In the third case, the student was suspended after being accused of marijuana possession, and the notice of his suspension was sent to the student's mother in English only. The mother wanted to appeal but wasn't given information in Spanish about her son's alleged offense. The mother also requested her son be tested for special education services, but all of the written information about his eligibility was in English, they said.

By the time the mother managed to appeal her son's suspension, he had been out of school for more than three weeks because the mother had missed the deadline because of her limited English, the groups said.