WorkflowK–12 Student Services, Families & Safety

Student Discipline & Expulsion Hearings

Every expulsion hearing on its school day, every exhibit cited, the 504 check done first

Every hearing packet complete, cited and on its school day, with the 504 check done first.

See one case, screen by screen ↓
demo52sfor seven agents to check one expulsion case, confidence 0.94
demo42citationsacross the 10 exhibits of one hearing packet, with a redacted family copy
target0hearingsheld before the 504 or IEP manifestation meeting
demo9school daysremoved in the sample case before the student is back in class, not expelled
In short

What is Student Discipline & Expulsion Hearings?

Software for district hearing offices that runs each long-term suspension and expulsion hearing on its school-day timeline. Seven agents assemble evidence, notices and records into a timed, cited hearing packet, check IEP and 504 status, map the incident to the code of conduct and write every notice in the family’s language. The hearing officer decides and signs.

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Updated

The problem

Why an expulsion hearing is so easy to get wrong

An expulsion hearing runs on a clock counted in school days: the family’s notice by the next school day, a parent conference within 3, written charges at least 5 before the hearing, the evidence 3 before, and the hearing within 10. The hearing officer assembles each packet by hand from the student information system, paper statements, the nurse, the video log and, separately, the special education office, and counts the school days around every holiday.

For a student with an IEP or a Section 504 plan, federal rules add a manifestation determination before any change of placement, and that plan often sits in another system. A hearing held without the meeting, a notice sent late or in English only, or a family copy that still names other students is how a decision is overturned on appeal or becomes a complaint. Disparities by student group surface a year later, in the civil rights data, too late for the student.

typical2.5millionstudents suspended out of school in 2023–24
typical14millionschool days missed to suspension that year
estimated3–5hoursto assemble one hearing packet by hand
Where a hearing packet’s hours goestimated
By hand4 hours
With the solution0.6 hours
  • Finding and copying exhibits from four systems1.8 → 0.1 h
  • Checking IEP and 504 status with special education0.3 → 0.1 h
  • Redacting other students for the family copy0.5 → 0.1 h
  • Indexing and citing each exhibit0.5 → 0.1 h
  • Counting school days, drafting charges and notices0.5 → 0.1 h
  • Translation and the interpreter’s check0.5 → 0.3 h

Estimated split for one packet of 10 exhibits from four systems, by hand and with the solution. The interpreter’s check and the signatures stay with people.

How it works

How a case moves

Seven agents read, map, check and draft every case; the hearing officer decides and signs.

What comes in
Referral in5 sources · reports, statements, video, records
Agents at work
Intake agentopens the case
Then
Clock agent
Code agent
Disability agent
Then
Consistency agent
Language agent
Then
Packet agentcited packet
A person decides
Hearing officerdecides and signs
What comes out
Cited packet
Family notice
Every step on time
One case, step by step

One expulsion hearing case, from referral to back in class

At Marlow Bay Unified School District, Ricardo Villanueva, in grade 10 at Seacliff High School, strikes another student once in the cafeteria on Mon Oct 5, and the school recommends a 180-day expulsion. On Wed Oct 14, day 7 of 10, hearing officer Gloria Thibodeaux-Lam opens his case. Here is what happens next, screen by screen, in the working solution.

  1. 01Wed Oct 14 · day 7

    Every case on its clock

    Gloria Thibodeaux-Lam · Hearing officer

    Gloria’s queue shows 10 of her 23 open cases, each with a small due-process ruler, its flags and the next step with its due day. Ricardo’s row reads day 7 of 10, §5.4 physical assault on a student, expulsion for 180 school days, flagged 504 and Spanish, with the manifestation meeting due today. Filters find what is due by Friday, blocked, IEP or 504 and appeals; bulk actions assign, remind schools and export state rows.

  2. 02One click · 52 seconds

    “Check the case”: every source read and cited

    Seven agents

    The agents run step by step in view. The Intake agent re-reads the referral and 10 exhibits; the Clock agent lays the steps on the school calendar and finds 5 of 8 done on their day; the Packet agent assembles 10 exhibits with 42 citations. The packet reader shows a student witness statement in Spanish beside the English: the other student pushed Ricardo first, which the video log confirms at 12:41:06.

