Suspension Rates in California High Schools Decrease
LYLLI DUONG Copy Editor
California student suspension rates have gone down over the last seven years. According to the the California Department of Education, from 2011-2012 to 2017-2018, the number of students suspended has declined about 45 percent with 327,857 fewer students being given a suspension.
Suspension data has become more available recently as more focus has been put on suspensions. According the the Los Angeles Times, suspensions can be costly and may even lead to students dropping out of school.
Some students agree that decreasing suspensions will have a positive effect.
“I think this is a great development; In terms of rehabilitation, I don’t really see the point of taking students away from school,” senior Aung Kyaw said. “If you think about it, [it is] counter effective.” Alhambra High School has also managed to decrease the number of suspended students over the last few years. In the 2016-2017 school year the total number of suspensions was 16. The number dropped to 10 for the 2017-2018 school year. The Los Angeles Times reports that some districts are using “restorative justice” programs in an attempt to keep students in the classroom. This has received mixed reviews from teachers; however, these policies have reduced the number of suspensions drastically.
According to Assistant Principal of Student Employee Welfare Caroline Botros, the most common reason for suspension is being in possession of a controlled substance. If the offense is severe enough, it could even lead to expulsion where the student is permanently removed from the school.
Typically, there are more boys who get suspended than girls.
“If we look at gender, it was 13 [boys suspended in 2016- 2017] compared to 13 [in 2017- 2018]… for females it was 0 compared to 3,” Botros said.
Despite the lower number of suspensions state-wide, there are still “alarming levels of lost days of instruction” according to EdSource, especially for African American students and those with special needs. Although black students make up only 6 percent of the student population in California, they have received almost 20 percent of the suspensions. The suspension rate for Hispanic and Latino students is 5.2 percent and it is 1.2 percent for Asian students.