The energy and activism for school discipline reform will give us a good opportunity to examine how current centralized hearing programs work – or don’t. Recent reports from the Fairfax County Public Schools Office of Hearings and Legal reveal some important information about the type and number of students going through the system for expulsion recommendations. The 2009-2010 annual report shows that a much higher percentage of African American and Hispanic students are the subject of expulsion and reassignment hearings, as a relative percentage of the overall student ethnic population. The same report shows that 44% of all students considered for expulsion or reassignment were designated as special education students. These are alarming, but not surprising numbers.
In our efforts to improve the system for meaningful student discipline procedures, we must face the question of why some student groups are disproportionally exposed to recommendations for expulsion. The numbers in the annual reports only tell a small part of this story. For example, we know that special education students with significant emotional disabilities may be more prone to violations of in-school infractions - and others are more prone to be the victims of bullying.
When school districts have fallen into a pattern of one-size-fits all discipline remedies, we lose the ability to turn a negative incident into a positive remedy that provides consequences and ultimately strengthens the student’s ability to re-engage in school. It’s a multifaceted problem. Let’s look closely at all of the facets.
