School discipline pattern raises a red flag for state Suspensions and identification of certain students in Chesterfield, Henrico, Richmond raise red flag for state

A pattern in Chesterfield and Henrico counties of suspending black students with disabilities at a disproportionately high rate has triggered a response from the state.

In the 2014-15 school year, a Chesterfield African-American student with disabilities was nearly four times more likely to be suspended long-term compared with other students with disabilities. During that period, Henrico'sAfrican-American students with disabilities were 6.7 times more likely to be suspended long-term.

The pattern has persisted and worsened over time, leading the Virginia Department of Education to issue a mandate to several localities.

Chesterfield, Henrico and Richmond are among seven Virginia school districts mandated to set aside federal money received under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act this year.

Richmond was cited because for three years the city's African-American students with disabilities have remained at least three times more likely to be identified as having "other health impairment" than other students with disabilities.

The state defines "other health impairment" as limited strength, vitality or alertness.

Julie McConnell, an attorney who runs the Children's Defense Clinic at the University of Richmond, said that during the past six years, most of her clients from Chesterfield have shared similar characteristics.

The vast majority are African-American students, or students with disabilities. And they have been pushed out of school for such offenses as fighting or possession of small amounts of marijuana.

"It's an unfortunate pattern we see. It's very troubling," McConnell said.

The mandates also come as the state is facing what the Legal Aid Justice Center called a suspension crisis, according to a May 2016 report from the JustChildren Program within the Justice Center.

"Unfortunately, I wasn't surprised," Rachael Deane, an attorney with the JustChildren Program, said of Chesterfield's situation.

"We know that Virginia schools across the commonwealth issue a huge number of suspensions each year. There is an overuse in general among all public schools to use suspension and expulsion to handle student behavior."

Chesterfield was one locality in the report with what Deane called huge disparities in suspended students with disabilities and African-American students, though she was encouraged by how Chesterfield plans to respond to the mandate.

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The Justice Center says research shows students excluded from school are more likely to fail class, drop out, have mental health problems and end up in the court system.

Schools do not necessarily fare better. According to the Justice Center report, schools with high suspension rates generally have less satisfactory climate ratings and lower test scores and graduation rates.

And there is no evidence to suggest that suspension and expulsion deter misconduct or improve school safety, the report adds.

Yet the state's schools have relied heavily on the practice.

In the 2014-15 school year, Virginia schools issued 126,000 out-of-school suspensions to about 70,000 students. Most of those were for nonviolent behavior such as "classroom or campus disruption" and disproportionately fell to male students, African-American students and students with disabilities, according to the Justice Center report that analyzed data reported by the state.

Chesterfield and Henrico's mandate means that African-American students with disabilities remained at least three times more likely to be suspended long-term than other students with disabilities for three consecutive years. In addition, that rate of suspension trended upward during that time.

This is the first time the mandate has applied to Chesterfield, but it's not the first time the county has been cited for disparities related to suspensions of students with disabilities.

From 2004 to 2015, Chesterfield was marked for such disparity six times, according to the county's annual education reports filed to the state.

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The mandate will cause Chesterfield's intervention to increase significantly, with school leaders pulling from strategies both McConnell and Deane called effective.

Chesterfield schools plan to spend $1.78 million to address the pattern next school year. The amount is much higher than what the county has set aside voluntarily in recent years. The state sets parameters for how the money can be used.

Chesterfield Superintendent James F. Lane has proposed additional full-time positions, expanding a social and emotional learning curriculum, and implementing a remedial study skills program at four of the middle schools.

Richmond plans to spend $895,647 to reduce its over-identification in special education by putting the money toward "academic and behavior supports for at-risk general education students" in kindergarten through third grade.

Henrico reduced the overall number of out-of-school suspensions for students with disabilities and African-American students from 2011 to 2016, school data show. But gaps remain.

The county plans to use the money to increase social and emotional supports within the schools.

Henrico has revised its code of conduct, extended day programs, and added professional development for staff in such topics as trauma-informed care, cultural competency and mental health.

At some schools, the county also has installed what officials call preventive programs such as social emotional support teams, behavior intervention services and behavior support teams.

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In Chesterfield, the proposed positions add layers of intervention for students and focus on relationship-building, inclusion, addressing trauma and developing empathy.

An equity coordinator would get at the "root causes" for the disparity, Lane said.

"It's not that people are racist. That's too easy," McConnell said. "There are implicit biases and a lack of understanding.

"If a child doesn't act like your child, it's harder for people to understand. There's so much work that needs to be done so that people don't negatively act toward these kids."

Lane also calls for intervention training specialists focused on restorative practices, a strategy "very effective in the research."

Using restorative practices means disciplining students in a nonpunitive way, by focusing on repairing harm done and engaging everyone involved rather than excluding the misbehaving student.

In a classroom, it can mean an offender, victim and facilitator as well as staff, family or other students all sit in a circle. The dialogue focuses on what harm was done, with the offender taking responsibility, then developing a plan for how everyone will contribute to repairing the harm.

Intervention specialists trained in trauma-informed care are becoming increasingly important in Chesterfield's school system, Lane said.

"We're hearing of a lot of students, especially those new to our country, that are coming to us with some significant issues as they transition into the community, frankly with some traumatic experiences in their past," he said.

"We're hearing from ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teachers, that really trauma-informed care is needed to support behavior work in our school division."

An added six social workers would mean that every Chesterfield building could have a psychologist or social worker in the school every other day.

Samantha Hollins, Chesterfield's director of special education, said the added staff members would blend work between addressing teacher responses to student behavior as well as laying down consistent behavior expectations for students.

"Who is responsible to make sure that we aren't just adding things on top of things that aren't going well?" School Board member Carrie E. Coyner asked during a Feb. 14 discussion on the topic. "Clearly, we are where we are today because not everything has been effective, and we're hoping that these tools are."

Coyner said that when the schools started having conversations about social and emotional learning, an inventory of existing services showed that many things were not working. She referred a request for additional comment to the school spokesperson.

Lane said an added five behavioral intervention specialists will tailor services to what the schools need and institutionalize the training. These specialists will be key to ensuring each school has a voice as the changes are made.

Deane with JustChildren said she was heartened by Chesterfield's proposal, which aligned with several recommendations in the JustChildren report.

But she wished there was more money for professional development and training for all staff members. She also called on state lawmakers to do more to curb the use of suspensions and expulsions.

School Board members have some flexibility in shifting resources in Lane's plan. Board members plan to discuss the issue further on Friday.

vremmers@timesdispatch.com(804) 649-6243