Oregon — school discipline

Governing authority stated in the sources

Oregon Revised Statutes 339.240 (rules of student conduct, discipline and rights) and 339.250 (the discipline, suspension and expulsion policies each district board must adopt), together with the State Board of Education's rules at OAR 581-021-0050 through 581-021-0075. The chapter document is marked "2025 EDITION" and carries notices of 2026 session-law additions. The statute directs the rules: "The State Board of Education in accordance with ORS chapter 183 shall adopt rules setting minimum standards for pupil conduct and discipline and for rights and procedures pertaining thereto that are consistent with orderly operation of the educational processes and with fair hearing requirements." (ORS 339.240(1)) — ORS Chapter 339, retrieved Sep 1, 2026

The lines the state draws

The statute caps both removals in the same subsection: "The duration of an expulsion may not be more than one calendar year." and "The duration of a suspension may not be more than 10 school days." (ORS 339.250(2)(f)) District policies "Must limit the use of expulsion to the following circumstances:" — "For conduct that poses a threat to the health or safety of students or school employees;" "When other strategies to change student conduct have been ineffective, except that expulsion may not be used to address truancy; or" "When the expulsion is required by law." (ORS 339.250(2)(c)) A narrower line is drawn for the youngest students: for a student "who is in fifth grade or lower," policies "must limit the use of out-of-school suspension or of expulsion" to nonaccidental conduct causing serious physical harm, an administrator's determination of a direct threat, or where "the suspension or expulsion is required by law." (ORS 339.250(2)(d)) On emergency removal the rule states the procedures "may be postponed in emergency situations relating to health and safety." and confines them: "Emergency situations shall be limited to those instances where there is a serious risk that substantial harm will occur if suspension does not take place immediately." (OAR 581-021-0065(1), (2))

Offices and appeal bodies in these sources

Both routes end at the district board. On suspension: "In all suspensions ordered by the executive officer of the school district or designated representative, the district school board shall have the right of final review if the action is not taken by the school board itself." (OAR 581-021-0065(4)) On expulsion: "A school district board may expel, or delegate authority to a hearings officer to expel, a student provided the student is not expelled without a hearing unless the student's parent(s) or guardian, or the student, if 18 years of age, waives the right to a hearing." Where the authority is delegated, "the parent, or student, if age 18 or over, shall have the right upon appeal to a board review of the decision", and "When appealed, the board will affirm, modify, or rescind the decision of the hearings officer." (OAR 581-021-0070(2), (2)(b)) The hearing itself runs under a cross-referenced statute: "Student expulsion hearings shall be conducted pursuant to ORS 332.061." (OAR 581-021-0070(3))
No state office, phone number, or email for parents appears in the sources; that absence is the finding.

Sources last checked

Sep 1, 2026

Reproduced from the state's own statutes and rules quoted below: potentially relevant official sources, not a determination of which one governs any situation.

This page assembles what Oregon publishes in statute and administrative rule about K-12 school discipline. This is a baseline docket page: the governing provisions, 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. Oregon states the rules of conduct as the district's to write and the state's to floor: "Every district school board shall adopt and attempt to give the widest possible distribution of copies of reasonable written rules regarding pupil conduct, discipline and rights and procedures pertaining thereto. Such rules must comply with minimum standards adopted by the State Board of Education under subsection (1) of this section." (ORS 339.240(2)) The rule names nine topics those written rules "shall include, but not necessarily be limited to," among them "Discipline, suspension, and expulsion." (OAR 581-021-0050(1)) That delegation will anchor the full page's delegation map. Before a suspension the rule states the elements: "Students may be suspended when such suspension contains within its procedures the elements of prior notice (OAR 581-021-0075), specification of charges, and an opportunity for the student to present his or her view of the alleged misconduct." (OAR 581-021-0065(1)) Before an expulsion the notice is served: "Notice to the student and to the parent or guardian shall be given by personal service or certified mail of the charge or charges and the specific facts that support the charge or charges." (OAR 581-021-0070(4)(a)) One sentence of the statute reaches the disability layer directly — the consistent-enforcement duty at ORS 339.240(3) "does not apply to a pupil who is eligible for special education as a child with a disability under ORS 343.035", and ORS 339.252 states its own removal limits for a child with a disability; for a student with an IEP or Section 504 plan, that layer lives on this site's Oregon special education page. District codes of conduct add procedural detail this page does not carry. 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.