Campbell v. Board of Education of the Town of New Milford

475 A.2d 289 (1984)

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Campbell v. Board of Education of the Town of New Milford

Connecticut Supreme Court
475 A.2d 289 (1984)

EL

Facts

John Campbell and other high school students (plaintiffs) sued their high school’s board of education (the school board) (defendant) in state court, claiming the high school’s academic sanctions for nonattendance violated their constitutional rights. The students’ high school had a rule that any student who had more than 24 unexcused absences would receive a five-point academic deduction for each day missed over 24 days. The policy encouraged regular attendance. The penalty was academic—not disciplinary—in nature. Students who were suspended from school were granted excused absences from class. The administration could waive the penalty based on prior outstanding performance or extenuating circumstances. The students claimed that the attendance-based academic penalty violated their constitutional rights to due process by deducting points from the students’ report cards and, as a result, injuring the students’ academic reputations. The students argued that the policy violated equal protection because it allowed the administration to treat students for whom it granted a penalty waiver differently from students for whom the administration did not grant the waiver. The school board argued that the poor-attendance penalty did not infringe on any fundamental constitutional rights and, as a result, was subject only to a rational-basis test. The state trial court found in favor of the school board. The students appealed to the state supreme court.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Peters, J.)

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