Alaska Suspension and Expulsion Rules for Students with Disabilities
Alaska Suspension and Expulsion Rules for Students with Disabilities
When a child with an IEP gets in trouble at school, the rules are different. Not different in the sense of lesser consequences — different in the sense that federal law and Alaska statute create a specific procedural framework that districts must follow before removing a student with a disability from their educational placement.
Most parents don't know these rules exist until their child is already sitting at home on a suspension that may be illegal.
The 10-Day Rule
Students with disabilities can be suspended from school for up to 10 school days in a school year — cumulatively, not per incident — without triggering additional procedural requirements. A one-day suspension, a three-day suspension, and a six-day suspension add up to ten days. After that threshold, any further removal constitutes a change of placement under IDEA.
A change of placement triggers two requirements:
Manifestation Determination Review (MDR): The IEP team must meet within 10 school days to determine whether the behavior that led to the suspension was caused by, or had a direct and substantial relationship to, the student's disability, or was the result of the district's failure to implement the IEP.
Continued Educational Services: Even during a suspension that constitutes a change of placement, the district must continue providing educational services that allow the student to participate in the general education curriculum and progress toward IEP goals. Students with disabilities cannot simply be sent home and left without services.
This continues to apply even during expulsion proceedings. A student with an IEP cannot be expelled and denied all educational services.
What Counts as Removal
"Removal" under IDEA is broader than formal suspension. Repeated short-term suspensions that add up, in-school suspension in a setting where the student doesn't receive instruction, informal exclusion (being told to stay home because "it would be better"), and placement in an alternative setting can all count toward the 10-day total.
Districts sometimes use informal exclusions — calling a parent and asking them to pick up their child — without issuing a formal suspension. That day still counts. If your child is informally sent home, document the date and circumstances in writing.
When Immediate Removal Is Allowed
IDEA includes a specific carve-out called a "special circumstance removal." A student with a disability can be removed to an Interim Alternative Educational Setting (IAES) for up to 45 school days — regardless of whether the behavior is a manifestation of the disability — if the student:
- Carries a weapon to school or a school function
- Knowingly possesses or uses illegal drugs at school or a school function
- Has inflicted serious bodily injury upon another person at school or a school function
Behavioral aggression, defiance, running away, property destruction, and similar behaviors that don't meet these three specific categories do not trigger the special circumstances exception.
Free Download
Get the Alaska Dispute Letter Starter Kit
Everything in this article as a printable checklist — plus action plans and reference guides you can start using today.
Alaska's Restraint and Seclusion Laws
Alaska has enacted specific statutory limits on physical management that go beyond federal IDEA requirements.
Under Alaska Statute 14.33.125:
- Chemical restraints are entirely prohibited in public schools
- Mechanical restraints are entirely prohibited in public schools
- Physical restraint that restricts breathing, including prone restraint (face-down or on the stomach), is entirely prohibited
If restraint or seclusion is used in a crisis, the district must conduct a formal review as soon as practicable after the incident. That review must include staff participation, a follow-up communication with the parent, and a structural review to consider whether the student's IEP, accommodations, or Behavior Intervention Plan needs to be revised.
Every incident must be documented and reported to DEED in the annual End of Year Report.
Alaska Statute 14.33.127 requires districts to provide evidence-based crisis intervention training to sufficient numbers of staff. If your child's school has no trained staff and is using ad hoc restraint techniques, that's a compliance issue.
If your child was restrained in any way that restricted breathing, placed them face-down, or involved prohibited chemical or mechanical methods, that's a potential statutory violation that the Disability Law Center of Alaska may be able to address.
Disproportionality and Alaska Native Students
DEED tracks racial and ethnic disproportionality in discipline, including suspension, expulsion, and restrictive placement. Alaska Native and American Indian students with IEPs are monitored specifically because of historical patterns of disproportionate discipline in Indigenous communities.
If you are an Alaska Native family and you believe your child is being disciplined more frequently or harshly than non-Native peers with similar behaviors, DEED's disproportionality reporting framework exists partly because of that pattern. A state complaint that documents disciplinary disproportionality can trigger a DEED investigation that looks at the district's data, not just your child's individual case.
What to Do When Your Child Is Suspended
When you receive notice that your child is being suspended:
Document the date and duration. Track the cumulative total for the school year. Most school systems don't proactively inform parents when they're approaching the 10-day threshold.
Request the behavioral incident report. You are entitled to see the documentation the school created about the incident.
If the cumulative total is approaching or exceeds 10 days, immediately request a Manifestation Determination Review in writing. Do not wait for the school to schedule it. The MDR must happen within 10 school days of the decision to change placement.
Review the IEP. If the behavior is related to the disability, ask whether the IEP includes a Functional Behavior Assessment and a Behavior Intervention Plan. If the IEP was supposed to address the behavior and wasn't being followed, that's an IEP implementation failure — which means the behavior is automatically considered a manifestation, and the school must return the student to their original placement.
Contact Stone Soup Group if you need support navigating the MDR meeting. They can attend virtually and help you understand what's being decided.
The Alaska IEP & 504 Advocacy Playbook at /us/alaska/advocacy/ includes a discipline rights checklist and MDR preparation guide tailored to Alaska's specific statutory requirements under 4 AAC 52 and AS 14.33.125. When a suspension is happening fast and you need to know your rights immediately, having a ready reference specific to Alaska law is worth more than a generic national guide.
Get Your Free Alaska Dispute Letter Starter Kit
Download the Alaska Dispute Letter Starter Kit — a printable guide with checklists, scripts, and action plans you can start using today.