An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law Compendium

 During an interview, if a witness gives his or her opinion or conclusion without providing any factual support for the opinion or conclusion, redirect the witness by asking “who, what, when, where, why and how” questions to obtain facts.  If a witness shares information that was not directly seen or heard by the witness, gather enough information to be able to contact and interview other appropriate witnesses who do have direct knowledge.  Do not ask questions that are irrelevant or that are intrusive of a person’s right to privacy unless clearly necessary to conduct a thorough investigation.  The school may wish to assure confidentiality to the extent possible to alleviate witnesses’ fears about being forthright, so long as the school is clear that it cannot guarantee confidentiality (litigation/prosecution may require disclosure).  When interviewing the accused student, be sure to allow the student every opportunity to explain his or her alleged misconduct. Documentation of the Investigation: (The following are recommendations for best practices, but please be reminded that schools must always be following their current process or procedure.) Throughout the investigation, the investigator should retain all notes, emails, documents, photos, CDs and evidence received from witnesses.  The investigator should be sure to document how credibility determinations were made (i.e. why the investigator decided that one witness’s account was more credible than another witness’s). Pre-Disciplinary or Discipline Review Meetings: (The following are recommendations for best practices, but please be reminded that schools must always be following their current process or procedure.)   Conduct pre-discipline or discipline review meetings before the decision to discipline is made:  Give the student and/or his parents the opportunity to provide any further information that might be relevant to the School’s disciplinary decision, including mitigating factors. Consider whether the hearing should be informal or formal  Document and retain everything: 

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