LD Blog

U.S. District Judge Charles Kornmann ruled that the superintendent and members of school board of the Todd County School District (SD, US) improperly suspended eighth grader Ernest Doe (pseudonym) from 1 November 2005 through 17 May 2006, according to a story by Heidi Bell Gease of the Rapid City Journal. Gease wrote that Mr. Doe has Learning Disabilities, but it is not not clear to me whether Todd County Schools conducted a manifestation determination. (Ms. Gease’s story notes that Judge Kornmann blocked suspension of another student in September of 2005 but does not indicate whether that student was identified as having a disability.)

In the fall of 2005 Mr. Doe was suspended after he admitted to being among a group of students in a car from which someone fired a rifle near a school. The suspension was based on accusations of vandalism and violation of a state law barring guns at schools. Apparently school principal Peggy Diekoff initially suspended Mr. Doe for two weeks but, in November of 2005, superintendent Richard Bordeaux extended the suspension to 10 weeks and later for the remainder of the school year.

After the shooting, middle school Principal Peggy Diekoff suspended Doe from all classes and school activities. Doe’s parents were contacted about the suspension, which was to continue until there was a school board hearing.

In a letter dated Oct. 25, 2005, Bordeaux informed the Does that he was extending the suspension until Jan. 13, 2006. The Does were told they could contest the decision at a Nov. 1, 2005, school board hearing.

At the Nov. 1 hearing, it was noted that Ernest Doe was on an Individualized Educational Program, which meant that because of a learning disability, he had rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The school board then referred action to Bordeaux, who said Doe should be put on disciplinary “home study” until testing could determine if his actions were related to his disabilities.

On Nov. 22, Bordeaux informed the Does that he was leaving Ernest on home study until the end of the school year and that Ernest was not to be on school grounds or at school activities during that time. After Doe’s attorneys filed for a preliminary injunction, Ernest was allowed to return to school on Jan. 23, 2006.

In his ruling, Kornmann noted that Diekoff and Bordeaux justified extending Ernest’s suspension based on vandalism to school property, even though the school handbook provides for only three days’ suspension for a first act of vandalism.

The school district also cited as justification the Gun Free Schools Act, which would have allowed for at least one year’s suspension. But because there was no proof Ernest Doe set foot on school property Oct. 14, Kornmann said that law did not apply.

Kornmann ruled that the board acted improperly by not making a decision after the Nov. 1 hearing and by leaving Ernest on suspension while he was being tested regarding his learning disabilities.

Links to Ms. Gease’s story, the Todd County School District Web presence, and the Wikipedia entry about Mission (SD; US), the county seat of Todd County.