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Student suspension conditions

Student suspension conditions

During a student suspension meeting, your board must decide one of four outcomes:

  1. Lift the suspension without conditions (student returns to school immediately)

  2. Lift the suspension with reasonable conditions (student returns to school immediately)

  3. Extend the suspension with reasonable conditions for a reasonable period to facilitate the student’s return to school

  4. Exclude (under 16 years of age) or expel (16 and over) the student from your school community. 

If you choose options 2 or 3, your board can effect change and support the student to modify their behaviour by imposing specific suspension conditions.

Conditions targeting individual behaviour and individual needs can be highly effective when correctly matched to the student, and their completion is monitored.

What are suspension conditions?

Suspension conditions are things a student must do either before returning to school (in the case of an extended suspension) or when they return to school (if the suspension is lifted with conditions).

Note: A board cannot impose conditions to facilitate a student's return to school and add additional conditions once they have returned. You either extend with conditions to complete before returning OR you lift the suspension with conditions. 

School management can always set fair expectations for how students behave and where students can go when at school.

Any conditions should relate to the cause of the behaviour for which the student had been suspended.

The goal is to set conditions that help the student manage their behaviour and re-engage at school.

They are not a form of punishment. The disciplinary action was the temporary removal or ‘suspension’ of their right to access the education system at your school.

Any condition must be within the control of the student to complete.

Note: While it is helpful for a school to have a plan of action that includes school and other agency support, these actions are not part of the suspension conditions.

The student cannot be held accountable for the actions or inaction of anyone else.

Imposing a condition that requires another party to complete an action is not within the student's control.

How do you set SMART conditions?

Conditions are more likely to be attainable if they are set in consultation with the student, their parent(s), and the principal.

The conditions should also follow the concept of SMART.

Your board should ask itself, are the suspension conditions:

Specific?

  • Do they outline exactly what the student needs to do to complete or satisfy the condition?

  • Do they detail the timeframes for completion?

  • Is there a specific reason, purpose, or benefit for completing the conditions that the student understands?

  • Does the purpose relate directly to the incident and support the student to modify their behaviour?

Measurable?

  • Have we identified how we will measure progress towards achievement?

  • Have we stated ‘how much’ or ‘how many’ we expect the student to complete?

  • How will the student and the board know when the conditions have been completed?

Achievable?

  • Are the conditions we have set achievable by the student alone?

  • Are they reasonable?

  • Do they take into account the individual circumstances of the student?

Realistic?

  • Have we designed the conditions in consultation with the student, their parent(s)/ and the principal to ensure they are realistic?

  • Do our conditions help the student to grow and develop?

  • Do our conditions impose any unintended cost or demands on the family?

  • Can they be adequately supported by school staff?

  • Is there a place available on any proposed external programme?

Timebound?

  • Do the conditions have a timeframe for completion?

  • How will we all know when the conditions have been met or not?

What if the student does not meet or breaches their conditions?

If the student has been unable to comply with the conditions set, the principal may ask the board to reconsider the original decision at a reconsideration meeting.

The reconsideration meeting requires the board to consider the reasons why a student has been unable to comply with the conditions and find a way forward.

It is not a new suspension meeting or an appeal process. Therefore, the original incident is not revisited.

To get an overview of what is involved, refer to Flowchart 5: Reconsideration of suspension: Action by boardopen_in_new.

You can find further information on the board’s role in a reconsideration meeting in the article Reconsideration of a student suspension meeting on our Resource Centre.

Questions your board could ask 

  • What benefit will the student get out of conditions we have set?

  • Are the conditions related to the incident or behaviour that caused the suspension?

  • Do the conditions reflect our goal of supporting the student to modify their behaviour or to enable the student to return to school successfully and safely?

  • Have we considered whether the conditions are fair, reasonable and within the student’s ability to meet?

  • Are the conditions designed to rehabilitate rather than punish?

  • Are the suspension conditions SMART?

  • Have we looked back on previous conditions to see which are more likely to be workable and effective?

  • Has the board kept any actions for the principal and the board separate from any conditions imposed on the student?

Templates, resources, and references

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Links from us
Ministry of Education