Editorial: Fewer school suspensions is a good thing
Principal Dr. Greg Miller helps 7th grader Roberto Romero, 12, find his homeroom on the first day of school at John Muir Middle School in Burbank on Monday, Aug. 17, 2015. There were 456 students suspended from Burbank schools during the 2014-15 school year, down from 766 in 2011-12
Reflecting a statewide trend, fewer Glendale and Burbank public school students who misbehave on campus are finding themselves suspended, according to a report recently issued by the California Department of Education.
Instead of sending errant children home for what could potentially be a few days of unsupervised vacation, new strategies have been employed in recent years to help the youngsters learn from their mistakes.
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Glendale Unified’s “in-house” suspensions call for students to complete schoolwork in a classroom setting and one-on-one guidance from teachers. If a student is caught using drugs on campus, they’ll be given two days of suspension and required to attend a drug-treatment program for three days. If other issues are involved, they’ll be led to help such as anger management or counseling sessions.
Burbank Unified has seen some success by adding intervention specialists to staff, engaging students and addressing problems before they rise to the level where suspensions or expulsions come into play.
Suspensions are not entirely out of the equation, because there are some cases when it’s the right call, according to some administrators. But we agree with the overall trend toward fewer days out of the classroom whenever possible and are very glad to see the GUSD and BUSD steps to curb suspensions.
It’s far better in our mind to identify and use effective tools to help students, rather than risk turning them off from learning altogether.