Suspension and Expulsion
Suspension and Expulsion continues to be a topic of intense focus nationally and in Michigan. This week, Oakland Schools is featuring a new report from Virginia offering support, evidence and hope that all schools can become welcoming and supportive educational environments for all students. We have added it to our growing resource pool on the Discipline Resources webpage and Oakland Schools. You can access all of our Discipline supports here: https://oakland.k12.mi.us/instructional/technical-assistance/special-ed-compliance/special-topics/Pages/Disc.aspx
Virginia public schools need proven alternatives to harsh disciplinary measures like suspension and expulsion. Students who are excluded from school are more likely to experience academic failure, dropping out, mental health problems, and justice system involvement. Moreover, schools with high suspension rates generally have less satisfactory climate ratings and lower test scores and graduation rates. Worse yet, there is no evidence to suggest that suspension and expulsion deter misconduct or improve school safety.
Key Findings:
Virginia schools issued 123,107 short-term suspensions to 68,802 students, 2,922 long-term suspensions to 2,819 students, and 388 expulsions to 388 students.
The suspension rate in Virginia schools stopped declining after four years of progress.
Virginia schools issued over 27,147 out-of-school suspensions – over one-fifth of all suspensions – to students in prekindergarten through fifth grade.
Most of the out-of-school suspensions issued by Virginia schools were for relatively minor, non-violent, subjective misbehavior.
African American were 3.6 times more likely than white students to be suspended in Virginia.
Students with disabilities were 2.4 times more likely than students without disabilities to be suspended in Virginia.
