New Lawsuit Alleges NYC DOE is Suspending Students Without Due Process, Denying Students an Education and Causing Irreparable Harm 

In 2023-2024 school year, NYC schools suspended more than 36,500 students, disproportionately Black students (37%) and students with disabilities (40%) 

Legal Services NYC (LSNYC) filed a lawsuit against the NYC Department of Education (DOE) on behalf of three students, alleging schools are suspending students without sufficient evidence, in violation of due process protections under the U.S. Constitution. The standard of proof NYC schools employ for long term suspensions is a “substantial and competent evidence” standard, which requires little to no evidence to suspend a student.  However, in at least 20 other states, school districts use a “preponderance of evidence” standard which requires a greater than 50% likelihood that an alleged violation occurred. As a result, the lawsuit alleges, NYC schools are unconstitutionally suspending students each year, depriving them of their right to an education, school meals, special education services, and other opportunities, with lasting damage to their academic lives and emotional and mental health. The lawsuit calls for NYC schools to comply with the US Constitution and employ a higher standard of proof in suspension hearings. 

“After the suspensions, everything got harder,” said Rubi F., mother of Y.P. student plaintiff. “I cried every day driving my daughter nearly an hour to get her to the alternate school, knowing that she was falling further behind. Schools are supposed to help families, not make life harder. It was a terrible time for all of us.” 

“NYC students deserve better than being suspended based on the flimsiest of evidence,” said Michaela Shuchman, a LSNYC attorney who worked on the lawsuit. “It’s unacceptable and needs to stop. While kneejerk suspensions may be a convenient solution for schools, they are by no means a fair or productive one for students, who ultimately end up suffering the long-term consequences, like being held back, dropping out, or even ending up in the prison system. It’s time for the DOE to stop relying on suspensions as a first resort and start prioritizing students’ well-being by affording them the due process they deserve. It’s the least they can do and it costs them nothing.” 

Currently, students in New York City can be removed from school for weeks or even months based on unproven accusations of wrongdoing. The “substantial and competent evidence standard” currently employed in long term suspension hearings requires little evidence to suspend a student, meaning that a child can lose access to their education, support services, and school community — even when there is no clear evidence a student is at fault. In fact, this standard shifts the burden onto the student to prove an alleged misconduct did not occur, rather than with the schools where it belongs. 
 
This inadequate standard of proof, the lawsuit alleges, deprives students of due process protections under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution and the suspensions that result deprive them of their right to an education, as guaranteed under the New York State Constitution. 

One client, Y.P., a 14-year-old 9^th grader with a disability, was suspended for 10 school days after being accused of being in possession of a vape pen, despite little evidence the pen was hers or what it contained. Y.P. was prohibited from her class trip and prom, continues to show a lack of motivation in school, and is failing many of her classes. Another student, Y.H., a 13-year-old 8^th grader with excellent grades, was suspended for 16 days after he was accused of “attempting to inflict serious injury against school personnel” when he turned around and his finger brushed against a teacher on accident. The school’s only witness was the teacher who accused Y.H. As a result, Y.H. lost out on invaluable school time and was forced to attend summer school to advance to the next grade. 

Suspensions have severe and lasting impacts on students’ academic growth and their emotional and mental health. Suspended students are much more likely than their peers to never finish high school. Just one suspension in the ninth grade increases two-fold the likelihood that a student will drop out. Even just one suspension on average lowers a student’s grade point average (“GPA”) by close to one full point.  Suspended students are nearly 30% more likely to repeat a grade.  In addition, students also miss out on school meals they rely on, extracurricular activities, and experience reputational and emotional harm that impacts them the rest of their school careers.  

In the 2023–2024 school year, the DOE issued more than 36,000 disciplinary removals, including over 6,000 long-term suspensions. Black students made up 45% of these suspensions, though they represent just 24% of citywide enrollment. Students with disabilities were similarly overrepresented, accounting for nearly 40% of all suspensions despite being only 22% of students. 

