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JCPS elementary suspensions up more than 80%

Allison Ross
Louisville Courier Journal

More than 900 kindergarten through fifth-grade students have been sent out of school on suspension at least once so far this school year, some of them too young to be able to spell the word "suspension."

The number of elementary children getting suspended from Jefferson County Public Schools represents a nearly 68 percent jump from this time last school year, according to JCPS data. And the number of elementary-level suspensions spiked more than 80 percent for the same time, already surpassing the number of suspensions for the entire 2014-2015 school year.

While the reasons behind this year's increase are unclear - a JCPS official said simply that "schools are following the code of conduct" - it means that JCPS has already recorded, with about two months left in the school year, more elementary school suspensions than it has in at least the past decade.

To be sure, the number of suspensions still represents only a tiny fraction of elementary students in JCPS - about 2 percent. That percentage is not out of line with national trends of elementary suspensions.

But the numbers raise larger questions about the role of suspensions in managing behavior - particularly the behavior of the district's youngest students.

What others are doing

Some states and individual school districts have made moves in recent years to limit or eliminate out-of-school suspensions of the youngest class-goers.

"If there is a student struggling with behavior or emotional regulation in the classroom, how does a suspension help them learn the skills to uphold the rules in the classroom the next time?" said Anne Gregory, an associate professor in applied psychology at Rutgers University.

She and other researchers say they are concerned that suspending young children can create a self-fulfilling prophesy and can put children behind in school right at a time when it is most critical they keep up with their classmates.

"Young kids, below third grade, are in the stage of black-and-white thinking, of the good and bad guy," Gregory said. She added that there's "not a ton of research of how (suspensions) impact kids that young, but I would say, though, that there's a concern that kids pick up on messages around their potential and how much they belong in school."

However, others suggest that strong disciplinary responses, including suspensions, are needed to teach children that there are consequences to bad behavior.

"If nothing happens and the other students see that, you get the mindset of, 'There are no consequences and anything goes,'" said Brent McKim, president of the Jefferson County Teachers Association. He said he thinks some JCPS schools may be seeing more major disciplinary infractions that require suspensions because they had previously let more minor behavior slide.

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McKim said he thinks JCPS has "watered down" the disciplinary code to try to reduce the number of reported suspensions and disciplinary actions, but said that has led to "deterioration of student behavior outcomes."

Some big jumps

About three-quarters of JCPS schools had recorded more suspensions on day 131 of this school year than they had on day 131 a year ago. Many of those with increases only had an uptick of one or a few suspensions over the previous years, a fairly normal change year to year.

But others, such as Shelby and Minors Lane elementaries, have seen significant jumps so far this year.

For instance, Shelby Elementary last year recorded 18 suspensions by day 131 last year; this year, it's recorded 66 suspensions, a 267 percent jump. Minors Lane has suspended 30 students 59 times so far this school year, a nearly 200 percent increase in suspensions from last year.

Meanwhile, Maupin Elementary, which has a largely new staff and has had a rocky start this year trying to get its new Waldorf-inspired School of Innovation program off the ground, has suspended nearly 1 in 5 of its students at least once so far this school year; it recorded 155 suspensions through day 131 of school.

Indeed, 11 JCPS elementary schools, including those three, accounted for nearly 60 percent of the increase in number of suspensions this year, noted Dan Losen, director of the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the California-based Civil Rights Project. He suggested that JCPS should take a close look and see whether there are some low-suspending schools from which higher-suspending schools can learn lessons.

JCPS declined requests for interviews with several principals for this story.

Assistant Superintendent Joe Leffert, who was offered in lieu of an interview with school principals, said that "schools are working with the student populations in their buildings," but could not say why JCPS is seeing an upward trend in elementary suspensions, or in suspensions in general, this school year.

JCPS has said that middle and high school suspensions are also up, by about 20 percent at each level.

"If you're asking why the percentage increases, you have to go back to students' choices," Leffert said. "There are names and faces behind all these numbers."

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He pointed out that the largest reason elementary students were getting suspended was for fighting. Indeed, fighting of some nature accounted for more than half of the elementary suspensions, according to district data.

But the largest categories behind fighting were for more nebulous infractions labeled as "disruptive behavior" or "failure to obey staff." Those two categories accounted for about 1 in 5 of the elementary suspensions.

The district's code of conduct committee, which is tasked with proposing revisions to the district's code of conduct, spent some time earlier this year discussing whether or even how to better define "disruptive behavior." JCPS staff has noted that schools could have wide ranges of definitions for disruptive behavior.

The committee is expected to have its last meeting this week before submitting recommendations.

What others have tried

Some school districts have made moves to try to rein in suspensions in elementary schools.

Last year, the Seattle School Board voted unanimously to impose a one-year moratorium on elementary suspensions for infractions like disruptive behavior, disobedience and rule-breaking, according to a Seattle Times story at the time.

Minneapolis Public Schools stopped suspensions and expulsions of pre-K to first-graders for nonviolent offenses, then expanded it to all elementary school students.

And Connecticut's legislature in 2015 approved a bill banning suspensions or expulsions in pre-K through second grade except in the cases of certain extreme behaviors.

In at least some of those instances, the restrictions came in part because of concerns about disparities in discipline at even the youngest levels of schooling.

In JCPS, nearly three-quarters of the elementary school students suspended so far this year were black students, despite the fact that black students make up only about 35 percent of the elementary population.

Nearly a third of the elementary students suspended were labeled as ECE, or special-needs students, although only about 13 percent of the district's elementary students fall into that category.

Edward Morris, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Kentucky, said that studies have shown that even one suspension "significantly reduces" academic achievement over time, putting them "at an early downward path, achievement-wise, which will be difficult for them to catch back up from."

He said that if suspensions are happening early, "it's likely that a negative trajectory is going to be put in motion"  that could affect students' future academic careers.

"That’s a level where kids, if they do have behavioral and academic sorts of problems, need more help than they need punishment. They need to have more connection to counseling and those sorts of school resources to help them be able to concentrate on school," Morris said.

Leffert said JCPS is working to "partner with parents" to help them teach their students about healthy replacement behaviors and coping skills. He said JCPS is working with local agencies to increase mental health counseling at the elementary level, saying that he's noticed an uptick in recent years of young students coping with serious mental health issues.

He said schools are putting in reward plans and incentives for good behavior and are using other research-based techniques, like breaking up the day for students.

"We're trying to not put kids in situations where they are not successful," he said. But, he added, "there are students who are being supported who, in spite of all those interventions, are suspended more than once."

When asked whether he thought suspensions were an effective tool at the elementary level, Leffert demurred comment.

"It's my job to implement the policy and follow the code of conduct," he said.

Reporter Allison Ross can be reached at (502) 582-4241. Follow the Courier-Journal's education team at Facebook.com/SchooledCJ.