Giving Compass' Take:
- Alex Zimmerman reports on the rise in suspensions, more of which were long-term, around the start of last school year in New York schools.
- What are the benefits of supporting restorative justice programs for students that stray from a punitive approach to discipline?
- Learn more about key issues in education and how you can help.
- Search our Guide to Good for nonprofits focused on education in your area.
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Long-term suspensions rose during the first half of last school year, fueling a slight rise in students removed from their classrooms, according to long-delayed data released by the Education Department.
From July through December 2023, New York City’s public schools issued about 2,233 superintendent suspensions, longer punishments that are served at outside suspension sites and last more than five days — a 5.5% increase compared with the same period in 2022. Those suspensions are typically capped at 20 days, but in some cases stretch for months.
Less severe principal suspensions — which last up to five days and are served in school — declined 0.8% to about 8,440. The overall number of suspensions of all types increased just 0.6% year-over-year. Public school enrollment in grades K-12 grew about 1% over that period.
The overall numbers continue a recent trend of rising suspensions in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, when exclusionary discipline all but disappeared. Compared to the first half of 2019, the most recent period before the pandemic hit, suspensions were up nearly 7%, even as K-12 enrollment in the city’s public schools has declined more than 10% over the same period. (The figures do not include charter schools.)
“What we are seeing is that there is a bit of a backslide here,” said Rohini Singh, director of the school justice project at Advocates for Children, which helps low-income families navigate school discipline procedures and has pushed to reduce suspensions. “What we’re hoping is that the administration will focus more on prevention … really understanding the reasons behind behavior and addressing that.”
The latest statistics also show a nearly 11% year-over-year rise in the number of students experiencing emotional or psychiatric distress who were transported from their school to a hospital — an increase of 32 incidents. Still, the number of emergency transports of students in emotional distress during the first half of the school year was about 30% lower compared with the first half of 2019.
Read the full article about rising suspensions by Alex Zimmerman at Chalkbeat.