Walled Lake board hears legal guidance on disciplining students with disabilities

Vicki Coe, an attorney with Clark Hill and Associates, gave the Walled Lake Consolidated Schools Board of Education a legal overview of discipline for students with disabilities and fielded questions from board members and staff.

Coe said the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act take priority over state rules and school codes when a student's disability is implicated. "Federal law is always gonna trump state law," she said, adding that guidance (agency letters) can strongly influence how districts are expected to act even though guidance itself is not law.

The presentation summarized several procedural protections and time limits that school staff must observe. Coe reviewed general due-process protections recognized in case law (citing Goss v. Lopez) and told the board that removals of more than 10 days trigger additional procedural steps for all students; for students eligible under IDEA, removal can amount to a "change in placement" and requires a manifestation-determination process. "If we're gonna remove a kid for more than 10 days out of school, we can't do that unless we're giving them a right to an evidentiary hearing," she said.

Coe described the IDEA's specific timelines and narrow exceptions: where…