WAC Chapter 392-400 is Washington’s administrative rulebook for school discipline. It translates the rights guaranteed in state law into specific procedures, timelines, and requirements that schools must follow. This page covers the five areas where those rules matter most for students at risk of being pushed out.
In this sectionClassroom Exclusion
When a teacher removes a student from class, Washington law sets strict conditions, time limits, and notice requirements — and instruction must continue. A classroom exclusion is not the same as a suspension: the student stays in the building, must be supervised, and must have access to their schoolwork.
What the law requires
WAC 392-400 permits classroom exclusion only when a student’s behavior substantially disrupts the learning environment. The district must notify the family in writing within 24 hours, place the student in a supervised location inside the building, and ensure instructional continuity so the student can complete their work.
Time limits & due process
A single classroom exclusion cannot exceed the class period. Multiple exclusions in a short window must be treated as a formal short-term suspension — districts cannot use repeated informal removals to avoid due process. Emergency removals must end or convert to a formal disciplinary action within 10 school days.
Classroom exclusion — Removal of a student from a single class period by the classroom teacher. The student remains in the school building under supervision. This is distinct from a suspension (removal from school grounds) or an emergency removal.
Emergency removal — Removal of a student from school grounds when the student’s presence poses an immediate and continuing danger or a substantial and material disruption. Emergency removals are temporary and must be followed by formal due process within 10 school days.
Substantial disruption — The threshold required for a classroom exclusion. A student’s behavior must be more than minor disruption; it must significantly impede the learning of other students.
Data from OSPI’s Washington State Report Card consistently shows that classroom exclusions fall disproportionately on Black and Brown students and students with disabilities — even controlling for behavior differences. Washington law (RCW 28A.320.211) requires districts to review exclusion data disaggregated by race and disability status and to take corrective action when patterns of discrimination are identified.
Students with IEPs or 504 plans have additional federal protections: repeated classroom exclusions may constitute a change of placement triggering manifestation determination review under IDEA. Districts must factor in disability-related behavior when determining whether an exclusion is appropriate.
Suspensions & Expulsions
Suspension removes a student from school grounds for a defined period. Expulsion removes a student from school indefinitely. Washington law creates a tiered system based on how serious the underlying conduct is, with due process requirements that scale with the length and severity of the removal.
What the law requires
Short-term suspensions (10 days or fewer) require notice and an informal hearing opportunity before the removal begins. Long-term suspensions and expulsions require written notice of the specific charges, a formal hearing, and access to an appeal process. Long-term exclusion for discretionary conduct is heavily restricted under RCW 28A.600.015.
Time limits & due process
A long-term suspension for discretionary conduct cannot exceed the length of the academic term in which the violation occurred. Regardless of suspension length, educational services must continue — a student’s education cannot be suspended even when their school attendance is. Every student is entitled to a reengagement meeting before returning.
Short-term suspension — Exclusion from school for 10 or fewer school days. Requires notice and informal hearing; educational services must continue.
Long-term suspension — Exclusion from school for more than 10 school days. Requires formal due process: written notice, formal hearing, and appeal rights.
Expulsion — Removal from school for an indefinite period. Subject to the same or greater due process requirements as long-term suspension. Washington law significantly restricts expulsion for discretionary conduct.
Discretionary discipline — Disciplinary action taken at the school’s discretion for conduct that does not fall into the mandatory/nondiscretionary category. Long-term suspension and expulsion for discretionary offenses are heavily restricted under RCW 28A.600.015.
Nondiscretionary discipline — Mandatory removals required by law (e.g., weapons on school grounds under the federal Gun-Free Schools Act). These trigger different procedures and longer permissible removal periods.
Black students in Washington are suspended at three times the rate of white students. Students with disabilities are suspended at twice the rate of non-disabled students. These disparities persist even when accounting for differences in underlying behavior.
Washington’s equity review requirements (RCW 28A.320.211) exist specifically to address these patterns. Districts must review suspension and expulsion data disaggregated by race and disability status and must adopt corrective action plans when disparities are identified.
For students with IEPs or 504 plans: suspensions of more than 10 cumulative school days in a year may constitute a change of placement, triggering a manifestation determination review. Districts must determine whether the behavior was caused by the student’s disability before proceeding with long-term exclusion.
Educational Services
Washington law is explicit: a student’s education cannot be suspended even when the student is removed from school. Districts must continue providing educational services to any student who is excluded — regardless of the reason or the length of removal.
