HISD proposal calls for ban on suspensions, expulsions for youngest students

Students in 2nd grade and below would not be sent home for disciplinary issues

Houston Independent School District students in second grade and below will no longer be sent home for disciplinary issues, according to a proposed policy update going before the Board of Education on Thursday.

Under the proposal, campus administrators would not be allowed to suspend or expel pre-kindergarten through second-grade students in response to behavioral or disciplinary issues — except as required by state law. The policy revision further explains that students in third through fifth grades should only be removed from the school setting as a last resort.

In coordination with the proposed change in policy, HISD will begin offering additional classroom management training to all elementary school teachers. The goal of the training is to help teachers better manage disruptive students so they don’t have to be removed from class, which ultimately benefits all students. HISD also is developing a teacher mentoring system to provide additional support to teachers.

The change is in response to research that shows young students — particularly those who are considered to be at-risk — often display challenging classroom behaviors as a result of outside trauma. Stressful situations outside of school, administrators say, often manifest in the form of unacceptable behaviors in the classroom.

“We understand better now than we ever have before how exposure to early adversity affects the developing brains and bodies of children,” HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said. “We must take a hard look at how we are handling these issues to ensure we’re not contributing to an already stressful situation for these students.”

The proposed policy revision is designed to ensure discipline is administered equitably throughout the district.

During the 2014-2015 school year, 2,673 disciplinary incidents were reported for elementary school students in pre-kindergarten through second grades. Of those, the vast majority of incidents — 87 percent — involved students who were considered to be economically disadvantaged, at-risk, or both.

Though African American students make up just 25 percent of the district population, they were involved in 70 percent of disciplines incidents for students in pre-kindergarten through second grade. Hispanic students, who make up 62 percent of the district population, were involved in 26 percent of the discipline incidents. White students, who make up 8 percent of the district population, were involved in just 3 percent of discipline incidents.

Male students make up just over half of the district population, but were involved in 84 percent of the discipline incidents reported for students in pre-kindergarten through second grade.

Under the proposed policy, administrators also would be prevented from placing pre-kindergarten through second-grade students in alternative education programs. School officials instead would be required to address the situation without physically sending the child home.

The policy change is in line with similar school districts around the country. Districts in Miami, Los Angeles and Seattle all are in the process of implementing similar policies, with some districts even going so far as to expand the plan to include all elementary grades.

Research shows that students who are exposed to high doses of adversity are more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors. HISD’s proposed policy revision is designed to help students overcome adversity in their home lives, rather than be continually punished for it.

Research has also shown that schools with lower suspension rates also have higher achievement rates and narrowed achievement gaps, while schools with higher suspension rates see the opposite effect.

The board’s regular monthly meeting begins at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015, in the board auditorium of the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center, 4400 W. 18th Street. Click hereto view the full agenda. The board meeting will be broadcast live online at www.hisdtv.org.