Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Discipline topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District presents plan to address suspension disproportionality, cites trauma and mobility factors
Summary
District staff presented a state improvement plan targeting incidents leading to out‑of‑school suspension, highlighting trauma‑informed screening (Panorama), MTSS coordination and challenges with small sample sizes for disproportionality analysis. Board members asked for clearer language and data comparability.
District leaders presented the third year of a state improvement plan aimed at reducing incidents that result in out‑of‑school suspension and addressing racial disproportionality.
Presenters said the plan moves the district from reactive metrics (percent suspended) toward reducing the number of incidents that lead to suspension. In the presentation the administration cited a baseline described as the 2022–23 year with “51 incidents” and later discussed more recent counts; in subsequent discussion board members and staff noted small sample sizes (the number 19 was cited in conversation) complicate statistical comparisons and influenced recommended rewording of the memo.
The plan emphasizes early screening and intervention: staff reported universal screening in the first week of school using the Panorama portal with greater than 80% response, placement into MTSS interventions, and hiring of a trauma interventionist who will begin work at the start of the next semester.
Administrators said the district is expanding coordination with sending districts (identified in the meeting as D97 and D90) to improve information sharing about transfer students and better tailor onboarding and interventions. A board member pressed whether the language in the memo understates the district’s ability to analyze policy bias; staff acknowledged the concern and offered to revise phrasing to avoid implying inability to analyze policies.
During Q&A staff described parent outreach strategies (partnership with an African‑American parent support organization referenced in the presentation), multi‑disciplinary team reviews for special education students, and use of relationship‑building and staff observations alongside screening data to identify students in need of supports.
What’s next: The plan will return to the board for approval at a subsequent meeting after administrative edits to clarify data language and to add requested contextual detail. The administration noted the challenge of reducing disproportionality when incident counts are small and said work will continue on trauma‑informed supports, screening, and interdistrict communication.
