School Discipline

The Damage of Exclusionary Discipline Practices

• Exclusionary discipline refers to any form of discipline that removes students from the classroom and includes in-school suspensions, out-of-school suspensions and expulsions. Varnado Article

• The United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has conducted studies and collected data that has revealed that African American students are over 3 ½ times more likely to be suspended or expelled from school compared to white students. DOE Discipline Data

• In 2014, The Obama administration Wednesday issued new guidelines on classroom discipline , seeking to end the apparent disparities in how students of different races are punished for violating school rules. 

• The Georgia Appleseed Center for Law and Justice works to dismantle the school to prison pipeline. GAC Initiatives

ScenarioA student at a Georgia public high school has been suspending for more than 20

days during a school year without any behavior interventions/strategies being offered. The student returns to the same school the following school year and is sent to an alternative school on their first offense of the school year.

• Where are the missed opportunity for student improvement?

• What can be offered to support schools as they work with students such as these?

• What are the lasting effects on the student, their family, their community, and society as a whole when this process becomes common practice?

How can Georgia Legislation Help?

Question 1:

• What can be done to mitigate chronic problem behaviors that are exhibited by Georgia public school students who do not receive special education services?

Question 2:

• What programs can we put in place/mandate at Georgia public alternative schools to reduce the rate of recidivism in that setting?

NOTE: Data reflects 99% of CRDC schools and a total of 290,000 American Indian/Alaska Native females, 300,000 American Indian/Alaska Native males, 1.1 million Asian males, 1.2 million Asian females, 120,000 Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander males and females, 3.7 million black females, 3.8 million black males, 5.6 million Hispanic females, 5.9 million Hispanic males, 630,000 males of two or more races, 640,000 females of two or more races, 12 million white males, and 12 million white females. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, Civil Rights Data Collection, 2011-12.

Black students are suspended and expelled at a rate three times greater than white students. On average, 4.6% of white students are suspended, compared to 16.4% of black students. Through CRDC data, we can also explore suspensions by race and gender. Black boys and girls have higher suspension rates than any of their peers. Twenty percent (20%) of black boys and more than 12% of black girls receive an out-of-school suspension.

Proposed Legislation #1: Behavior Remediation Plan• A bill to require a documented behavior remediation plan with

implementation for any student that is experiencing chronic disciplinary issues. The remediation plan is required to include SMART behavior goals with strategies.

What defines chronic?– 3 Separate occasions of ISS/OSS– 2 separate occasions ISS/OSS in a 4 week period– Any students referred to an alternative school setting for a discipline

infraction

Proposed Bills #2: Mental Health Training• A bill relating to school personnel professional development in

elementary and secondary education so as to require annual mental health and behavior issues awareness/training for all certified and non-certified school system personnel.

Guiding Bills:• SB164 – PBIS

• HB198 - The Jason Flatt Act

Thank You!