diff --git a/src/components/app-layout.tsx b/src/components/app-layout.tsx
index bf304d1..702d6c8 100644
--- a/src/components/app-layout.tsx
+++ b/src/components/app-layout.tsx
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@ import { Badge } from '@/components/ui/badge';
 import { Popover, PopoverContent, PopoverTrigger } from '@/components/ui/popover';
 import { ScrollArea } from '@/components/ui/scroll-area';
 import { useAppStore, type ViewName } from '@/lib/store';
+import { canAccessView, filterSectionsForRole, getFallbackView } from '@/lib/role-access';
 import { t } from '@/lib/i18n';
 import { fetchSchoolYears, fetchStudents, fetchClasses, fetchDBNotifications, markAllNotificationsRead, markSingleNotificationRead, type SchoolYear, type Student, type ClassGroup, type DBNotification, type DBNotificationData } from '@/lib/api';
 import { apiGet } from '@/lib/api';
@@ -571,6 +572,16 @@ export default function AppLayout() {
   const isStudent = currentUser?.role === 'STUDENT';
   const isParent = currentUser?.role === 'PARENT';
   const activeNavSections = isStudent ? studentNavSections : isParent ? parentNavSections : navSections;
+  const visibleNavSections = useMemo(
+    () => filterSectionsForRole(currentUser?.role, activeNavSections),
+    [activeNavSections, currentUser?.role],
+  );
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (currentUser && !canAccessView(currentUser.role, currentView)) {
+      setCurrentView(getFallbackView(currentUser.role));
+    }
+  }, [currentUser, currentView, setCurrentView]);
 
   const isDemoUser = currentUser?.isDemo === true || (currentUser?.email?.endsWith('@competencetrack.org') && currentUser?.email?.startsWith('demo'));
 
@@ -1016,7 +1027,7 @@ export default function AppLayout() {
             </SidebarGroupContent>
           </SidebarGroup>
 
-          {activeNavSections.map((section) => (
+          {visibleNavSections.map((section) => (
             <SidebarGroup key={section.id}>
               <SidebarGroupLabel className="text-emerald-600/70 dark:text-emerald-400/50 text-xs font-semibold uppercase tracking-wider inline-flex items-center gap-1.5">
                 {section.id === 'analysis' && <TrendingUp className="h-3 w-3" />}
diff --git a/src/lib/role-access.test.ts b/src/lib/role-access.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..141deab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/role-access.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from 'bun:test';
+import { canAccessView, filterSectionsForRole, filterViewsForRole, getFallbackView } from './role-access';
+
+const mixedItems = [
+  { key: 'dashboard' as const },
+  { key: 'students' as const },
+  { key: 'classes' as const },
+];
+
+describe('role access', () => {
+  test('hides teacher-inaccessible views from a mixed menu', () => {
+    expect(filterViewsForRole('TEACHER', mixedItems).map(({ key }) => key)).toEqual(['dashboard', 'classes']);
+  });
+
+  test('removes empty sections for parent, student, and teacher', () => {
+    const sections = [
+      { id: 'visible', items: [{ key: 'dashboard' as const }] },
+      { id: 'hidden', items: [{ key: 'students' as const }] },
+    ];
+
+    for (const role of ['PARENT', 'STUDENT', 'TEACHER'] as const) {
+      expect(filterSectionsForRole(role, sections).map(({ id }) => id)).toEqual(['visible']);
+    }
+  });
+
+  test('falls back to dashboard for an inaccessible active view', () => {
+    expect(canAccessView('PARENT', 'students')).toBeFalse();
+    expect(getFallbackView('PARENT')).toBe('dashboard');
+  });
+
+  test('keeps every view available to administrators', () => {
+    for (const view of mixedItems.map(({ key }) => key)) {
+      expect(canAccessView('SCHOOL_ADMIN', view)).toBeTrue();
+      expect(canAccessView('SUPER_ADMIN', view)).toBeTrue();
+    }
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/role-access.ts b/src/lib/role-access.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8dd8880
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/role-access.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+import type { ViewName } from '@/lib/store';
+
+export type AppRole = 'PARENT' | 'STUDENT' | 'TEACHER' | 'VICE_PRINCIPAL' | 'SCHOOL_ADMIN' | 'SUPER_ADMIN' | 'DPO';
+
+const parentViews: ViewName[] = [
+  'dashboard', 'parent-portal', 'parents', 'grading', 'attendance', 'calendar',
+  'communication', 'illness', 'report-cards', 'school-events', 'school-newsletter',
+  'notification-center', 'announcements', 'settings',
+];
+
+const studentViews: ViewName[] = [
+  'dashboard', 'student-portal', 'notebooks', 'flower', 'grading', 'grade-analytics',
+  'homework', 'attendance', 'portfolio', 'calendar', 'competitions', 'subjects',
+  'illness', 'communication', 'counseling', 'ai-tests', 'exam-calendar',
+  'peer-assessment', 'report-cards', 'student-achievements', 'student-study-planner',
+  'student-wellness', 'student-career', 'resources', 'school-library', 'school-events',
+  'school-newsletter', 'school-transport', 'notification-center', 'announcements', 'settings',
+];
+
+const teacherViews: ViewName[] = [
+  'dashboard', 'classes', 'competencies', 'progress', 'flower', 'assessments', 'grading',
+  'reports', 'settings', 'student-detail', 'matrix', 'attendance', 'calendar', 'lesson-plans',
+  'parents', 'behavior', 'coverage', 'rubrics', 'comments', 'notebooks', 'drawing', 'homework',
+  'portfolio', 'timetable', 'resources', 'competitions', 'subjects', 'illness', 'communication',
+  'counseling', 'ai-tests', 'notification-center', 'announcements', 'tablet-grading',
+  'exam-calendar', 'peer-assessment', 'seating-chart', 'school-library', 'report-cards',
+  'student-wellness', 'student-career', 'school-events', 'school-newsletter',
+];
+
+const vicePrincipalViews: ViewName[] = [
+  ...teacherViews,
+  'analytics', 'disciplinary', 'school-transport', 'substitute-teacher',
+];
+
+export function canAccessView(role: string | undefined, view: ViewName): boolean {
+  if (role === 'SCHOOL_ADMIN' || role === 'SUPER_ADMIN') return true;
+  const allowed = role === 'PARENT' ? parentViews
+    : role === 'STUDENT' ? studentViews
+    : role === 'VICE_PRINCIPAL' ? vicePrincipalViews
+    : role === 'DPO' ? ['dashboard', 'settings', 'reports']
+    : teacherViews;
+  return allowed.includes(view);
+}
+
+export function filterViewsForRole<T extends { key: ViewName }>(role: string | undefined, items: T[]): T[] {
+  return items.filter((item) => canAccessView(role, item.key));
+}
+
+export function filterSectionsForRole<T extends { items: { key: ViewName }[] }>(role: string | undefined, sections: T[]): T[] {
+  return sections
+    .map((section) => ({ ...section, items: filterViewsForRole(role, section.items) }))
+    .filter((section) => section.items.length > 0) as T[];
+}
+
+export function getFallbackView(role: string | undefined): ViewName {
+  return role === 'PARENT' || role === 'STUDENT' || role === 'TEACHER' || role === 'VICE_PRINCIPAL' || role === 'SCHOOL_ADMIN' || role === 'SUPER_ADMIN' || role === 'DPO'
+    ? 'dashboard'
+    : 'dashboard';
+}