The lawsuit seeks to force the NYC Department of Education to employ a preponderance of evidence standard and to stop depriving NYC students of their due process rights and an education, in addition to damages for these students. 

“I am deeply troubled that NYC schools suspend students without sufficient evidence. They use a standard that requires little to no proof,” said City Council Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala, who has sponsored legislation addressing disparities in school discipline. “This deprives students of their right to a fair hearing and an education. This practice, in contrast to other states that require a ‘preponderance of evidence,’ risks violating fundamental due process protections under the U.S. Constitution. Lasting harm to students’ academic and emotional well-being may result. We must demand that our schools adopt a higher standard of proof to ensure that disciplinary actions are fair, justified, and aligned with constitutional rights.” 

“As a Bronx representative, and most of all, as a mother, I know how devastating it can be when a child is unfairly pushed out of the classroom,” said Assemblymember Yudelka Tapia, who has co-sponsored legislation seeking to reform school disciplinary policies by limiting suspensions and promoting restorative practices. “The current standard for suspensions in New York City schools is failing Black and Brown students and those with disabilities by allowing life-altering punishments based on nonexistent evidence. That’s unacceptable. Every student deserves a fair process and a real chance to succeed. I proudly stand with Legal Services NYC in calling for stronger protections and higher standards that uphold our students’ rights and futures.” 

“Every student should have the right to due process before being removed from school, yet too many children, especially students of color and students with disabilities, are shown the door for weeks or even months based on unproven allegations,” said State Senator John Liu, Chair of the Senate Committee on NYC Education. “Given the severe and irreparable harm caused by exclusionary discipline, it’s time for schools to stop ignoring the due process rights of students so that they’re not depriving them of their education and their future.” 

“Every year, Advocates for Children of New York (AFC) receives calls from hundreds of families struggling to navigate the suspension hearing process,” said Rohini Singh, Director of the School Justice Project at Advocates for Children of New York. “We support the strengthening of students’ due process rights in suspension hearings in NYC to help ensure students are not inappropriately suspended from school and help prevent the significant long-term negative impacts that being kept out of school can have on students’ lives.”  

“This lawsuit underscores what students, families, and advocates across New York have been saying for years: current suspension practices are unjust, ineffective, and deeply harmful,” the Solutions Not Suspensions NY Coalition said in a statement. “When students — especially Black students, those with disabilities, LGBTQI+ students, economically disadvantaged students and those in foster care — are pushed out of school without even a fair process, it not only denies them their constitutional right to education, it fuels the school-to-prison pipeline. Every student deserves appropriate due process, dignity, and the opportunity to learn in a supportive school.” 

“No student should be removed from their school community, especially when there isn’t sufficient evidence or due process in place,” said Adilka Pimentel, Deputy Director of Urban Youth Collaborative. “NYC schools should be places of safety, support and compassion; instead students are being criminalized and pushed out. There is data that proves that suspensions have life-altering consequences for students and their families. Students in NYC deserve fairness, protection and the right to quality education.” 

“As advocates, we often can’t present a meaningful defense for students in suspension hearings because the standard to prove the school’s case is so minimal—even if we show the school made assumptions, any doubts we raise carry little to no weight,” said Annie Kline, outgoing Suspension Representation Project Co-Director. “A ‘preponderance of the evidence’ standard would make student hearings a fair fight. Right now, students can be suspended for days with little to no process, and that deprivation of rights warrants a more rigorous evidentiary burden than what is currently being used.” 

“Dignity in Schools Campaign-NY students, parents, teachers, and community organizers have fought for close to 15 years for supportive school communities that rely on restorative justice and mental health access instead of punitive discipline, said Andrea Ortiz, Dignity in Schools Campaign – NY Membership and Campaigns Director. “Yet NYC schools continue to suspend students without sufficient evidence using a standard that deprives students of their right to a fair hearing and violates fundamental due process protections under the U.S. Constitution. We can and must do better to protect our students.”