Report says schools are more likely to suspend African Americans
Despite a recent study that says St. Charles Parish schools are 2.6 times more likely to suspend African American students than their Caucasian counterparts, the schools say that race is never a factor in deciding whether a student is suspended.
The study was done by Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children and the National and Economic Social Rights Initiative.
While it points to St. Charles as a parish with less overall suspensions than the state average, the study claims that race plays a factor in whether or not a child is suspended and that the school district is violating fundamental human rights standards that prohibit discrimination in education.
Rochelle Cancienne-Touchard, public information officer for the school district, said that to say St. Charles Parish Public Schools are discriminating based on race is “not a factual statement.”
“We truly actively try to seek alternatives to out of school suspension,” Cancienne-Touchard said.
The school district has recently changed its out-of-school suspension policy to include mandatory make-up work for students who miss school. The parish has also altered the policy this year to require approval of all out-of-school suspensions, which entails a report on all proactive and reactive strategies used before resorting to the suspension recommendation.
As of the 2008-2009 school year, there were 3,442 African American and 5,618 Caucasian students enrolled in parish schools.
Of those, 177 African Americans and 111 Caucasian students were suspended out-of-school that year.
“The majority (of children suspended out-of-school) are elementary kids,” Cancienne-Touchard said. “But suspension is the absolute last resort for kids this age. It really takes a lot to get to that point.”
She said that the school district has a multitude of proactive and reactive strategies that they try before suspending a child.
Strategies that are used to try to prevent problems include a program called Responsive Classroom, which incorporates teaching and practicing appropriate behavior.
Educators also employ small group and individual counseling for those students who have had previous issues with discipline. There are also mentors available for students to track their progress and make a connection with the student.
“We’re trying to pinpoint and target the reason that’s causing the behavior,” Cancienne-Touchard said.
Once a problem arises, she said that there are a lot of reactive steps taken before even considering out-of-school suspension.
Once a child begins to act up, they are put in time outs or out of class, a behavior management plan is put together and counseling is done. If the problem persists, parent meetings take place in which parents and staff work together as a team to address the issue and find a solution.
The next steps if the problem continues are parent meetings with the discipline committee and detention.
Out-of-school suspension can only be done once all of these steps have been tried.
Even when a child is suspended, Cancienne-Touchard says that it is usually only for one day at first and that students are usually sent to an alternative center called Alternative Discipline A Positive Turnaround, or ADAPT.
“The Superintendent has many times referenced the fact that way back when, when kids were suspended from school it was like a vacation,” she said. “Now…they’re going to the alternative center.
“They’re not on the streets, they’re in a controlled environment and they’re still getting work done. They’re still learning.”
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