What the law requires
Under WAC 392-400-610, excluded students must have the opportunity to complete or make up assignments and assessments, earn grades and credits during the removal period, and access grade-level academic content. These services must be offered regardless of whether the family initially accepts them.
Time limits & due process
Districts cannot use a student’s absence from the building as a reason to withhold instruction. Compliant delivery can take several forms — assignment packets with teacher feedback, remote instruction, in-person instruction at an alternative site — but the content must be substantive and count toward grades and graduation. Students and families have the right to request an alternative format if the one offered isn’t accessible.
Educational services — The ongoing provision of academic instruction, assignments, and assessment access to a student during a period of exclusion from school. WAC 392-400 specifies the minimum content and delivery requirements.
Instructional continuity — The requirement that excluded students not fall irreversibly behind their peers. Districts must structure services so that grades and credits earned during removal count toward graduation.
Students with disabilities have the strongest legal protections here. Under IDEA, a student with an IEP is entitled to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) even during disciplinary removal. After 10 cumulative days of exclusion in a year, the district must convene an IEP meeting and provide services that allow the student to continue participating in the general curriculum.
For all students, failure to provide educational services during removal is itself a violation of state law — and a basis for a complaint to OSPI.
Reengagement
Returning to school after a long-term suspension or expulsion isn’t automatic. Washington law requires a structured reengagement process designed to address the underlying causes of the behavior — not just clear a student for re-entry.
What the law requires
Under WAC 392-400-710, before or upon a student’s return from long-term suspension or expulsion, the district must convene a reengagement meeting with the student, a parent or guardian, and a school administrator. The meeting must produce a written plan identifying what supports the student needs, what changes the school will make, and a timeline for follow-up.
Time limits & due process
Families can request additional participants — an advocate, a community support person, or specific school staff. The reengagement meeting should happen before the student returns so supports are already in place. A reengagement plan is a school’s commitment to support the student, not a list of conditions placed on the student for continued enrollment.
Reengagement meeting — A required meeting convened before or at a student’s return from long-term suspension or expulsion. Mandatory participants: student, family, district administrator. Optional: additional supports, advocates.
Reengagement plan — The written plan produced by the reengagement meeting. Must address: root causes of the behavior, school-side supports and changes, timeline for follow-up. This is a district commitment, not a student condition.
Reengagement planning is especially critical for students who are disproportionately subject to long-term exclusion: students of color, students with disabilities, and students experiencing housing instability or other systemic challenges. A plan that ignores these factors is unlikely to succeed.
Advocates should push for reengagement plans that include review of whether the underlying behavior was disability-related (for students with IEPs or 504 plans), referral to community-based supports rather than only in-school services, and clear commitments from the school — not just behavior conditions placed on the student.
Restraint & Isolation
Physical restraint and isolation are among the most serious interventions schools can use — and among the most regulated. Washington law restricts when they are permitted, requires immediate family notification, and prohibits their use as routine discipline.
What the law requires
Under WAC 392-400-825, physical restraint and isolation may only be used when a student poses an imminent danger of physical harm to themselves or others, as a last resort after de-escalation has failed, for the minimum duration necessary, and by trained staff using approved techniques. Immediate written documentation and family notification are required every time.
Time limits & due process
Washington law explicitly prohibits using restraint or isolation as punishment or for staff convenience, prone (face-down) restraint, any technique that restricts breathing or blood flow, and isolation in a space the student cannot exit. Use with students who have known medical contraindications requires specific authorization in the student’s IEP or behavior plan.
Physical restraint — The use of physical force to restrict a student’s freedom of movement. Does NOT include brief physical guidance, redirection, or protective intervention to prevent immediate harm.
Isolation — Placing a student alone in a room or space where they are physically prevented from leaving. This is distinct from a voluntary “cool-down” area the student can leave on their own.
De-escalation — Techniques used to reduce the intensity of a student’s behavior before resorting to restraint or isolation. Districts must demonstrate that de-escalation was attempted or would not have been effective before using either intervention.
Restraint and isolation are used at dramatically disproportionate rates on students with disabilities — particularly students with autism, emotional/behavioral disorders, and intellectual disabilities. OSPI’s discipline data includes restraint and isolation reporting, and the disparities are stark.
For students with IEPs: if restraint or isolation is being used regularly, it must be addressed in the IEP as a behavior support strategy. Repeated use without an updated behavior intervention plan is a potential IDEA violation. Families have the right to request records of every restraint and isolation incident involving their child.