    Three things need Gloria: the 504 meeting, a recommendation beyond the code, and similar cases.

  3. 03The ruler turns red

    A Section 504 plan, and no manifestation meeting

    Disability agent

    The due-process ruler runs from day 0, the incident on Mon Oct 5, to day 10, the hearing on Mon Oct 19, with each required step pinned to its school day and its document. The Disability agent finds Ricardo’s Section 504 plan for ADHD in the special education system and no manifestation meeting on the calendar, so the manifestation and hearing pins turn red. It offers to schedule the meeting for day 9, Fri Oct 16.

    “Hearing blocked by the Disability agent. Ricardo has a Section 504 plan for ADHD, and no manifestation meeting is on the calendar.”

  4. 04The disability gate

    7 of 10 school days used

    Disability agent

    The plan was adopted Feb 11, 2026, with movement breaks, preferential seating and a daily check-in, and the check-in was recorded on only 4 of the 10 school days before the incident. Seven school days have been removed this year; day 10, Mon Oct 19, would be a change of placement. The meeting notice is already drafted in Spanish beside English.

    The Disability agent never decides a manifestation. A missing meeting always blocks the hearing.

  5. 05The code

    A 180-day expulsion, beyond the allowed range

    Code agent

    The Code agent maps the incident to §5.4 physical assault on a student at confidence 0.91, and notes §5.3 fighting at 0.64 as an alternative charge for the hearing to weigh. A first Level 4 allows up to 45 school days of alternative placement. None of the three conditions for expulsion is met, each with its source: a nosebleed with no treatment, no prior Level 4 within 12 months, and no weapon on the video.

    The Code agent never proposes a consequence beyond the code; the school revises its own recommendation.

  6. 06Before deciding

    How 41 similar cases ended

    Consistency agent

    Since 2023–24, 41 similar cases ended in 27 suspensions of 1–10 days, 10 alternative placements and 4 expulsions of up to 90 days, each with serious injury or a second Level 4, and none of 180 days. By student group, schools recommended expulsion for Hispanic students at 2.8 times the rate for white students. Gloria sends that pattern to the director for an equity review.

    A student’s group is never an input to a case.

  7. 078:24 am

    The manifestation meeting, scheduled for day 9

    Gloria Thibodeaux-Lam · Hearing officer

    Gloria schedules the meeting for Fri Oct 16 at 9:00 am at Seacliff High School. Tomás Herrera, the Section 504 coordinator, chairs; Ricardo’s mother, Ana Lucía Villanueva, the school psychologist, the counselor who runs the daily check-in and his English teacher attend, with an interpreter. The Language agent drafts the notice in Spanish beside English.

    “The notice goes to Beatriz Solano to check the Spanish, then to you to sign. Nothing is sent before both.”

  8. 08Checked, then signed

    A notice the family can read

    Beatriz Solano · Interpreter

    The manifestation meeting notice shows its chain: drafted by the Language agent, checked by Beatriz Solano, then signed by Gloria. Sign and send goes out by the family portal, email and first-class mail, with a copy to the case file. Every notice on the case is in Spanish beside English.

  9. 09Fri Oct 16 · day 9

    The team finds a manifestation

    Tomás Herrera · Section 504 coordinator

    The team answers both federal questions on the record. Yes, the conduct had a direct and substantial relationship to Ricardo’s disability: the evaluation describes impulsive responses under stress at lunch, and he was pushed first. In part, it followed a failure to implement the plan: the check-in was recorded on 4 of 10 days. Tomás signs for the team; the expulsion recommendation is withdrawn and the hearing canceled.

  10. 1010:42 and 10:47 am

    Signed, countersigned, back in class

    Gloria Thibodeaux-Lam and Dr. Nadine Ferreira

    Gloria signs the decision to withdraw the expulsion recommendation with the reason code disability-related, each finding of fact cited. Dr. Nadine Ferreira, director of student discipline, countersigns the change to the student record five minutes later. The decision is written back to the student information system: the suspension ends after 9 school days, and Ricardo is back in class on Mon Oct 19.

