Number of Suspended Students is Down in Weymouth, New Data Finds

By Joe Lipovich (Patch Staff)

WEYMOUTH, MA — While the number of students suspended from school increased slightly statewide from 2014-2015, the overall number of suspended students in the Weymouth Public Schools decreased, according to new data released on Nov. 17, 2016. However, similar to state and national statistics, students in certain minority groups were suspended at a higher rate than students overall.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's data shows that 1.9 percent of students in Weymouth were given an out-of-school suspension during the 2015-2016 school year, down from 2.7 in 2014-2015.

Here's a quick breakdown of Weymouth's 2015-2016 out of school suspension data report (percent of 2,824 students):

• All Students: 1.9 percent
• English language learners: 0.8
• Economically disadvantaged: 3.4 percent
• Students with disabilities: 4.9 percent
• High needs: 3.3 percent
• Female: 1.0 percent
• Male: 2.7 percent
• Asian: 0.6 percent
• African American/black: 3.8 percent
• Hispanic/Latino: 2.1 percent
• Multi-race, non-Hispanic/Latino: 3.4 percent
• White: 1.7 percent

The DESE also noted that while there are areas of concern, changes in discipline statistics at an individual school level should be examined carefully.

"While there are several areas of concern, it is also possible that reporting errors at the district level during the first year of implementation (2014-15) may have led to significant percentage jumps when incidents were more consistently reported in 2015-16," the DESE release noted."Percentage changes should also be considered in conjunction with the number of students disciplined; as always, even small changes can produce large percentage differences."

Regulations enacted in 2014 were aimed to promote alternatives to suspensions, such as evidence-based strategies and programs such as mediation, conflict resolution, restorative justice and positive interventions and supports. Statewide, the regulation resulted in the decrease of the number of students suspended by 10,000 from 2013-2014 to 2014-2015.

According to the analysis released last Thursday, 4.3 percent of Massachusetts students were suspended at least once from school during the 2015-2016 school year, compared to 4.1 percent in 2014-2014.

"While orderly learning environments are essential, I am concerned with schools that over-rely on or disproportionately use suspensions," said Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester in a statement. "The Department will continue to work with districts to find effective alternatives to suspension and to identify and address instances in which suspensions are used disproportionately."

You can view a breakdown of school suspensions by district here.

A view of Weymouth's statistics can be seen here.

Image via Shutterstock