Dive Brief:
- Students of color and those with disabilities are more likely than their white peers to be suspended or expelled, and districts across the country are finding ways to combat the disparity — in some cases by implementing a restorative justice philosophy and offering more holistic social-emotional supports.
- District Administration reports Broward County Public Schools in Florida created the PROMISE (Preventing Recidivism Through Opportunities, Mentoring, Interventions, Support & Education) program that takes students involved in nonviolent misdemeanors out of their home school for two to 10 days to receive services from the district’s Pine Ridge Education Center. Only 12% of students who completed the program last year re-offended.
- The district is participating in an implicit bias study of the community to consider its role in stubborn disparities in discipline rates, and Cleveland has made some progress by incorporating social-emotional learning in the classroom and partnering with community organizations to offer more social services to students.
Dive Insight:
Addressing the racial and ethnic disparities in the application of school discipline has become a top priority for school districts around the country, along with finding ways to limit the disparate impact on students with disabilities. When students are suspended or expelled, they are more likely to come into contact with the criminal justice system and less likely to graduate.
Many districts, in focusing on this issue, are doing away with zero-tolerance discipline policies. While a restorative justice approach keeps kids in school and attempts to address underlying issues contributing to bad behavior, zero tolerance most often sent students out of the building. If kids were acting out because they were behind, academically, forcing them to miss more instruction only worsened the problem. As schools become more understanding about certain infractions, however, discipline for bullying remains harsh.