Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution 1. Due process means that all people must be treated fairly, according to certain specified procedures. Students were extended due process rights in 1975 when the Supreme Court decided Goss v. Lopez, a case which arose out of student unrest at a school in Columbus, Ohio. If a student is facing more serious penalties, the Court said he or she is entitled to a full-scale hearing by an impartial tribunal, involving witnesses and lawyers and the right of appeal. In 1993 the Massachusetts state legislature passed the Education Reform Act, which gave principals the right to expel students carrying weapons or drugs of any sort into school or for engaging in a threatening conduct.
Students have a hearing before the principal, rather than an impartial tribunal.
School districts don't have to provide any form of alternative education for expelled students. Not everywhere, but in Massachusetts, schools cannot enforce a rule unless it has been published and approved by the school committee. Only if it affects your behavior at school in a way that endangers you or others, if it took place during a school-sponsored field trip or athletic event, or if it occurred near the school, for example when you were on your way home. For the most part, courts have held that schools have no business interfering in what you do at home or out of school. The Supreme Court upheld the use of corporal punishment in schools when it decided Ingraham v. Wright in 1977.