Student Rights

Student Discipline 

Students receiving disciplinary action and/or interventions can expect that school officials will: 

1. Give the student an opportunity to respond to allegation(s) explaining their version of events and to present relevant additional information.
2. Permit the student to choose not to provide a statement. 
3. Discuss student’s problem behavior and ways to correct it.
4. Inform the student of the corrective action and/or next steps to be taken.
5. Document the problematic behavior and intervention and document agreements reached in the conference. All documents should be in the student’s and guardian/parent preferred language. 

Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Students 

Transgender and gender non-conforming students are afforded certain rights by law.

1. The right to privacy, and this includes the right to keep one’s transgender identity private at school. 
2. School personnel should not disclose information that may reveal a student’s transgender identity or gender nonconformity to others, including other school personnel, unless the student has authorized such disclosure. 
3. Students have the right to be referred to by their chosen name and pronouns. 
4. The right to be included in the group that corresponds to their gender identity.
5. The right to have access to the restroom or locker room that corresponds to their gender identity.

Students Experiencing Homelessness

East Penn School District considers students who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, as experiencing homelessness. This includes children and youth who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship or a similar reason, living in motels, parks or campgrounds; or children or youth who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a sleeping accommodation by human beings; or children or youth living in cars, abandoned buildings or substandard housing or similar situations; refugee or migratory children because they are living in circumstances like those described above. 

Unaccompanied youth also fall under this category and can be described as a youth not in the physical custody of a legal parent or guardian and youth living on their own in any of the homeless situations described above. Children and youth who meet the criteria of being homeless, even if unaccompanied by a guardian, must be given full and equal access to an appropriate public education and success in the educational program. The permanency and adequacy of the housing conditions will be considered when determining if a student qualifies. • 

These children and youth may enroll in: 

• The school the student attended when permanently housed (school of origin).
• The school in which the student was last enrolled (school of origin).

An unaccompanied homeless youth with a disability may also need to have a surrogate parent/guardian appointed by the District within 30 days if the youth has no one to serve in this role. For more information, contact Student Services, Phone: 610-966-8372.