In the United States and Canada , expulsion criteria and process vary from state to state or province . Depending on local school board jurisdiction , approval from that school 's local school board may be required before a student can be expelled , as opposed to a suspension , which may require approval from the principal or a school board member , including the superintendent . Students who have been expelled from the school face numerous restrictions , in which they are no longer eligible to attend or visit the school , and are also disallowed from attending or performing any activity with any students or staff who are active with the school . Students who breach an expulsion , which includes visiting the school they have been expelled from , or perform or attend any activity with any students or staff who are active with the school , will be arrested for , and charged with trespassing . Students are usually not expelled for academic violations such as plagiarism that would be punishable in college . However , in some jurisdictions such as California , vulgarity which is not defined anywhere within California law is enough of a reason for a student to be expelled from any school . '' Note California statute has been indirectly invalidated by the Supreme Court in FCC v. Fox Television Stations , Inc. ( 2012 ) ) '' While in the Criminal or Juvenile Justice one has enumerated and unenumerated rights upon accusation , pupils do not have such rights when within an expulsion process . For example , in California , pupils have the following rights : However there are rights that pupils do not have during the expulsion process that they would have in a court of law : While at one time it was difficult for a student to be expelled from public school , that is no longer the case . A 2001 report from Justice Policy Institute showed that expulsions nearly doubled from 1974 to 1998 despite student victimization rates remaining stable . Expulsion is especially high for students of color , even when their behavioral infractions are the same as those of white children , and teachers need to identify and combat bias to ensure all students are treated with equity . Beginning with the Gun-Free School Zones Act , and following the Columbine shooting tragedy , schools have become increasingly willing to suspend or have expelled students for minor behavior offenses . For example , in Maryland during the 2006-2007 school year , while 2 % of suspensions were for weapons , 37 % were for disrespect , insubordination , or disruption . The Task Force on the Education of Maryland ’s American Males noted that high suspension and expulsion rates do little more than increase court referrals for minor misbehavior , and those actions put a child on the path toward delinquency or accelerates his journey there . These policies are more generally known as zero tolerance
Columbine shooting tragedy
Columbine High School massacre
Expulsion (education)