Last school year, 10 percent of all African-American students were suspended for a day or more, while just 1.1 percent of white kids were suspended.
The most dramatic decline in African-American suspensions came in the middle schools, Wing said, “which was the biggest single contributor to the overall decrease we see in suspensions across the district.”
“We’re providing more training around classroom management and cultural sensitivity so that teachers can interpret how some kids are,” Wing said. “Part of our move toward restorative practices is to have a schoolwide culture where every adult and student knows how we are supposed to be in school.”
In other words, the rules are the same for every class and every common room and space on campus and everyone knows the rules at the start of the year, Wing said.
“Some teachers are known for letting students do ‘x’ in their classroom, while others do not, so kids have to change hats all day long,” Wing said. “We’re trying to move away from that.”