COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004 BANS OR LIMITS ON EARLY CHILDHOOD SUSPENSIONS AND EXPULSIONS JURISDICTION COMPARISON Who Chicago Public Schools Board of Education Date of the Change Passed June 2014; Effective SY14-15 Minneapolis Public Schools Baltimore Public Schools Changed Sept. 2014; Effective SY14-15 Changed July 2014; Effective SY14-15 State of California September 2014; Effective SY14-15 Based on what I found, this description is not accurate. The law states that no student can be expelled for “willful defiance,” and that students who are in K-3rd grade also cannot get suspended for willful defiance. The law is limited to this one type of infraction. See Cal. Educ. Code § 48900. Dayton Public Schools Board of Education Passed June 2014; Effective SY14-15 New York City Department of Education August 2012: Effective SY12-13 *Reportedly under revision again* Buffalo Public Schools Board of Education April 2013; Effective SY13-14 Policy Change Prohibits suspensions for Pre-K through 2nd grade, with exception where behavior poses an imminent danger – in these cases, suspensions are limited to one day, require Network Chief approval, must be preceded by restorative efforts, and the principal must develop a support plan.i Prohibits suspensions for Pre-K through 1st grade for nonviolent behavior. ii Principals are required to consult with the central office before they suspend pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students for any length of time.iii The legislature passed a law that bans California public schools from suspending or expelling kindergarten through 3rd grade students. Expulsions are also no longer allowed for students above 3rd grade for offenses described as “willful defiance.”iv Moratorium on out-of-school suspensions for prekindergarten students. DPS will instead offer professional development regarding self-regulation in the classroom to preschool classroom teachers.v Student Discipline Code was changed to prohibit the city from issuing suspensions longer than 5 days to students in K – 3rd grades.vi Children in EarlyLearnNYC and Universal Pre-Kindergarten programs may not be expelled or suspended for behavioral reasons without written approval from New York City Administration for Children's Services (ASC) or the New York City Department of Education (DOE).vii Under the new code of conduct students (all grades) are no longer be suspended for disciplinary problems like truancy, cutting class, running in the halls, smoking and dress code violations.viii COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION 2 Commonwealth of Massachusetts Passed August 2012; Effective July 2014 Syracuse City School District Passed Sept. 2014: Effective SY14-15 Rochester School District 2008 State of New Jersey 2007 State of Washington 2007 State of Georgia Introduced January 2015; Pending Legislation State of Indiana Introduced January 2015; Pending Legislation The general rule is that out-of-school suspension is only for grades 6-12. Students in 3-5 may only be suspended if the student “engages in pervasive or egregious aggressive acts that threaten anyone’s safety on school premises.” *Similarly, for pre-k-2nd grade: “If a student engages in pervasive or egregious aggressive acts that cause injury or threaten children’s safety in the classroom, the principal can request a District consultation within 24 hours to determine the most appropriate interventions up to and including a two-day out of-school suspension while the intervention plan is being developed. Law requires the principal or headmaster to notify the superintendent in writing of the out-of-school suspension of a student enrolled in kindergarten through 3rd grade, the alleged misconduct, and the reasons for out-of-school suspension, before the suspension takes effect. Includes public schools and public charter schools.ix Students in Pre-K through 2nd grade may only be suspended if a student engages in pervasive or egregious aggressive acts that cause injury or threaten children’s safety in the classroom. Schools must consult the District and those students cannot be suspended for longer than 2 days.x Suspension of students in the Pre-K program is prohibited. Short-term suspensions apply only to K-12 students and long-term suspensions apply only to 3-12 students.xi Preschool students in a general education program or special education program shall not be suspended, long-term or short-term, and shall not be expelled.xii Washington Admin. Code limits the use of suspension for young students in both short and long-term suspensions: “No student in grades K-4 shall be suspended for more than a total of 10 school days during any single semester.” “No student in grades K-4 shall be long-term suspended during any single semester.”xiii The introduced bill, Too Young to Suspend Act, if approved, would prohibit schools from imposing suspension or expulsion on children in pre-K through 3rd grade.xiv The introduced bill would prevent schools from suspending or expelling students based solely on attendance. It also provides grant money for schools to adopt positive, “evidence-based” discipline approaches and training for teachers and staff.xv i Chicago Student Code of Conduct Revisions, June 2014 http://cps.edu/News/Press_releases/Pages/PR1_06_23_2014.aspx 2 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION 3 ii MPS ends suspensions in pre-K, kindergarten and first grade for nonviolent behavior issues http://www.mpls.k12.mn.us/september_5_2 iii City seeks to curb pre-K and kindergarten suspensions http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2014-07-09/news/bs-md-ci-suspension-changes-20140709_1_suspensionsprincipals-union-school-year iv California’s Willful Defiance Law Limits Suspensions, Expulsions For Backtalking Students http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2014/09/30/californias-willful-defiance-law-limits-suspensions-expulsions-forbacktalking-students/ v http://www.dps.k12.oh.us/content/documents/Official-Minutes---June-17-2014.pdf vi New York City Department of Education Student Code of Conduct, August 2012 http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/F7DA5E8D-C065-44FF-A16F55F491C0B9E7/0/DiscCode20122013FINAL.pdf vii New York City Department of Education Pre-K Policies and Resources http://schools.nyc.gov/Academics/EarlyChildhood/educators/UPK.htm viii City schools adopt a more tolerant school discipline policy http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130423/CITYANDREGION/130429616/1020 ix http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=7127 x Syracuse Schools Code of Conduct approved http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/09/syracuse_schools_code_of_conduct_approved__now_comes_the_hard_part.html xi http://www.rochesterteachers.com/Rochester_Teachers_Association/Forms_files/regs_of_intervention.pdf xii New Jersey Code, N.J.A.C. 6A:13A-4.4(g) http://www.nj.gov/education/ece/psguide/suspension.htm xiii Wash. Admin. Code § 392-400-245 (2007), available at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=392400-245 xiv Democrats in Ga. House rollout 2015 legislative agenda http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=284081 xv https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2015/bills/senate/443 3