(1) Upon the failure of any party to attend or participate in a hearing, the chair may either:

(a) Proceed with the hearing; or

(b) Serve a default order in accordance with RCW 34.05.440.

(2) The committee will ordinarily be advised by an assistant attorney general.

(3) Each party may be accompanied at the hearing by a nonattorney assistant of his/her choice. A party other than the student conduct officer may elect to be represented by an attorney at his or her own cost, but will be deemed to have waived that right unless, at least four business days before the hearing, written notice of the attorney's identity and participation is filed with the chair, with a copy to the student conduct officer. If such a party is represented by an attorney, the student conduct officer may also be represented by a second, appropriately screened, assistant attorney general.

(4) The chair shall preside at the hearing and decide procedural questions that arise during the hearing, except as overridden by majority vote of the committee. Evidence shall be admitted or excluded in accordance with RCW 34.05.452. All testimony shall be given under oath or affirmation.

(5) The hearing will ordinarily be closed to the public, in light of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. However, if all parties agree on the record to open some or all of the proceedings, the chair shall determine any extent to which the hearing will be open. If any person disrupts the proceedings, the chair may exclude that person from the hearing room.

(6) The chair shall afford opportunity to all parties to present their cases, and shall cause the hearing to be recorded by a method that he/she selects, in accordance with RCW 34.05.449. That recording, or a copy, shall be made available to any party upon request. Other recording shall also be permitted, in accordance with WAC 10-08-190.

(7) The chair shall assure maintenance of the record of the proceeding which is required by RCW 34.05.476. This record shall be available upon request by any party for inspection and copying, except as limited by FERPA.