Florida suspension & expulsion rules

Florida's discipline card

Federal floor (all states): notice of the charges, an explanation of the evidence if your child denies them, and a chance to tell their side before a suspension of up to 10 days (Goss v. Lopez). With an IEP, the federal discipline clock adds the 10-school-day manifestation review and the 45-school-day interim-setting rules (34 CFR §§300.530–300.536).

Longest single suspension: 10 school days.

Hearing: Expulsion is a board decision on the superintendent's recommendation, with written notice of charges and APA hearing rights.

Appeal deadline: state law does not set one — it is in your district's code of conduct / grievance policy. Send the protective appeal letter today and make the district confirm its deadline in writing.

Expulsion length: no statewide maximum verified — district-set.

Sources: Fla. Stat. §§1006.07, 1006.08, 1006.09, 1006.13

Verified Florida levers

• Your expulsion notice must set out the charges and your due-process rights under §§120.569 and 120.57(2) (§1006.08). Read its 'notice of rights' paragraph today — in Florida administrative practice an unrequested hearing is waived, so the deadline printed in that notice is the one that controls. Calendar it the day the notice arrives.
• A principal's expulsion recommendation must include a detailed report of the alternative measures tried first (§1006.09).
• Florida's zero-tolerance law now says the policy may not be rigorously applied to petty acts (§1006.13), and a student who intervened using only necessary force to stop a violent act gets a rebuttable presumption they acted to restore safety.
• The superintendent may extend a suspension past 10 days only while board expulsion action is pending (§1006.08).

Run the discipline decoder

Rules checked October 2026 — every rule on this page is cited to its source. Verify day counts against your district's official calendar.