Regardless of whether or not criminal behavior takes place on school grounds, students may be susceptible to facing  punishment a school opts to impose even if the charge has not be litigated to completion in court.  For example, students charged with OUI and attending Mass Amherst will often be suspended for one year based on the charge even if the client is ultimately found not guilty after trial.  A client of mine was suspended for one year for being charged with OUI even though a jury ultimately found him not guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol.   This is based on UMass Amherst’s Code of conduct, which I have attached here.  

In the case of Goodwin v. Lee Public Schools decided on August 23, 2016, the student, a public high school senior at the time, was suspended from school in December of 2011.

The suspension was based off of the understanding that student had been charged with a felony, when in fact, no charges had actually been filed at the time of her suspension.