{"id":121666,"date":"2026-02-03T19:15:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T19:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/121666\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T19:15:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T19:15:07","slug":"federal-court-rejects-challenge-to-nyc-school-suspension-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/121666\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal court rejects challenge to NYC school suspension process"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sign up for Chalkbeat New York\u2019s free daily newsletter<\/a> to get essential news about NYC\u2019s public schools delivered to your inbox.<\/p>\n

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit this week that sought to force New York City to use a higher standard of proof before issuing longer-term suspensions.<\/p>\n

When students are removed from school for more than five days, families have the right to a hearing where a hearing officer weighs the evidence and makes a discipline recommendation.<\/p>\n

In a lawsuit filed in May<\/a>, Legal Services NYC argued that the standard of proof at those hearings \u2014 \u201csubstantial and competent\u201d evidence \u2014 requires less than a 50% chance a student did what they were accused of and violates their due process rights. The suit pushed for a \u201cpreponderance of the evidence\u201d standard, which would require slightly more than 50% certainty. <\/p>\n

In his decision dismissing the lawsuit<\/a> on Monday, U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken wrote that the \u201csubstantial and competent\u201d evidence standard is constitutionally sufficient. He noted that the lawsuit cites no cases in which a court required the higher standard for student suspensions and contended that the current system already has some safeguards, such as giving families the chance to present evidence and cross-examine witnesses during suspension hearings. <\/p>\n

He also raised concerns that the higher standard would \u201cburden the school discipline process with stricter procedures and a more onerous standard of proof.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advocates have long raised concerns that schools can suspend students based on flimsy evidence<\/a>. They also note that Black students and those with disabilities are disproportionately removed<\/a> from their classrooms.<\/p>\n

In response to the ruling, Legal Services NYC attorney Michaela Shuchman said that suspensions can knock students off track and deprive them of school meals, health services provided on many campuses, and special education support. The organization provides free legal help for families going through suspension proceedings. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are disappointed by this decision,\u201d Shuchman wrote. \u201cThe least New York City can do is ensure that students have constitutionally adequate protections before facing these harms.\u201d She said the organization is considering whether to appeal.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the city\u2019s Law Department said it is reviewing the decision and declined further comment. <\/p>\n

Oetken noted that students who are removed from school for more than five days still have the right to instruction, and that the students involved in the lawsuit all faced suspensions of 17 days or fewer. <\/p>\n

\u201cSome experts legitimately point to the serious negative effects of suspensions, while others argue that \u2018zero tolerance\u2019 policies are necessary to maintain discipline in schools,\u201d Oetken wrote. \u201cBut the Due Process Clause is a blunt instrument, not well suited to such difficult policy choices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alex Zimmerman is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up for Chalkbeat New York\u2019s free daily newsletter to get essential news about NYC\u2019s public schools delivered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121667,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[52811,67,75,9,24,55,54,56,63,37284,53293,37285,7037],"class_list":["post-121666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-courthouse","tag-education","tag-manhattan","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-department-of-education","tag-tweed","tag-tweed-courthouse","tag-world-trade-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}