New York — school discipline

The published process

Notice and hearing before exclusion

Before a suspension of five school days or fewer, "the suspending authority shall provide the pupil with notice of the charged misconduct. If the pupil denies the misconduct, the suspending authority shall provide an explanation of the basis for the suspension. The pupil and the person in parental relation to the pupil shall, on request, be given an opportunity for an informal conference with the principal at which the pupil and/or person in parental relation shall be authorized to present the pupil's version of the event and to ask questions of the complaining witnesses." Their order is stated too: "The aforesaid notice and opportunity for an informal conference shall take place prior to suspension of the pupil unless the pupil's presence in the school poses a continuing danger to persons or property or an ongoing threat of disruption to the academic process, in which case the pupil's notice and opportunity for an informal conference shall take place as soon after the suspension as is reasonably practicable." (§ 3214(3)(b)(1)) Above five school days, the fair hearing right quoted in the docket applies. For a teacher's classroom removal, where the pupil poses no continuing danger the teacher must, before removing the pupil, "provide the student with an explanation of the basis for the removal and allow the pupil to informally present the pupil's version of relevant events." Otherwise, the teacher must give "an informal opportunity to be heard within twenty-four hours of the pupil's removal". The principal must separately "inform the person in parental relation to such pupil of the removal and the reasons therefor within twenty-four hours of the pupil's removal", and, on request, "an opportunity for an informal conference with the principal to discuss the reasons for the removal." That conference — which the statute later calls an "informal hearing" — "shall be held within forty-eight hours of the pupil's removal". (§ 3214(3-a)(a)-(b))

Services during exclusion

"Where a pupil has been suspended pursuant to this subdivision and said pupil is of compulsory attendance age, immediate steps shall be taken for his or her attendance upon instruction elsewhere or for supervision or detention of said pupil pursuant to the provisions of article seven of the family court act." (§ 3214(3)(e)) For a classroom removal rather than a suspension, the statute separately requires: "The school authorities of any school district shall establish policies and procedures to ensure the provision of continued educational programming and activities for students removed from the classroom". (§ 3214(3-a)) Neither subdivision states a numbered timeline for when alternative instruction must begin.

The record made, and the appeal route

Above five school days, "a tape recording shall be deemed a satisfactory record" of the hearing, no stenographic transcript is required. The statute adds: "The report of the hearing officer shall be advisory only, and the superintendent may accept all or any part thereof." "An appeal will lie from the decision of the superintendent to the board of education who shall make its decision solely upon the record before it." (§ 3214(3)(c)(1)) In the firearm subdivision, the superintendent's determination "shall be subject to review by the board of education pursuant to paragraph c of this subdivision and the commissioner pursuant to section three hundred ten of this chapter" — a second, state-level route this page cites but, § 310 not being captured in this review, does not quote further. (§ 3214(3)(d)(1)) Where the board itself orders the suspension, "the board may in its discretion hear and determine the proceeding or appoint a hearing officer", whose findings are "advisory and subject to final action by the board of education," which "may reject, confirm or modify the conclusions of the hearing officer." (§ 3214(3)(c)(2))

If the student has an IEP or Section 504 plan

The disability layer (the manifestation team, the interim alternative educational setting, and the dispute routes under federal law) lives on this site's New York special education page. The discipline statute itself states that a student with a disability "may be suspended or removed from his or her current educational placement for violation of school rules only in accordance with the procedures established in this section, the regulations of the commissioner implementing this paragraph, and subsection (k) of section fourteen hundred fifteen of title twenty of the United States code and the federal regulations implementing such statute, as such federal law and regulations are from time to time amended." (§ 3214(3)(g)(1))

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 Education Law § 3214 as retrieved Oct 13, 2026.

