School Discipline Policies: Analyzing Exclusion from the Classroom on Disadvantaged Populations

Policy Problem Statement

For high schools in Florence School District 1, there are over 40 different behavioral violations that result in a student’s suspension or expulsion for their first offense.  More than half of these offenses are for nonviolent behaviors and a majority of these nonviolent behaviors do not involve any sort of possession of an illegal/ controlled substance. As a result of these practices, many students are being removed from their formal education for minor, non-violent misbehavior.

By treating every offense as if it were a severe one, schools have more than doubled the rate of schools suspensions. This increase in school suspensions is also closely correlated with an increase in high school drop out rates and juvenile arrests. Despite there being ample evidence that these policies are negatively impacting the lives of many students, there is little evidence that this approach to discipline increases the school safety.

Removing the student from the classroom does nothing to address the root cause of the behavior.  In fact students that receive discipline referrals early on in their school careers are found to be more likely than other students to offend again.

Finally, the impact of zero tolerance policies is not uniform across all races. Black students are three times more likely than white students to be suspended from school. The majority of these black students are suspended for subjective and non-violent violations like disrespect and disruptive behavior.