‘This is how we get change’: Kansas City schools limit student suspension, discipline

Kansas City Public Schools has banned suspensions for younger students in most situations, an effort to move away from strict disciplinary measures and toward interventions to help students stay and succeed in school.

The school board on Wednesday unanimously approved a new code of conduct for the coming school year. Students in kindergarten through fifth grade will no longer be suspended — except in the most severe situations, such as when students cause harm to themselves or others, or break the law.

The district also implemented a new system to replace in-school suspensions for all grades, and it removed “oppressive” language from the dress code.

“This is how we get to academic achievement. Because there is no universe where you can suspend a lot of kids or be overly punitive in your code of conduct and expect excellence academically,” board member Marvia Jones said. “So I think we show ourselves as leaders in this area.”

“This is how we get change in our schools.”

Black and Hispanic students in Missouri are over four times more likely to be suspended or expelled than their white peers, according to a report by ProPublica. In Kansas, that rate is five times greater.

Across the country, more districts are moving away from harsh punitive measures and refocusing on student counseling and mediation to resolve conflicts.

Advocates argue that suspensions disproportionately interrupt education, making it harder for students to reenter the classroom and catch up. They say such punishment can lead to a cycle of isolation and chronic absenteeism, pushing some students to drop out entirely.

The Kansas City district has aimed to reduce the number of suspensions for several years. It has been a mission of Superintendent Mark Bedell since he began with the district in 2016.

This past year, More2, a Kansas City social justice organization, has worked with the district to change its policy on suspensions and expulsions.

Lateshia Woodley, executive director of student support, said administrators have met with teachers, counselors, staff, students and the community to determine how to change the code of conduct. The policy now spells out several interventions that should be used before a student is disciplined.

Those include conferences with parents and school staff, mediation with peers, as well as the creation of individual behavior or attendance plans.

“All interventions must be implemented prior to out-of-school suspensions,” Woodley said. “Suspensions should be used very sparingly and in the most extreme situations.”

The district also is moving away from in-school suspensions. She said the district will instead implement “recovery rooms,” where students should be given guidance to resolve conflicts and return to the classroom.

“Sitting in a room, being quiet and looking at a wall all day is not teaching anybody anything,” she told the school board. “And so we’re in the process of having students understand what that behavior was, what they need to do different, how to advocate for themselves, to be able to change behaviors.”

The new code of conduct also includes a learner’s bill of rights, explaining to students what their rights are.

And, it removes discriminatory language from the dress code.

The district will no longer prohibit students from wearing hats or hoodies, for example. And it states that the dress code cannot discriminate based on gender, gender identity or expression, race, religion, body size, body maturity or socioeconomic status.

“Having to explain to my 9-year-old why he couldn’t wear his school hoodie in his school was kind of painful to explain. That well, that makes people think this or that,” Jones told district staff. “But to just see that you all took it that step further to remove that part, that is incredible. It sounds basic. But it’s incredible.”

The district also prohibited students from being suspended for violating the dress code.

Last school year, as students remained in online classes for the majority of the time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the district reported that 245 students received out-of-school suspensions. That was down from 340 suspensions the year before, and 517 in 2018, according to Missouri education department statistics.

Woodley said that adopting the new code of conduct is only the beginning, and administrators are working in each school to help train staff and implement the new policies.