Home > Research Legal Advice > Education > Is my school legally able to mandate me to stay after school?
Asked 3 months ago - Stockbridge, GA
FlagHello, I am a student at Mt. Zion High School enrolled in two AP classes. Recently, my school implemented a new rule - without the consent of any of the students or parents - that will mandate any student enrolled in an AP class to stay after school at least twice a week for two hours. Failure to do so will result in the student receiving a zero in the grade book. Is my school legally able to do this? We never once contented to do this. When I signed up for AP, this was NOT an explicit requirement & neither was it ever mentioned at the beginning of the new semester in January. A meeting was just randomly held and the rule was announced their without our consent.
Schools need not obtain student consent prior to promulgating rules. It is not a democracy (otherwise "no homework Fridays" might actually exist!).
So long as the administrators are acting to advance legitimate pedagogical interests, their rules will generally be immune to judicial scrutiny. Judges are generally loathe to supplant the discretion of professional educators with their own.
Focus on acing those AP classes, and maybe scoring some college credit (and save yourself some tuition money in the process).
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