Tyrone N. Butts
APE Reporter
52
School suspensions rise statewide
The number of students suspended from North Carolina schools for breaking rules was up again last year, continuing a persistent trend of more students being sent home for a few days or even several months.
Statewide, schools reported a 7 percent increase in short-term suspensions of 10 days or less, while long-term suspensions -- usually for the remainder of the school year -- were up 14 percent from the previous year.
The latest numbers were reported Wednesday to the State Board of Education, which called for a closer review of the issu
. The annual report emphasized that the 280,951 short-term suspensions -- which include multiple incidents for many students -- totaled more than 1 million school days lost for students.
"We
nee
d to have a balance between keeping kids
in school and keeping schools safe," board Chairman Howard Lee said. "The board has to understand what's driving these numbers."
Since the state began tracking suspensions in the 1999-2000 school year, the number of students removed from school has risen faster than the state's enrollment growth. Long-term suspensions have increased almost 80 percent since 1999-2000, and overall enrollment has risen about 5 percent.
Expulsions were up even more dramatically last year, almost doubling from the year before. However, Triangle school systems reported few cases of the harshest disciplinary action. Students who are expelled typically can't return to their school and often must appeal to their school board for r
eadmission.
Even before the latest report was released, the issue of suspensions has surfaced as a volatile issue in Durham, where some black parents worry that their children are being su
spen
ded in dispr
oportionate numbers.
Data for the 2002-03 school year
show that in Durham -- and also in Wake schools -- the number of short-term suspensions increased over the previous year for black boys and girls, while fewer suspensions were reported for white boys and girls.
Statewide, black and multiracial students accounted for about 60 percent of all short-term and long-term suspensions. Black students represent a little less than a third of the state's public school enrollment.
Suspensions continue to be most pronounced at ninth grade. About one of every five short-term suspensions involves a ninth-grader, and they represented almost a third of long-term suspensions.
Educators said there are few easy explanations for the steady increase, nor easy sol
utions. A number of factors play into the trend. Among them: stricter policies and enforcement by schools, increased pressure for academic performance and a sense that some students seem
more li
kely to misbehave an
d violate rules.
"Any time you have students who are violating po
licy, that should be a concern for parents and schools," said Victoria Curtis, director of Wake's student due process office, which oversees suspension rulings. "If students don't adhere to rules, we have to take disciplinary action. And in some cases, that is suspension."
Janice Davis, deputy state superintendent, said the suspension numbers are spurring closer attention to what's driving them.
"Academic standards certainly continue to rise," Davis said. "But I don't think expectations of behavior have changed."
Efforts to reverse the trend, she said, will have to be broader than the schools themselves.
"Everybody's got to own t
his one: parents, students, administrators and teachers," Davis said. "But this isn't acceptable. It's a serious problem."
************
Did
you hear th
at, my n-ggers? It isn'
t acceptable and it is a serious problem. You got YT to bend over backwards to let you coons into to our schools and you then proceeded to do what every n-gger doe
s every time YT hands you something. You destroyed it. Shame on you n-ggers. Go back to Afreaka you Goddamned pieces of walking shit!
T.N.B.
School suspensions rise statewide
The number of students suspended from North Carolina schools for breaking rules was up again last year, continuing a persistent trend of more students being sent home for a few days or even several months.
Statewide, schools reported a 7 percent increase in short-term suspensions of 10 days or less, while long-term suspensions -- usually for the remainder of the school year -- were up 14 percent from the previous year.
The latest numbers were reported Wednesday to the State Board of Education, which called for a closer review of the issu
. The annual report emphasized that the 280,951 short-term suspensions -- which include multiple incidents for many students -- totaled more than 1 million school days lost for students.
"We
nee
d to have a balance between keeping kids
in school and keeping schools safe," board Chairman Howard Lee said. "The board has to understand what's driving these numbers."
Since the state began tracking suspensions in the 1999-2000 school year, the number of students removed from school has risen faster than the state's enrollment growth. Long-term suspensions have increased almost 80 percent since 1999-2000, and overall enrollment has risen about 5 percent.
Expulsions were up even more dramatically last year, almost doubling from the year before. However, Triangle school systems reported few cases of the harshest disciplinary action. Students who are expelled typically can't return to their school and often must appeal to their school board for r
eadmission.
Even before the latest report was released, the issue of suspensions has surfaced as a volatile issue in Durham, where some black parents worry that their children are being su
spen
ded in dispr
oportionate numbers.
Data for the 2002-03 school year
show that in Durham -- and also in Wake schools -- the number of short-term suspensions increased over the previous year for black boys and girls, while fewer suspensions were reported for white boys and girls.
Statewide, black and multiracial students accounted for about 60 percent of all short-term and long-term suspensions. Black students represent a little less than a third of the state's public school enrollment.
Suspensions continue to be most pronounced at ninth grade. About one of every five short-term suspensions involves a ninth-grader, and they represented almost a third of long-term suspensions.
Educators said there are few easy explanations for the steady increase, nor easy sol
utions. A number of factors play into the trend. Among them: stricter policies and enforcement by schools, increased pressure for academic performance and a sense that some students seem
more li
kely to misbehave an
d violate rules.
"Any time you have students who are violating po
licy, that should be a concern for parents and schools," said Victoria Curtis, director of Wake's student due process office, which oversees suspension rulings. "If students don't adhere to rules, we have to take disciplinary action. And in some cases, that is suspension."
Janice Davis, deputy state superintendent, said the suspension numbers are spurring closer attention to what's driving them.
"Academic standards certainly continue to rise," Davis said. "But I don't think expectations of behavior have changed."
Efforts to reverse the trend, she said, will have to be broader than the schools themselves.
"Everybody's got to own t
his one: parents, students, administrators and teachers," Davis said. "But this isn't acceptable. It's a serious problem."
************
Did
you hear th
at, my n-ggers? It isn'
t acceptable and it is a serious problem. You got YT to bend over backwards to let you coons into to our schools and you then proceeded to do what every n-gger doe
s every time YT hands you something. You destroyed it. Shame on you n-ggers. Go back to Afreaka you Goddamned pieces of walking shit!
T.N.B.