    No single person changes a student record: the hearing officer signs, the director countersigns.

Who it’s for

Built for everyone who carries a discipline case.

The same expulsion case, seen by the four people who carry it: what their week looked like, and what it looks like now.

GT
Gloria Thibodeaux-LamHearing officer · district hearing office · 23 open cases
Hearing officer
Before
Builds every packet by hand from four systems and counts school days around holidays, and worries about finding out on appeal that the 504 meeting never happened.
Now
Opens each case on one ruler of school days, with the disability check done and every exhibit cited, and spends her time on the decision.
DO
Derek OkaforAssistant principal · Seacliff High School
Assistant principal
Before
Writes the referral the same afternoon, and does not always know which students have a 504 plan.
Now
Gets a recommendation beyond the code back before the hearing, with a reason code and the allowed range, and revises it himself.
TH
Tomás HerreraSection 504 coordinator · manifestation meetings in 14 schools
Section 504 coordinator
Before
Hears about a manifestation meeting the day before a hearing, when the family has no time to come.
Now
Gets the meeting days ahead, with the team, the interpreter and the evidence for both questions ready, and records the team’s determination.
NF
Dr. Nadine FerreiraDirector of Student Discipline · countersigns record changes
Director of student discipline
Before
Sees the district’s disparities in the civil rights data a year later, case by case impossible to explain.
Now
Sees disparity by student group while a case is open, reviews the pattern, and countersigns every change to a student record.
Built on the engine

7 agents. Each with one job, and hard limits.

Seven agents read, map, check and draft every case; the hearing officer decides and signs.

Intake agent

Reads the school’s referral, statements, nurse’s note and video log in any language or format, opens the case and starts the due-process clock, and asks for a re-upload when a document cannot be read.

  • Never closes or withdraws a case
  • Cites the page for every fact
Clock agent

Lays every required step on the district’s school calendar, reminds the owner one school day before and escalates a missed step to the director the same day.

  • Never moves a date
  • Counts school days only
Code agent

Maps the incident to its code of conduct sections with a confidence, gives the allowed range for the student’s history, tests each condition that would allow expulsion and flags a recommendation beyond the range.

  • Never proposes a consequence beyond the code
  • Below 0.85 confidence, a person picks the section
Disability agent

Checks IEP and 504 status in the special education system and the school days removed, blocks the hearing until the manifestation meeting is held, drafts the meeting notice and prepares the team’s evidence.

  • Never decides a manifestation
  • A missing meeting always blocks the hearing
Language agent

Translates statements and notices with the original beside the English, using the district glossary in 9 languages, and routes each to an interpreter.

  • Nothing is sent before an interpreter checks it
Consistency agent

Compares the recommendation with similar past cases by offense, history, injury and grade, and shows any disparity by student group.

  • A student’s group is never an input to a case
  • Patterns go to the director
Packet agent

Assembles and numbers the exhibits, cites each passage, makes the redacted family copy and builds the export packets for an appeal or a review.

  • Every exhibit cited
  • Other students always redacted in family copies; video listed, never copied
Hearing officer

Decides and signs. The agents propose; a named person decides.

Ask in plain words

Ask about any case, rule or notice

Ask about any case, rule or notice in plain words, or say what to prepare. Every answer cites its source and opens the screen you need.

Why is Ricardo’s hearing blocked?

Ricardo has a Section 504 plan for ADHD, adopted Feb 11, 2026. The district holds every expulsion hearing for a student with an IEP or 504 plan until a manifestation meeting is held, and his removal reaches 10 school days on Mon Oct 19. None is on the calendar, so the meeting notice is drafted for Fri Oct 16 in Spanish beside English.

Is a 180-day expulsion within the code for this incident?

No. The incident maps to §5.4, physical assault on a student. For a first Level 4 the code allows up to 45 school days of alternative placement; expulsion needs serious bodily injury, a second Level 4 within 12 months, or a weapon. The record shows none: a nosebleed with no treatment, no prior Level 4, and no weapon on video.

How were similar cases decided?

