In-school suspension growing, but more still kick kids out

Dayton-area school districts issue more than 10,000 out-of-school student suspensions a year, for everything from smoking to violent fights, as the debate over effective discipline practices continues.

The Dayton Daily News reviewed Ohio Department of Education data for 2017-18 (the latest year available), which shows that a dozen local school districts – urban and suburban, large and mid-sized – issued 400 or more out-of-school suspensions that year. Dayton was listed with 3,843 suspensions and Trotwood 1,131, followed by a host of districts with 400 to 600 out-of-school suspensions.

Some large suburban districts, including Huber Heights, Kettering and Fairborn, used in-school suspension more often than pushing kids out of the school. That’s part of a national trend, as the Ohio School Boards Association said last year many schools are moving away from “zero-tolerance” policies featuring automatic suspensions.

But of the 25 largest school districts in the area, 17 used out-of-school suspension more than in-school suspension in 2017-18, according to the state data.

“We try to treat each discipline issue on its own merit,” Kettering schools Supervisor of Student Services Rick Earley said. “We try to keep the student in school if possible. However, if the actions of the student have been deemed severe enough that it causes a major disruption for other students’ learning, then we will remove the student.”

The issue continues evolving. The 2017-18 ODE data show Troy schools with 455 out-of-school suspensions and zero in-school suspensions. But second-year Superintendent Chris Piper said recently that Troy is now doing a mix of in-school and out-of-school suspensions.

The Ohio School Psychologists Association, Dayton’s Racial Justice Now group and several others have cited research connecting out-of-school suspensions with dropout risks and other negative consequences.

Some local districts are using alternative schools, online education and other pathways to continue working with troubled students outside of the traditional classroom. It limits distraction for the rest of the students, while not totally pushing away a student who misbehaves.

Centerville schools were listed with less than one-third as many out-of-school suspensions (135) as comparable districts Beavercreek (438) and Kettering (529) in 2017-18.

Superintendent Tom Henderson said switching students to Centerville’s alternative high school has helped in many cases, and he said the district has a Saturday school detention program that can be used as a warning step to hopefully prevent a suspension.

Oakwood schools had very few suspensions of either kind in 2017-18 (only 18 total). Superintendent Kyle Ramey said alternative schools and standing in-school suspension programs are more useful in larger districts where more students would benefit. Staffing those programs can be expensive. He said the infrequent in-school suspensions in Oakwood likely involve a student doing work in or near the main office.

“Having an arsenal of tools that you can use with children to help change their behavior is key,” Ramey said. “We have to work within the confines of the law, but within that, you want to be creative because each case is different.”

According to the state data, Kettering schools issued 529 out-of-school suspensions in 2017-18. Numerically that would mean roughly one suspension per 14 students, but in practice, fewer students are impacted, as some students are suspended multiple times.

Kettering’s suspensions came from 12 different state categories in 2017-18. The most common category, as in many school districts, was “disobedient/disruptive behavior” with 344 out-of-school suspensions (along with 90 percent of the district’s 841 in-school suspensions).

Earley said that category refers to “continual refusal to engage in the educational process,” causing constant disruption and preventing their peers from being able to learn.

The other most common categories for suspension in local schools are fighting/violence, drug issues, harassment/intimidation, and “use, possession, sale or distribution of tobacco products.”

Out-of-school suspensions for fighting ranged from 991 in Dayton and 328 in Trotwood, to 100-plus in West Carrollton, Piqua and Northridge, to just a few dozen in Springboro and Vandalia-Butler. Tobacco suspensions totaled 49 in Lebanon, 45 in Beavercreek and 25-30 in Dayton, Centerville, Kettering and Troy in 2017-18.

Earley said Kettering first tries a diversion program to help students understand the dangers of tobacco and help them try to break the habit. But he said suspension is possible when that doesn’t work.

Racial Justice Now has argued for more work to diagnose students’ root problems, rather than kicking them out of school for nonviolent offenses. The group won a victory when the Ohio Legislature passed House Bill 318, which will prohibit suspensions of pre-kindergarten through third-grade students except in certain cases of violence.

Racial Justice Now Director H.A. Jabar pointed to research from the Schott Foundation and others showing that black students are suspended more often than others for the same behavior. Jabar said his group has pushed for training on implicit bias, restorative justice and other principles aimed to bring more fairness to school discipline.

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SCHOOL DISCIPLINE

Local districts with the most cases of school discipline in 2017-18

Out-of-school suspensions

3,843: Dayton

1,131: Trotwood

555: Mad River

543: Huber Heights

529: Kettering

In-school suspensions

1,067: Trotwood

984: Huber Heights

841: Kettering

792: Mad River

698: Fairborn

Expulsions

33: Trotwood

19: Mad River

18: Troy

18: Vandalia-Butler

16: Fairborn

Emergency removals

79: Fairborn

77: Xenia

60: Northmont

50: Huber Heights

47: Mad River

Source: Ohio Department of Education

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Discipline categories

Disobedient/disruptive behavior

Fighting/violence

Harassment/intimidation

Unwelcome sexual conduct

Truancy

Vandalism

Theft

Serious bodily injury

False alarms/bomb threat

Firearm lookalikes

The “use, possession, sale or distribution” of many items — firearm, explosive, tobacco, alcohol, other drug

School discipline