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Wake County Schools reports decline in suspensions, outlines restorative strategies and new mental health funding
Summary
District staff presented annual suspension data showing reductions in out'of'school suspensions and lost instruction days, discussed restorative practices and pilot programs to reduce exclusionary discipline, and described a new federal mental-health grant to expand school-based services.
Wake County Public School System staff updated the Student Achievement Committee on behavioral health, discipline data and district strategies to reduce exclusionary discipline, including restorative practices, tiered supports and plans to expand school'based mental health services with newly awarded federal funding.
Dr. Dixon introduced the behavioral health framework the district uses to connect social emotional learning, classroom management and restorative practices to student academic success. "Behavioral health encompasses the mental, emotional, and social factors that influence a student's overall well'being and ability to succeed in school," he said, and emphasized proactive supports in classrooms and community partnerships.
Dr. Walker presented the annual discipline data required by policy 4340.5. He said about 5% of district students are subject to out'of'school suspension across recent years (meaning 95% were not suspended) and that the district'level out'of'school suspension rate and lost days of instruction have declined recently. In the presentation staff cited an average of roughly 100,000 lost instructional days tied to out'of'school suspension across comparable years; Dr. Walker framed the declines as evidence schools are reducing exclusionary practices while noting disproportionality persists for Black students.
Dr. Gooch and other staff described the district's continuum of interventions: universal classroom practices (explicit classroom and school'wide expectations, social emotional learning), supplemental supports (check'in/check'out, restorative conversations, student observations), and intensive individualized plans such as functional behavior assessments and Tier 3 interventions. Dr. Gooch said restorative practices "are really options that are proactive and not reactive" and highlighted community building circles and restorative conversations as district techniques.
Staff highlighted school-level improvements and pilots. Walnut Creek Elementary reduced suspensions by more than 11 percentage points over two years after training staff in classroom management, social emotional learning and restorative practices, providing coaching visits and aligning the work to the school improvement plan. District staff said some subgroup changes (for two or more races) reflected very small counts and noted caution interpreting percentages for small groups.
Staff also discussed a pilot linking alternative placements with base schools to provide restorative reentry supports while students are in alternative settings; the district said early stories from the pilot are promising but formal outcome data are not yet available. District leaders said they received a sizable U.S. Department of Education mental health grant that will expand school'based mental health services across five years; the district currently reports school'based mental-health services in about 40 schools and has begun telehealth services this year.
Board members asked about how the district calculates lost days of instruction (staff said the presented counts were raw numbers tied to suspensions and suspension days and that enrollment changes are considered when interpreting trends) and how schools determine the most effective interventions. Staff said principals, counselors, school psychologists and interventionists regularly review discipline and instructional data, and schools receive district coaching and professional learning tied to their local needs. Staff emphasized that intervention roles vary by school but generally include targeted academic and behavioral small groups, progress monitoring and coordination with school teams.
Staff said they are expanding professional learning opportunities, restorative practices training and data reviews with area superintendents and principals, and will continue to scale pilots and share promising practices. Ending: staff said the district will continue to monitor data and bring updates to the committee as pilots and the federal grant-funded expansions proceed.
