Out-of-school suspensions grow out of control in Ohio

Consider for a moment this common scenario that has played out for decades in the annals of puzzling public-school policy: A middle-school student who hates the self-perceived bondage of mandatory class attendance skips school for 10 consecutive days. When his ruse is finally discovered, his punishment for the infraction amounts to a permission slip to bypass class for another 10 days.

As state Sen. Peggy Lehner, Republican chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee, so aptly puts it, ”The most ridiculous thing we have on our books is the punishment for being truant is suspension or expulsion. You’re handing the kid exactly what they’re asking for.”

In the process, students, educators and taxpayers alike all suffer the consequences. That’s why legislation to effectively ban the use of out-of-school suspensions for truancy demands thoughtful and careful consideration by state lawmakers.

State Reps. Jeff Rezabek, R-Clayton, and Bill Hayes, R-Harrison Township, introduced the bill earlier this month. House Bill 410 calls for implementing uniformity among districts when dealing with truancy and excessive absenteeism, encourages earlier intervention of absentees, gives districts more tools to address the root causes of truancy and works to avoid criminalization that truancy often produces.

The growing rates of out-of-school suspensions and the growing body of evidence supporting their long-term harm make Hayes’ and Rezabek’s legislation long overdue.

HOW SEVERE IS THE PROBLEM?

Excessive truancy accounted for about 6,000 suspensions in state schools in the 2012-13 school year, according to the Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio. In addition, according to the U.S. Department of Education, more than 3 million American students – nearly 1 in 4 – are being suspended, more than double the rate of about 30 years ago. Suspension rates for African-American students rank even higher.

As those rates continue to skyrocket, studies from a variety of researchers strengthen the relationship between out-of-school suspensions and both low achievement and dropping out of school permanently. Those scenarios, in turn, fuel the so-called “school-to-prison pipeline.” Dropping out of school triples the likelihood a person will be incarcerated, the U.S. Education Department reports.

To their credit, some school districts have begun to aggressively tackle the foolishness of rewarding excessively absentee students with a 10-day pass from class. Youngstown City Schools, for example, have decreased the use of out-of-school suspensions by about 50 percent over the past two years. Nonetheless, the district still uses the tactic three times more often than the average public school district in the state, according to data from the Ohio Department of Education.

In addition to requiring districts statewide to develop uniform sets of alternatives to suspensions, HB 410 also would require rigid diversionary programs that would at last force school administrators to pinpoint and respond to the myriad underlying causes of excessive absenteeism whether it is fear of bullying, unstable home lives, health problems or other issues.

In so doing, the beneficiaries would be many. Students would benefit by regaining an education they otherwise would forfeit. Educators would benefit by not having to waste valuable class time playing catch-up. Districts would benefit through the likelihood of higher rankings on school report cards. And taxpayers would benefit by no longer forking out per-pupil funding for phantom pupils.

Of course, addressing truancy will not totally eliminate out-of-school suspensions. And for the worst of the worst discipline problems, at times they may rise as the best alternative. But in many, many cases, they do not. That’s why some state legislators plan to introduce legislation early in the new year to soften the state’s “zero-tolerance” policy on conduct infractions that oftentimes lead to out-of-school suspensions.

Our one warning to legislators on both sets of legislation, however, would be to craft final bills that do not sock additional cost burdens onto the already cash-strapped predicaments many districts find themselves in.

For now, though, House Bill 410 offers a strong foundation for a new approach to discipline in state schools without additional costs. Toward those ends, state Rep. Thomas Brenner, R-Powell, chairman of the House Education Committee, is correct in his assertion that the reforms would serve as a viable launching pad “to bring back some common sense to our schools.”