On a teacher's classroom removal: where the pupil poses no continuing danger, the teacher gives an explanation and an informal opportunity to respond before removal. Otherwise, the teacher must give "an informal opportunity to be heard within twenty-four hours of the pupil's removal". The principal must inform the parent "within twenty-four hours of the pupil's removal", and, if requested, the resulting conference — which the statute later calls an "informal hearing" — "shall be held within forty-eight hours of the pupil's removal". The principal's determination on whether to set aside the teacher's discipline "shall be made by the close of business on the school day next succeeding the end of the forty-eight hour period for an informal hearing contained in paragraph b of this subdivision." (§ 3214(3-a)(a)-(c))

On short-term suspension: "not to exceed five school days." (§ 3214(3)(b)(1))

On involuntary transfer: the pupil or person in parental relation "has ten days to request a hearing" and "the proposed transfer shall not take effect, except upon written parental consent, until the ten day period has elapsed, or, if a fair hearing is requested, until after a formal decision following the hearing is rendered, whichever is later." (§ 3214(5)(d))

On transfer of records after an involuntary transfer: a transferred pupil "shall remain on the register of the original school for two school days following transmittal of his or her records to the school to which he or she is to be transferred." (§ 3214(6))

On the firearm floor: "suspended for a period of not less than one calendar year", subject to the superintendent's case-by-case modification. (§ 3214(3)(d)(1))

No numbered timeline is stated in these sources for scheduling the fair hearing above five school days, for the superintendent's or board's decision after that hearing, or for when alternative instruction during a long-term suspension must begin.

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 statutes write the frame and expressly hand parts of it to each district's own code of conduct. Each entry below is a question a district's own documents answer, with the delegating text quoted. No district's code of conduct is captured or quoted here.

The code of conduct itself. "The board of education or the trustees, as defined in section two of this chapter, of every school district within the state, however created, and every board of cooperative educational services and county vocational extension board, shall adopt and amend, as appropriate, a code of conduct for the maintenance of order on school property, including a school function, which shall govern the conduct of students, teachers and other school personnel as well as visitors and shall provide for the enforcement thereof." (§ 2801(2)) Teacher classroom removal is itself tied to that document: removal must be "consistent with discipline measures contained in the code of conduct adopted by the board pursuant to section twenty-eight hundred one of this chapter." (§ 3214(3-a))

The range of disciplinary measures. The code of conduct must include "the appropriate range of disciplinary measures which may be imposed for violation of such code, and the roles of teachers, administrators, other school personnel, the board of education and parents" (§ 2801(2)(a)).

How parents are notified of a violation. The code must set out "the circumstances under and procedures by which persons in parental relation to the student shall be notified of code violations" (§ 2801(2)(i)).

When local law enforcement is notified. The code must set out "the procedures by which local law enforcement agencies shall be notified of code violations which constitute a crime" (§ 2801(2)(h)).

Minimum suspension periods for repeat disruption and for a violent pupil. The code must set "a minimum suspension period, for students who repeatedly are substantially disruptive of the educational process or substantially interfere with the teacher's authority over the classroom", and likewise "a minimum suspension period for acts that would qualify the pupil to be defined as a violent pupil", both "provided that the suspending authority may reduce such period on a case by case basis". (§ 2801(2)(l)-(m)) The statute itself delegates the meaning of "repeatedly are substantially disruptive" further still, not to the district but to the state: that term "shall be determined in accordance with the regulations of the commissioner" — a regulation this review did not capture. (§ 2801(2)(l))

Referral to human service agencies. The code must set "circumstances under and procedures by which referral to appropriate human service agencies shall be made" (§ 2801(2)(k)).

Records access, as stated in the sources

On an involuntary transfer, the two statutes state a records procedure rather than a general inspection or expungement right: the transferred pupil "shall remain on the register of the original school for two school days following transmittal of his or her records to the school to which he or she is to be transferred." The receiving school "shall immediately upon receiving those records transmitted by the original school, review them to insure proper placement of the pupil." "Staff members who are involved in the pupil's education must be provided with pertinent records and information relating to the background and problems of the pupil before the pupil is placed in a classroom." (§ 3214(6)) Separately, on a suspension or expulsion specifically, the statute requires each "local educational agency" to "establish procedures in accordance with section eighty-five hundred thirty-seven of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, to facilitate the transfer of disciplinary records relating to the suspension or expulsion of a student to any public or nonpublic elementary or secondary school in which such student enrolls" (§ 3214(7)). Neither section states a parent's right to inspect a discipline record held by the original school, nor an expungement procedure; that absence is the finding at the scope searched (§§ 3214 and 2801). Federal records rights under FERPA, cross-referenced by § 3214(7) rather than restated by it, are not restated here either. The commissioner's regulations at 8 NYCRR § 100.2(l) and any NYSED discipline guidance remain uncaptured in this review (see the source map); either could state an inspection or expungement rule this page does not carry.

