Students & Schools
Know your rights at school. Plain-English guides to student speech and protest, phone and backpack searches, discipline for social media, special education (IEPs, 504 plans, and FAPE), and the rights of parents when a school makes major decisions. Core protections are federal; many rules vary by state and district, so always confirm current local policy.
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25 guides on student rights, school searches, discipline, and special education across 4 topics.
Special Education & School Rights
If your child has autism or another disability, federal law gives them powerful rights at school: a free appropriate public education (FAPE), an IEP or 504 plan, and protection from being expelled for behavior tied to their disability.
14 guides →Student Speech & Protest
Public-school students keep their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate.
5 guides →Student Privacy & Searches
What schools can and cannot do with a student’s phone, texts, backpack, and data.
4 guides →Student & Parent School Rights
The rights parents and students have when a public school makes major decisions — education records, notice and consent, opt-outs, and areas where the law is unsettled or varies sharply by state.
2 guides →Latest student & school guides
- Can a School Require Students to Use Certain Bathrooms or Locker Rooms?
School bathroom and locker room policy is genuinely unsettled law. Courts and states disagree. Here's the real framework and how to respond.
- IEP Disputes: Mediation, State Complaints, and Due-Process Hearings
The three ways to resolve an IEP dispute — mediation, a state complaint, and a due-process hearing — how each works, and when to use which.
- Can School Officials Search a Student's Phone or Text Messages?
Public school officials can search a student's phone only if justified at inception and reasonable in scope. Learn the T.L.O. test and your rights.
- IEP vs. 504 Plan: Which Does Your Child Need?
IEP vs. 504 plan explained: the difference between the two, who qualifies for each, what protections they carry, and how to decide which your child needs.
- What Rights Do Parents Have When Schools Make Major Decisions About a Child?
Know which parental rights over school decisions are legally enforceable (records, special ed, surveys) and which aren't, with steps to assert them.
- Can a School Punish a Student for an Off-Campus TikTok or Social Media Post?
Post-Mahanoy, public schools generally can't punish off-campus posts, but true threats, severe harassment, and cheating are real exceptions.