41 similar cases since 2023–24: 27 suspensions of 1–10 days, 10 alternative placements, 4 expulsions of up to 90 days and none of 180 days. The 4 expulsions each had serious injury or a second Level 4. Expulsion was recommended for Hispanic students at 2.8 times the rate for white students, and that is flagged for the director.

Send the family the evidence packet in Spanish

Ready for your signature. The family copy has 10 exhibits with the names of 2 other students redacted; the video is offered for viewing at the district office, not copied. Beatriz Solano checked the Spanish at 8:21 am. Sign it and it goes by the family portal, email and first-class mail.

Every screen

The working solution, as it ships.

13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.

The due-process rulerAn expulsion hearing case on one ruler of school days, from the incident on day 0 to the hearing on day 10: five steps done, evidence due today, and the hearing blocked until the Section 504 manifestation meeting.
Every case on its clockThe hearing office queue: each case with a small due-process ruler, flags for 504, IEP, family language, beyond the code and Title IX, and the next step with its due day.
The agents’ check and the cited packetSeven agents check the case in 52 seconds; the hearing packet reader shows a Spanish witness statement beside the English, with 42 citations across 10 exhibits.
The code of conduct and the allowed rangeThe incident mapped to §5.4 at 0.91, the range a first Level 4 allows, and a 180-day expulsion beyond it, with each expulsion condition tested against its source.
The disability gateThe Section 504 plan from the special education system, 7 of 10 school days removed, and no manifestation meeting on the calendar.
Similar cases and disparityHow 41 similar cases ended, and expulsion recommendations by student group, seen by the discipline hearing officer before deciding.
Scheduling the manifestation meetingThe manifestation determination meeting set for day 9, with the 504 coordinator chairing, the family, an interpreter and the notice in Spanish beside English.
The notice, checked and ready to signThe meeting notice in Spanish beside English after the interpreter’s check: drafted, checked, signed, then sent by portal, email and first-class mail.
The team’s determinationThe manifestation determination review answers both federal questions with citations: the conduct was a manifestation, and the expulsion recommendation is withdrawn.
The decision, signed and countersignedFindings of fact each cited, the decision with its reason code, the hearing officer’s signature and the director’s countersignature, written back to the student information system.
The ruler, settledThe same ruler on day 9: the manifestation determination done, the hearing canceled as not needed.
The audit trail and export packetsEvery action by a person or an agent: who, what, when, why and which evidence, with exports for a Board appeal, a civil rights complaint response and the state and federal discipline rows.
Roles and separation of dutiesEight roles, each with what it can do and what it may not: assistant principals recommend, hearing officers decide, the director countersigns, auditors change nothing.
Governance

Built for due process: cited, signed, on the record.

Every value cites its exhibitEvery fact, finding and agent statement cites its exhibit and passage, and the reader opens the document at the highlighted passage, so the decision stands on the record at the hearing and on appeal.
Named people decide and signThe agents propose. The hearing officer decides and signs, the Section 504 coordinator records the team’s determination, and the director countersigns every change to a student record.
The hearing waits for the 504 meetingFor a student with an IEP or 504 plan, the hearing is blocked until the manifestation meeting is held, not left to a reminder. That rule is shown locked in the settings.
Checked before any notice goesEvery notice is drafted by an agent, checked by an interpreter, then signed by a named person before it goes by portal, email and first-class mail. A recommendation is sent back to the school with a reason code, never edited by the office.
FERPA-aware by defaultFamily copies redact other students’ names, IDs and photos; video is viewed at the district office, never copied; staff see only their schools and assigned cases; every open of a record is logged with its reason; Title IX allegations pause the case first.
An audit trail for appeals and reviewsEvery action by a person or an agent is recorded with who, what, when, why and which evidence, and cannot be edited. The appeal pack for the Board, a civil rights complaint response and the state and federal discipline rows export redacted and indexed.
Configuration

Your board policy, counted in your school days

The timelines, privacy rules and agent thresholds every case runs on are settings. Changes are versioned, need a second administrator, and land on the audit trail.

