Board Hears 'Disturbing' Expulsion, Suspension Data

The numbers are admittedly disturbing, Board of Education members said during presentation of data that showed African American students are suspended or expelled at a significantly higher rate than their white classmates.

During the first two trimesters of this school year, suspensions and expulsions of high school students were on the rise for both white and black students.

But while there are around 2,500 white students and slightly more than 1,000 black students in the district's three high schools, more than 400 black students have been suspended or expelled, compared to fewer than 300 white students, according to a report presented at the board's May 24 meeting, held at .

Superintendent Susan Zurvalec called the data “disturbing.”

But she added, “We are confronting this issue openly and honestly. … This is a gap we need to address.”

The reasons for the disparity aren’t yet clear, said Michele Harmala, executive director of support services. However, there is a strong correlation between being a new student in the district and being suspended for misbehavior.

Some 60 percent of all suspensions and expulsions involve students who have been in the district for less than one year; 90 percent have been in the district less than three years.

“We have 500 to 600 new students coming to Farmington every year,” Harmala said. This year, 169 middle school students and 404 high school students are new to the district.

School board member Tim Devine deduced that six of 10 suspensions and expulsions are administered to 4-5 percent of the student population, “the new kids. There is this staggering correlation between newness and misbehavior.”

State citation leads to report

Harmala presented the data in a lengthy report produced because the Michigan Department of Education Office of Special Education cited the district for suspending and expelling African American students at a rate far higher than other students during the 2008-2009 school year. Since the citation, the district has been monitoring the number of suspensions, by gender, grade level, race and type of offense.

“The African American population is one-third that of the white students, but the number of suspensions and expulsions are almost identical,” said Steve Vercellino, positive behavior intervention support coordinator. And though there are nearly equal numbers of male and female students, suspensions and expulsions of boys outnumber those of the girls by a 2-1 ratio, he said.

The most common reason for discipline at level one, which is the least serious of the incidents, is the possession of an electronic device. Level two offenses are by far the most common, and include fighting (which is less serious than assault) and failure to serve an in-school detention.

One of the most common reasons for in-school detention is tardiness, Vercellino said. Students receive in-school detentions the first time they are tardy.

The state required the district to allocate $365,445 – 15 percent of its 2010-2011 special education federal budget – to implement positive behavior intervention services (PBIS). The district was also required to review and revise policies and procedures that may cause the disproportionate suspensions and expulsions, and report the revision of its policies and procedures.

Action plan includes work group, data collection

The district created an action plan to address the problem, Harmala said. The plan is still in its early phases, which includes the formation of a work group and bringing in PBIS screeners, collection of data and communicating findings. However, the three-year data is somewhat skewed as a result of reconfiguration of the district’s elementary and middle schools this year, she said.

The number of suspensions and expulsions has increased over the last three years in the high schools, though it’s decreasing in the middle schools.

Devine asked about the correlation between academic failure and behavior difficulties.

Harmala said a correlation certainly exists between poor behavior and poor academic performance because suspensions and expulsions pull the students out of the classroom where learning takes place. But the opposite is also true; students who are struggling academically often act out and exhibit undesirable behaviors, from becoming a class clown to more serious behavior such as bullying.

PBIS teaches behavior expectations in the classroom and, more intensively, to students who are exhibiting behavior problems.

'It's not just the kids.'

Harmala said that the policies and procedures are not the problem; teaching behavior expectations will help the district close the gap.

She believes literacy intervention will help those students who are acting out as a result of feeling academically inadequate.

Board member Sheilah Clay said as much as she appreciates the positive behavior education efforts, she believes “It’s not that these kids don’t know how they’re supposed to behave.”

She said that at the core of the problem, “If kids don’t feel adequate academically, if they’re not at the level of other students … (misbehavior)  can mask the insecurity of ‘I don’t get it.’.”

She said that it’s also a parenting issue, particularly with those students who are being disciplined for tardiness.

“Elementary students and middle school students don’t drive,” she said, adding that if those young students are late it’s because their parents didn’t get them to class on time.

Further, “We have to look at the perception of the staff of these kids coming into our district,” Clay said. “It’s not just the students.”

Board president Howard Wallach said that the “pink elephant in the room” is racism. “I’m not accusing anyone of being a racist … But we have to address that (racism) exists,” and the only way to solve the problem is to eliminate it.

He said he doesn’t want to relieve the students of being accountable for their behavior.

“But,” Wallach added, “it’s not just the kids.”