, community service, rearranging class schedules, restriction from extra curricular activities, detention, in-school supports and consequences, out-of-school suspension, and expulsion." (XI(a))
The standards within the four stated bands. The policy shall "Set forth standards for short term suspensions up to 5 days, short term suspensions up to 10 days, long term suspensions up to 20 days, and expulsion", and "Such standards shall make reference to the nature and degree of disruption caused to the school environment, the threat to the health and safety of pupils and school personnel, and the isolated or repeated nature of incidents forming the basis of disciplinary action." (XI(b))
Bullying policy, as a condition of the extended-suspension ground. The extension ground for bullying runs "pursuant to school district policy when the pupil has not responded to targeted interventions and poses an ongoing threat to the safety or welfare of another student" — the district's own bullying policy supplies the standard the statute applies. (I(b))
The firearm and out-of-state-expulsion modification policy. "The local school board or chartered public school shall adopt a policy which allows the superintendent or charter public school director to modify the expulsion and enrollment requirements under paragraphs IV and VI on a case by case basis." (VII)
How the policy reaches families. Each district shall make its discipline policy "Available to parents at the beginning of each school year", "Publicly available on the district, school administrative unit, or chartered public school website and in the student handbook", and, absent a website or handbook, "Available to parents via a manner designed to ensure parental notification". (XII(a)-(c))
Records access, as stated in the sources
No provision addressing inspection, correction, or expungement of a discipline record appears anywhere in RSA 193:13; that absence is recorded at the scope searched (the whole of RSA 193:13, all twelve paragraphs). Federal records rights under FERPA are not restated here.
Source map
| Document | Location | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| RSA 193:13 (suspension and expulsion of pupils) | gencourt.state.nh.us | no revision or effective date printed on the section page; retrieved Sep 22, 2026 |
| RSA 193-D (safe school zones), RSA 186-C (special education), and RSA 541 (rehearings and appeals) | cited in RSA 193:13 | capture pending |
| RSA 651:5, XIII and RSA 631:4, II(a) (the acts the expulsion grounds name) | cited in RSA 193:13, II | capture pending |
| New Hampshire Department of Education and State Board guidance on student discipline, and the state board appeal route under RSA 193:13, III-b | — | not located in this review; capture pending |
| District and chartered public school policies on school discipline | each board, per RSA 193:13, XI | never captured; see the delegation map |
Change log
Sep 22, 2026 · Deepened to full depth (discipline-layer deepening pass). Recaptured first-party under the standing recipe tools/recipes/new-hampshire-discipline.json (digest aaeaf453277b): RSA 193:13 from the General Court, whole-section, unchanged transport and scope from the baseline. The recapture reproduced the Aug 30, 2026 baseline's text unchanged; no new source was fetched. Built out sections 01–02 (the framework route by route, the four hoisted process rows, timelines, the district delegation map, and records access) from the same single section the baseline already held in full, including several paragraphs (VI, VII, VIII, IX, XII) the baseline docket and lede had not yet quoted. Findings recorded rather than smoothed: (1) no notice-of-charges or hearing requirement is stated for the first ten-day suspension itself — the statute requires a hearing only before an extension past ten days and before the board's appeal decision on that extension — a genuine absence rather than an inferred one; (2) the statute states a distinct route for a pupil arriving with an out-of-state Gun-Free Schools Act expulsion (VI), barring enrollment for the period of that expulsion, with a residency-based petition right and the same III-b review-and-appeal route available if enrollment is denied; (3) the board's own firearm-and-enrollment modification policy (VII) and the definitional clarification that "school board" includes a duly authorized subcommittee (VIII) had not been captured on the baseline page; (4) the expulsion appeal to the state board of education carries no stated filing window ("at any time while the expulsion remains in effect"), unlike the ten-day window on a suspension appeal — the only state in this layer captured so far with an unbounded state-level appeal window; (5) the delegation map's richest entries are the four suspension/expulsion policy bands (XI(b)) and the three-part parental-notification requirement (XII), neither fully quoted at baseline; (6) no provision addressing records access, inspection, correction, or expungement appears anywhere in the section. Still uncaptured: RSA 193-D, RSA 186-C, RSA 541, RSA 651:5 XIII, RSA 631:4 II(a), Department of Education or State Board guidance, and every district's own discipline policy. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter. 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/new-hampshire-discipline.json: RSA 193:13 from the General Court, which serves each section statically at its own address. Findings recorded: (1) New Hampshire carries its whole suspension-and-expulsion scheme in one section, including the policy each board must adopt; (2) the suspension ladder is ten consecutive school days by the superintendent or director, then up to ten more by the board or a designee after a hearing, with the statute expressly barring the designee from being the person who imposed the first ten days — a separation-of-roles rule stated in the statute rather than left to policy; (3) a suspension beyond ten days is appealable to the board in writing within ten days, the board must hold a hearing but may rely on the earlier record, and the suspension runs during the appeal unless the board stays it; (4) expulsion carries a right of appeal to the state board of education "at any time while the expulsion remains in effect", with further appeal under RSA 541 — the only state captured so far with a standing state-level appeal from a local expulsion and no filing window on it; (5) before expelling, the board must consider six listed factors including whether the pupil is a student with a disability and whether a lesser intervention would do; (6) educational assignments must be available during any suspension, and alternative educational services are required past twenty cumulative days in a school year, designed to let the pupil advance from grade to grade; (7) the twelve-month firearm expulsion is mandatory but does not prevent the district from providing services in an alternative setting, and the board must adopt a policy letting the superintendent modify that requirement case by case; (8) suspensions and expulsions are stated to be valid throughout the school districts of the state; (9) the board's policy must itself set standards for four bands — five days, ten days, twenty days, and expulsion — which is a delegation with the bands prescribed, and the entry that will anchor the full page's delegation map; (10) no office or parent contact appears in the sources. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter, reviewed 2026-08-30. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.