SettingDefaultChoose from
Notice to the familyBy the end of the next school day1 to 30 school days, one day at a time
Written chargesAt least 5 school days before the hearing1 to 30 school days, one day at a time
Evidence to the family3 school days before the hearing1 to 30 school days, one day at a time
HearingWithin 10 school days of the suspension1 to 30 school days, one day at a time
Manifestation determinationBefore any expulsion hearing for a student with an IEP or 504 planFederal rule · locked
Redact other students in family copiesOnOn · Off
Keep discipline records5 years after exit5 years after exit · 3 years after exit · State records schedule
Code agent confidence to propose0.85Step up or down; below it, a person picks the section
Connections

Works with the systems a hearing office already runs on

Student information systemreads incidents and discipline history; writes decisions and days removed
Special education case managementreads IEPs, 504 plans and manifestation meetings
Document managementfiles every exhibit, notice and decision
Video evidence logreads clip times and viewing records; footage never leaves it
Family portal and messagingsends notices by portal, email and text
State reporting portalthe state discipline report and the civil rights rows
What it changes

The difference, in numbers.

Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.

target
Minutes
to a cited hearing packet, from an estimated 3–5 hours by hand
By hand3–5 hours
With agentsminutes
target
0hearings
held before the 504 or IEP manifestation meeting
12 of 12 meetings first
this school year, in the demo district
typical
10school days
the federal limit before a change of placement, watched on every case
Back in class after 9
the hero case

“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample district data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our arithmetic: 10 exhibits from four systems at 15–20 minutes each, plus notices · “typical” = published figures (Office for Civil Rights, Civil Rights Data Collection 2023–24, as reported by NPR, Oct 7, 2026). Rules named as context: 34 CFR §300.530(e) and §300.536 (IDEA), 34 CFR §104.35 (Section 504) and FERPA. Marlow Bay Unified School District, its schools, and the people and cases named on this page are fictional: characters and sample data in the working solution.

Questions

What hearing offices ask about expulsion hearings.

What is Student Discipline & Expulsion Hearings?

Software for district hearing offices that runs each long-term suspension and expulsion hearing on its school-day timeline. Seven agents assemble evidence, notices and records into a timed, cited hearing packet, check IEP and 504 status, map the incident to the code of conduct and write every notice in the family’s language. The hearing officer decides and signs.

How does it keep expulsion hearing procedures on their school days?

The Clock agent lays every required step on the district’s own school calendar, from the incident to the hearing, so holidays never count. Each step is pinned to its day with its document, the owner is reminded one school day before, and a missed step is escalated to the director the same day.

Does it check for a manifestation determination before an expulsion hearing?

Yes. The Disability agent reads the special education system, not only the discipline record, and counts the school days removed. For a student with an IEP or 504 plan it blocks the hearing until the manifestation meeting is held, drafts the meeting notice and prepares the evidence for the team’s two questions. The team, not the agent, makes the determination.

Does the AI decide the consequence?

No. The agents propose, explain and cite; they never recommend a consequence beyond the code, never decide a manifestation, never move a date and never send a notice on their own. The hearing officer marks each finding found or not found and signs the decision, and the director countersigns every change to a student record.

How does it handle families who speak Spanish or another language?

The Language agent shows every statement and notice in the original beside the English, using the district glossary in 9 languages. Nothing is sent until an interpreter checks the translation and a named person signs it, and notices go by family portal, email and first-class mail.

How does it protect student privacy under FERPA?

The family copy of the hearing packet redacts other students’ names, IDs and photos, and video is offered for viewing at the district office, never copied. Staff see only their schools and assigned cases, every open of a record is logged with its reason, and retention follows the district’s settings.

Can we set our own timelines and board policy?

Yes. Each step’s timeline is a setting in school days, with your school calendar, reminders and escalation. Privacy rules, retention, agent thresholds and override reason codes are settings too; a change is a draft until a second administrator approves it. The federal manifestation rule is shown locked.

How long does it take to go live?

The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents, such as your code of conduct, board policy, school calendar and notice templates, and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will walk you through it on your own policy first.

See it on
your hearings.

We’ll run Student Discipline & Expulsion Hearings on your own board policy, school calendar and de-identified past cases.