Dallas ISD must stop using school suspensions as the district works to redress racial disparities, a group of local and statewide education advocates demanded Tuesday.
Doing so would help keep children on track and position DISD as a national “game-changer” in taking meaningful steps toward policies that underscore the Black Lives Matter movement, advocates said.
Sixteen organizations signed a resolution asking DISD to “abolish exclusionary disciplinary practices,” including both out-of-school and in-school suspensions. The groups are Dallas Black Clergy, Dallas Kids First, Dallas CORE, For Oak Cliff, Leadership ISD, Lone Star Justice Alliance, Mi Familia Vota, Mental Health America of Greater Dallas, Stand for Children Leadership Center, Teach Plus, Texas Appleseed, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, Texas Organizing Project, The Education Trust in Texas, West Dallas One and Young Leaders Strong City.
“In place of these practices, we support Dallas ISD providing teachers and staff with the tools and skills necessary to support students’ social and emotional development, restore relationships within the school community, and ultimately affirm each child’s humanity and right to learn,” the statement read. “Anything less would squander this unique opportunity to take bold, transformative action for future generations of students.”
The resolution comes as DISD is reconsidering its disciplinary practices and addresses racial equity across the district. National and local data repeatedly show that exclusionary practices — such as suspensions — continue to be used disproportionately against Black children.
Research has shown that trouble at school, particularly for older students, can push them into the juvenile or criminal court system, perpetuating a “school-to-prison pipeline.”
In 2017, DISD was one of the first districts in the state to ban discretionary out-of-school suspensions for students in second grade and younger. And, during his time as a state representative, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson introduced a bill that mirrored the district’s policy, which became state law.
But in the 2019-20 school year, Black students in Dallas ISD were still overrepresented in discipline. They accounted for 4,409 incidents of out-of-school suspension — over 51.7% of the total number of suspensions given — despite Black students only making up 21% of student enrollment.
After the death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police last summer and subsequent protests, Dallas trustees looked for ways the district might tackle systemic issues for its Black students. DISD’s discipline policy was one of those touchstones.
Andrew Hairston, director of the Education Justice Project at nonprofit advocate Texas Appleseed, said that banning suspensions was “necessary in this moment, and a way to actualize the call of Black Lives Matter.”
For the first stirrings of eliminating suspensions to come from Dallas ISD would be “a game-changer,” he added.
“That could really set up a ripple effect that could really honor the efforts of organizers, young people and parents who have been fighting this fight for a long time, and just inspire so much action in many other places across the nation,” Hairston said.
On March 1, a DISD task force met for the first time to discuss how the district might alter its student code of conduct to curb such disparities. The student code sets out four levels of infractions — ranging from dress code violations to capital murder — and establishes discretionary and mandatory consequences tied to them, including both types of suspensions.
A source connected with the task force, who did not want to be identified because of the ongoing work, told The Dallas Morning News that the district is approaching the revisions with the goal of eliminating out-of-school suspensions where possible. Some severe infractions lead to mandatory suspensions or expulsions under state law and cannot be changed locally. The district also will drastically rethink what in-school suspension should look like.
That’s in step with what Dallas Superintendent Michael Hinojosa has signaled in recent months, stating that the district’s remote learning efforts could perhaps be utilized in lieu of out-of-school suspensions.
“We have to figure out a system for students to stay engaged in learning even when they misbehave,” Hinojosa said during an Education Lab town hall in January. “Status quo is not acceptable. By August, I need a new plan.”
Jonathan Feinstein, state director for the Education Trust in Texas and another contributor to the resolution, praised the district for taking its first tentative step, but he added that the changes must go beyond swapping out one type of suspension for virtual learning.
“What we’ve seen in this pandemic is that remote instruction is in no way equal to in-person instruction; it’s not as if we’ve mastered that,” Feinstein said. “So the idea that we could simply put the name on it and say, ‘We’ve banned out-of-school suspensions,’ effectively providing a less-than-quality educational experience, is not good enough.”
The task force’s next meeting will be March 29. DISD officials hope to recommend revisions to the code of conduct to trustees by May.
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from The Beck Group, Bobby and Lottye Lyle, The Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, The Meadows Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University and Todd A. Williams Family Foundation. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.
