Tuesday, October 25, 2016
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — One of Ohio’s largest school districts plans to rewrite its disciplinary code to make out-of-school punishments a last-resort option.
The Blade reports Toledo Public Schools is seeking alternatives so that misbehaving students don’t miss so many school days.
The 4,188 students suspended by the district last school year missed a combined 25,585 class days. Toledo schools also expelled 146 students last year.
The director of pupil placement and child adjustment services says the district is trying to figure out why such discipline increased in each of the past two years. It’s not just the growth in enrollment. The number of disciplinary action per 100 students also rose.
Meanwhile, Ohio lawmakers are considering a bill to ban schools from suspending or expelling students solely because of truancy or unexcused absences.