California suspension & expulsion rules

California's discipline card

Federal floor (all states): notice of the charges, an explanation of the evidence if your child denies them, and a chance to tell their side before a suspension of up to 10 days (Goss v. Lopez). With an IEP, the federal discipline clock adds the 10-school-day manifestation review and the 45-school-day interim-setting rules (34 CFR §§300.530–300.536).

Longest single suspension: 5 consecutive school days.

Yearly cap: 20 school days per year (30 if transferred for adjustment).

Hearing: Full board/hearing-officer hearing for expulsion, within 30 school days, written notice at least 10 calendar days before.

Appeal deadline in state law: 30 calendar days to the county board of education (expulsion) — to County board of education.

Longest expulsion: Readmission review by end of following semester (1 year+ for §48915(c) cases).

Sources: Educ. Code §§48900, 48900.5, 48903, 48911, 48918, 48919

Verified California levers

• Suspension is allowed only when other means of correction have failed and been documented — except first offenses under §48900(a)–(e) or danger (Ed Code §48900.5).
• Willful defiance can never be a ground for expulsion, and cannot be a ground for suspension in any grade (grades 6–12 ban sunsets July 1, 2029) (§48900(k)).
• Before a suspension: an informal conference where your child hears the reason and the evidence and can respond (§48911(b)); emergencies get the conference within 2 school days.
• Suspended expulsions (§48917) still start the same 30-day county-appeal clock from the original vote.

Run the discipline decoder

Rules checked October 2026 — every rule on this page is cited to its source. Verify day counts against your district's official calendar.