child forced to attend school

Ask a Lawyer

Question

Country: United States of America
State: North Carolina

I would like to know if there are legal options to a child being forced to attend a school where medical professionals have determined to be harmful to his emotional and physical well being. My nephew was placed in an alternative school after being convicted of damage to school property. He completed every requirement given by the court to pay for his actions, including probation, community service and restitution. He fought to bring his grades up so as to be promoted up to the next grade level while at the alternative school. He recently went before the local school board in hopes of being permitted to return to a regular high school setting, but not the same school as he was expelled from. He provided the board with letter of recommendation from the alternative school principal, the nursing home where he performed his community service, as well as a medical professional, who stated that the atmosphere at the alternative school was harming him emotionally due to a diagnosis of bi-polar disorder. The child has also been injured on 2 separate occasions, one of which he still suffers effects from after being knocked unconscious and the school staff moving him before medical help was summoned. This resulted in injury to his neck and he now suffers from blackouts, short term memory loss, and headaches. Even though the school board has been provided with the letters of recommendation from the alternative school, letters from his pastor, the nursing home staff where he performed community service, and medical professionals, they refuse to remove him from the harmful setting. My nephew was 13 at the time of the offense. I would like to know if there is any recourse his family can take. We feel that since he has satisfied the court's requirements, has made every effort possible to turn his life around, been taken off probation for several months now, and has the medical issues defined here, he would be better suited in a regular school.

Answer

You can ask the superintendent to make a decision on his/her own; or if need be you can ask a court to order that he be allowed back into the regularschool setting...