North Carolina — school discipline

Governing authority stated in the sources

N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 115C, Article 27 (Discipline), §§ 115C-390 through 115C-390.12, published by the General Assembly as a single article document. The article runs from the state policy and definitions through short-term and long-term suspension and their procedures, alternative education services, the 365-day gun-possession suspension, expulsion, and readmission. Sections carry their own session-law notations; the short-term suspension procedures section ends "(2011-282, s. 2; 2022-74, s. 7.7(e); 2025-25, s. 29(1).)" and the long-term suspension procedures section ends "(2011-282, s. 2; 2022-74, s. 7.7(f); 2025-25, s. 29(1).)" — Article 27, retrieved Aug 29, 2026

The lines the state draws

The statute draws them by definition, at ten school days. A short-term suspension is "The exclusion of a student from school attendance for disciplinary purposes for up to 10 school days from the school to which the student was assigned at the time of the disciplinary action." (§ 115C-390.1(b)(12)) A long-term suspension is "The exclusion for more than 10 school days of a student from school attendance for disciplinary purposes from the school to which the student was assigned at the time of the disciplinary action", and the statute bounds its length: "If the offense leading to the long-term suspension occurs before the final quarter of the school year, the exclusion shall be no longer than the remainder of the school year in which the offense was committed." (§ 115C-390.1(b)(7)) Expulsion is "The indefinite exclusion of a student from school enrollment for disciplinary purposes" (§ 115C-390.1(b)(5)), and is limited by age and standard of proof: a governing body "may expel any student 14 years of age or older whose continued presence in school constitutes a clear threat to the safety of other students or school staff", on a decision "based on clear and convincing evidence". (§ 115C-390.11(a), (a)(1)) Who may act differs by line: "Only the superintendent has the authority to long-term suspend a student." (§ 115C-390.7(a))

Offices and appeal bodies in these sources

The decision-makers are the principal, the superintendent, and the governing body of the public school unit, and the appeal route depends on which line was crossed. On a short-term suspension the statute forecloses it: "A student is not entitled to appeal the principal's decision to impose a short-term suspension to the superintendent or governing body of the public school unit. Further, such a decision is not subject to judicial review." The same subsection preserves a local option: "Notwithstanding this subsection, the governing body, in its discretion, may provide students an opportunity for a review or appeal of a short-term suspension to the superintendent or governing body." (§ 115C-390.6(e)) On a long-term suspension there is a formal hearing, then two further forums with stated clocks: "a student's appeal to the governing body of a decision upholding a long-term suspension shall be heard and a final written decision issued in not more than 30 calendar days following the request for such appeal" (§ 115C-390.8(g)), and "A decision of the governing body of the public school unit to uphold the long-term suspension of a student is subject to judicial review in accordance with Article 4 of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes. The action must be brought within 30 days of the governing body's decision." (§ 115C-390.8(i))
No state office, phone number, or email for parents appears in the sources reviewed, and no Department of Public Instruction page setting out these procedures for parents was located in this review. That absence is the finding.

Sources last checked

Aug 29, 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 North Carolina publishes in statute about K-12 school discipline. This is a baseline docket page: the governing article, the lines the state draws, and the decision-makers and appeal route, 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. The article is unusually explicit about notice, and about language. On a short-term suspension: "The notice shall be given by the end of the workday during which the suspension is imposed when reasonably possible, but in no event more than two days after the suspension is imposed." (§ 115C-390.6(c)) And: "If English is the second language of the parent, the notice shall be provided in the parent's primary language, when the appropriate foreign language resources are readily available, and in English, and both versions shall be in plain language and shall be easily understandable." (§ 115C-390.6(d)) A long-term suspension notice must state, among eight required items, "Notice that the parent is permitted to retain an attorney to represent the student in the hearing process" and "Notice that the parent has the right to review and obtain copies of the student's educational records before the hearing." (§ 115C-390.8(a)(5), (7)) The hearing itself carries a listed set of rights, including "The right to have a record made of the hearing." and "The right to make his or her own audio recording of the hearing." (§ 115C-390.8(e)(6), (7)) On what a suspended student receives: "Students who are long-term suspended shall be offered alternative education services unless the superintendent provides a significant or important reason for declining to offer such services." (§ 115C-390.9(a)) On coming back, after the longest exclusions: "All students suspended for 365 days or expelled may, after 180 calendar days from the date of the beginning of the student's suspension or expulsion, request in writing readmission to the public school unit." (§ 115C-390.12(a)) The conduct rules themselves are the district's to write: governing bodies "shall adopt policies to govern the conduct of students and establish procedures to be followed by school officials in disciplining students", and the state collects the result — "No later than September 1 of each year, each governing body of a public school unit shall provide the Department of Public Instruction with a copy of its most up-to-date student discipline policies and Code of Student Conduct." (§ 115C-390.2(a), (b1)) That delegation will anchor the full page's delegation map; the district code of conduct carries procedural detail this page does not. For a student with an IEP or Section 504 plan, the disability layer lives on this site's North Carolina 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.