Change log

Oct 13, 2026 · Deepened to a full page (discipline-layer deepening pass). Re-captured first-party under recipe tools/recipes/new-york-discipline.json (digest 9db19d423146): EDN § 3214 and § 2801 from the New York State Senate's Open Legislation service, confirmed unchanged in substance from the Sep 1, 2026 baseline capture (dates refreshed only; retained --result confirmed). Built sections 01–02 (the framework route by route, the four hoisted process rows, the timelines section, the district delegation map, and records access) from those same two sections; no additional source was needed to reach full depth. Findings recorded: (1) the statute routes discipline through five distinct exclusion or placement categories — teacher classroom removal, short-term suspension, long-term suspension, the mandatory firearm-floor suspension, and involuntary transfer to another school — each with its own decision-maker, timeline, and (for four of the five) a stated hearing or conference right; (2) the involuntary-transfer route (§ 3214(5)-(6)), not previously built into the page, carries its own ten-day hearing-request window and a two-school-day records-transfer clock, and is distinct from a disciplinary suspension or expulsion; (3) § 2801(2)(l) delegates the minimum suspension period for a repeatedly disruptive student to the district's code of conduct, but delegates the meaning of "repeatedly are substantially disruptive" itself one level further, to the commissioner's own regulations rather than to the district — a delegation to the state, not to district policy, and the regulation it points to (8 NYCRR § 100.2(l)) remains uncaptured; (4) no numbered timeline is stated in the two sections reviewed for scheduling the fair hearing above five school days, for a decision after that hearing, or for when alternative instruction during a long-term suspension must begin; (5) records access is stated only as a transfer procedure — a two-day register hold, review by the receiving school, and a FERPA/ESEA-referenced disciplinary-records-transfer requirement — not as a parent's general inspection or expungement right, which is not stated in the sections reviewed. Unchanged from baseline: the statute publishes two texts of § 3214 paragraph 3(c) and two texts of paragraph 3(g) at the same address, each marked with its own effective-date note, both quoted or cited as the service prints them without reconciliation; EDN § 310, 8 NYCRR § 100.2(l), and NYSED discipline guidance remain uncaptured, the last two for the capture-transport reasons recorded at baseline; no state office, address, phone number, or email for parents appears in the sources. District codes of conduct, which this page's delegation map points at, remain never captured, as the module requires. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter, reviewed 2026-10-13. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.

Sep 1, 2026 · Baseline page created (discipline-layer breadth sprint). Captured first-party under recipe tools/recipes/new-york-discipline.json: EDN § 3214 and § 2801 from the New York State Senate's Open Legislation service, which serves the consolidated laws statically to a plain fetcher. Findings recorded: (1) the state publishes two texts of § 3214 paragraph 3(c) and two texts of paragraph 3(g) at the same address, each marked with its own note — "NB Effective until June 30, 2027" against the first and "NB Effective June 30, 2027" against the second; both are quoted or cited here as the service prints them, and this page does not reconcile them or state which governs any situation. The later text of paragraph 3(c) drops the "student with a disability or a student presumed to have a disability" sentence the earlier one carries, which is a difference a parent would want a lawyer to read. (2) The appeal route is stated in two layers — to the board of education on the record, and, in the firearm subdivision, to the commissioner under § 310 — but § 310 itself was not captured. (3) No state office, address, phone number, or email for parents appears in the sources; that absence is the finding. (4) The commissioner's regulations at 8 NYCRR § 100.2(l), which a parent meets alongside the statute, are not captured: nysed.gov sends its leaf certificate without the issuing intermediate, so a plain fetch cannot verify it. That is a fact about the host's certificate chain, not about the document, and it is a capture problem for a working session rather than a source finding. 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 2026-09-01. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.