District SABERS data shows disproportionate suspension risk for Black students; board discusses faster review and supports

At the Oshkosh Area School District Board of Education meeting on July 9, district staff presented SABERS screening results showing persistent racial disparities in out-of-school suspensions, with Black students substantially more likely to receive suspensions than white students.

The presentation, delivered by Matt Kemmer, district staff member who led the SABERS briefing, included risk-ratio analyses comparing suspension likelihood by race and gender. Kemmer said, “a student who's black in our district is 4.4 times more likely to receive an out of school suspension compared to a student who is white.” He later highlighted a separate calculation for gender and race, saying, “our female students who identify as black [have] a risk ratio of 6.6,” meaning Black female students were 6.6 times as likely as white female students to be suspended.

Why it matters: Board members described the numbers as…