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Tool 63: “Come pick him up” is a removal: logging the informal suspension

This complete tool is free to every family. It is 1 of 5 permanently free tools from The IEP Field Manual.

THE RULE

A school-initiated, behavior-driven shortened day generally is an informal removal unless the child continues to receive all 3: an opportunity to progress appropriately in the general curriculum, the services specified in the IEP, and participation with nondisabled children to the extent provided in the placement (OSEP 2022 Discipline Q&A, Question C-6). Record the facts rather than relying on the label.

A series of qualifying informal removals may contribute to a change-of-placement pattern. The district makes that determination case by case under § 300.536, considering the length of each removal, total time removed, proximity, and similarity of behavior.

A pickup for illness or a family-requested shortened day is not automatically a disciplinary removal. The facts matter, including who initiated it, why, and whether the child continued to receive the curriculum, IEP services, and participation described in OSEP’s 3-condition framework.

WHY IT MATTERS

A formal suspension generates paper: a notice, a code violation, an entry in the discipline file. An informal removal generates a phone call. Nothing enters the file, nothing gets counted, and day 10 never arrives on paper - while your child misses Tuesday afternoons all semester. The child loses the instruction and the legal protections at the same time.

For many families, the parent’s log is the only record of these removals that exists anywhere. That is not a weakness. A dated log, backed by same-day emails the school never disputed, is exactly the kind of evidence a hearing officer or complaint investigator can use.

THE MOVE

• Set up the phone-call log now, before the next call. One page, seven columns: date; time of the call; who called (name and title); what they said, as close to their words as you can; what you were asked to do; the time your child left school; hours of instruction missed.

• During the call, use the script below. You are asking 2 things: is this a suspension, and will it be documented. Write down the answers, the name, and the time.

• Go get your child if you choose to. Nothing in this tool asks you to leave your child at school. You can pick your child up and still preserve every point below - the record does the arguing later, not the doorway of the main office.

• Send the confirming email the same day. The template is below. Same-day matters: it fixes the facts while they are fresh, and it invites the school to disagree in writing if it can.

• Enter the removal in the Tool 62 ledger as a full or partial day, with hours.

• If the calls keep coming, send the documentation letter (Appendix A, Letter 32). It asks the district to record these removals as disciplinary removals, state its cumulative count, and provide Prior Written Notice of what it is doing and why (34 C.F.R. § 300.503; Tool 26).

• Ask a different question too: repeated removals usually mean the behavior plan is failing. Tools 56, 57, and 61 cover the FBA, the BIP, and getting ahead of a manifestation fight.

THE SCRIPT

Spoken lines for the call itself. Say them plainly; you are gathering facts, not arguing.

School: “We need you to come pick him up.” You: “I can come. Before I do, I need to understand - is [CHILD’S FIRST NAME] being suspended?” School: [Answer.] You: “If this is not a suspension, is he being removed from instruction because of behavior?” School: [Answer.] You: “All right. Please document this removal in writing. I will send an email today confirming what we discussed. Can I have your name and title again?”

Then write it all down - name, title, time, their words - before you start the car.

THE TEMPLATE

Subject: Confirming Today’s Early Pickup - [CHILD’S FULL NAME], [GRADE]

Dear [NAME AND TITLE OF PERSON WHO CALLED]:

I am writing to confirm today’s phone call about my child, [CHILD’S FULL NAME], a student with an IEP at [SCHOOL NAME] in [SCHOOL DISTRICT].

At [TIME OF CALL], [NAME AND TITLE] called and asked me to pick up [CHILD’S FIRST NAME] because of [REASON GIVEN ON THE PHONE]. [HE/SHE] left school at [TIME OF PICKUP] and missed [NUMBER] hours of instruction.

I understand this to be a disciplinary removal. Removals from instruction count toward the 10-school-day total, including partial days (34 C.F.R. §§ 300.11(c), 300.530(b), 300.536).

Please confirm in writing by [DATE - 5 SCHOOL DAYS FROM TODAY]:

• How the district will record today’s removal.

• The district’s current count of my child’s disciplinary removal days this school year, including partial days.

If the district does not consider today’s pickup a disciplinary removal, please explain why in writing.

Sincerely, [YOUR FULL NAME] [RELATIONSHIP TO CHILD] [PHONE AND EMAIL]

Delivery: send by email with read receipt the same day as the call; keep a copy in your folder.

“This template is educational material, not legal advice. Adapt it to your state and your facts; it is a starting point.”

BEFORE YOU SEND - THE FIVE CHECKS ☐ Date at the top. The paper record starts here. ☐ Your child’s full name and school in the first line. ☐ Every [BRACKET] filled in - search the page for “[” before sending. ☐ Sent in writing, with proof: email read receipt, or hand-delivery with a date stamp. ☐ A copy in your folder, and the district’s response deadline on your calendar. This letter is educational material, not legal advice. Your state’s rules may differ - check your state regulations or your Parent Training and Information Center.

WHAT IT DOES - AND DOESN’T DO

The same-day email creates a dated record. If the school disputes your account, you learn that now, in writing, while memories are fresh. If it stays silent, the silence sits in your folder next to the email.

The email does not force the district to agree that the pickup was a removal, and it does not add the day to the official count by itself. The district makes the pattern call first, case by case (34 C.F.R. § 300.536(b)(1)). You can challenge it through due process, on the expedited discipline track (34 C.F.R. §§ 300.532(a), (c), 300.536(b)(2); Tool 67). The state complaint (Tool 90) is a free route to the same question - file within one year of the violation (34 C.F.R. § 300.153(c)).

One pickup is not a change of placement. Do not treat a single early dismissal as a crisis. The log is what turns 9 scattered afternoons into a pattern someone can see - and once your count nears 10 school days, Tool 62’s letters and Tool 64’s manifestation review are the next moves.

STATE NOTE

Several states now regulate shortened school days directly - some require the IEP team to decide and document any shortened day, and some cap how long one may last. States also differ on how early pickups are coded for attendance, which affects the record you will later request. A few states count every behavior-related exclusion, formal or not, under their own discipline rules. Check your state regulations and your Parent Training and Information Center (find yours at parentcenterhub.org).

This week: put a blank phone-call log page in your folder so it is there before the phone rings. If any “come get him” call has already happened this school year, write down everything you remember about it today, date the entry today, and note that it was written from memory.