SUSPENSION AND RESOURCES:
A GLANCE AT OUR MIDDLE SCHOOLS
The fact that a male student has 10x more likelihood of getting suspended at Isaac E. Young (IEYMS) than at Albert Leonard (ALMS) not only embodies the difference in the environment between our middle schools but the lack of resources provided to help potentially troubled students.
Out-of-school suspensions should not be the sole form of punishment. We need to tackle this problem head-on with equal mental health resources. There is no justification in budgeting equal or greater amounts for ALMS when IEYMS continues to demonstrate need.
There should be more guidance resources offered to a school with a staggeringly higher rate of suspensions, aided by school psychologists and social workers.The instructional salaries for psychological and social work services are meant to help students with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDDs).
Why then are we spending less on these services at the school that has significantly more students with IDDs, thus more IDD student suspensions?
THE ARGUMENT FOR DECREASING SUSPENSIONS & INCREASING MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES
Demographics for ALMS Suspensions as of 2015 from ocrdata.ed.gov:
Demographics for IEYMS Suspensions as of 2015 from ocrdata.ed.gov:
When comparing Albert Leonard Middle School to Isaac E. Young Middle School, it is easy to see that students are disciplined differently. 13% of IEYMS male students have received one or more in-school suspensions, compared to 1.42% of ALMS male students. 10% of IEYMS male students have received one or more out-of-school suspensions, compared to 1.42% of ALMS male students. Research has shown that students who are suspended are more likely to drop out of school, and students who drop out are 3 times more likely to get arrested. The suspension rates at both IEYMS and ALMS thus help to perpetuate the school to prison pipeline, however, not equally. As significantly more students at IEYMS are disciplined via both in-school and out-of-school suspensions, students at IEYMS are disproportionately vulnerable to the detrimental effects of the school to prison pipeline.
With this, it is important to note the demographics of both IEYMS and ALMS. Looking at data from the 2018-2019 school year, 66% of students enrolled at IEYMS were Hispanic or Latinx, 17% of students were Black and 12% of students were White. In contrast, 28% of students enrolled at ALMS were Hispanic or Latinx, 25% of students were Black and 41% of students were White. However, in both schools, Black students were overrepresented in accounting for the number of in-school and out-of-school suspensions students faced. Both Hispanic or Latinx students and White students were underrepresented, with White students being underrepresented significantly more so.
From this data, it is evident that there is a disparity in the way students are treated, not just from IEYMS to ALMS, but between different racial and ethnic groups at these middle schools. Minority students, particularly Black students, are disciplined more harshly, potentially leading to adverse outcomes later in life. To begin to repair the inequities in our own school district, policies should be put in place to decrease the amount of suspensions that students face and handle disciplinary issues in a way that does not force some students to fall behind. Some have begun to advocate for restorative justice in schools. Essentially, restorative justice focuses on rehabilitation rather than punishment. For example, students involved in a fight may work with a counselor to discuss their issues rather than being forced to miss days of educational instruction.
In order to make restorative justice a plausible option in our schools, we must increase funding for mental health at IEYMS so that it is comparable, if not exceeds, the funding for such resources at ALMS. We must provide alternatives to disciplinary action in the form of suspensions and turn our focus to the many factors underlying these suspensions, from the racial biases of teachers and administrators to lack of support in our schools.