Legal Question in Education Law in South Carolina

Mountains Made Out of Mole Hills

My child has been referred to Juvenile Abritration for a simple act of boredom at school. The child is academically challenged and tests 5 years below his actual school age (ADHD but no true LD). This child is completely educationally overwhelmed due to the lack of solid educational foundation and we have been fighting the public school system for years with this issue (to no avail). The child has already been pushed through two grades. One day in class the child was bored and decided to scratch chalk using a school ID. Upon completion of that class the resource officer accused the child of having an illegal substance on the child's person and interrogated the child for three hours without a parent called when asked. The resource officer decided to press charges for disrupting school even though it was determined he held only chalk. Over five weeks later, we have received the Juvenile Arbitration letter and in order to comply we MUST plead guilty OR go to family court. It is my belief that this offense does not fit into ''disrupting school'' -- no threats were made, no violence, no blocking of passages, just simple child boredom. Is this really grounds for ''disrupting school''? Do we have any recourse? What are our option?


Asked on 6/12/07, 4:09 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Elizabeth Hyatt E.H. Robinson Law, LLC

Re: Mountains Made Out of Mole Hills

Yes, you have some options. It sounds to me like you have a situation that might be addressed by some special education issues. It is very possible that his behavior issues are a manifestation of some undiagnosed issues with his education and the school is responsible for finding those. Has he been tested thoroughly for his academic difficulties? How recently? has he been offered any assistance for his problems? How do you know that he doesn't have a specific LD?

I would love to talk with you more about these issues. Feel free to email me or call me for further information about this. Good luck.

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Answered on 6/12/07, 8:20 am


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