Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Student Behavior topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
PXU presents 2024–25 student behavior report: referrals down overall but disproportionality persists
Summary
District staff told the board that about 89% of students had no office behavior referral in 2024–25, with roughly 11% (~3,200 of nearly 30,000) having referrals; leadership emphasized multi‑tiered supports, restorative practices, an 8,615‑count request‑for‑intervention system, and ongoing work to reduce disproportionality for Hispanic and Black male students.
Phoenix Union High School District staff presented the district’s 2024–25 student behavior and intervention data at the Sept. 4 meeting, saying the majority of students had no office referrals but noting persistent disproportionality for some groups.
Director of Student Behavior and Intervention Ms. Tarkington told the governing board that district‑wide systems — professional development on restorative practices, PBIS, multi‑tiered supports and student support teams — are yielding progress while also showing areas that need targeted work.
‘Eighty‑nine percent of those students who walk through our doors never have a behavior referral,’ Tarkington said. ‘That means about 11 percent, roughly 3,200 students, had an office behavior referral last year out of nearly 30,000 students.’
Tarkington reviewed prevention and intervention work outside the formal code of conduct, including a staff‑initiated and a student‑initiated Request For Intervention (RFI) system. She said the district recorded 8,615 RFI requests last year, which route to campus specialists and aim to address needs before misconduct escalates.
The presentation disaggregated in‑school suspension (ISS) and out‑of‑school suspension data by demographics. Tarkington highlighted that Hispanic males, Black males and Black females are overrepresented among referrals and suspensions compared with their shares of enrollment. She cited steps taken by the district’s code‑of‑conduct committee — including removal of a subjective violation (‘loud talk’) — and noted targeted restorative practice training and threat‑assessment protocols for Tier‑3 cases.
Substance use remained a common major violation category, the presentation said, though Tarkington reported that marijuana‑related incidents are trending down. The district has added licensed social workers and a regional intensive interventionist to support substance‑use interventions and prevention (Tarkington named Heather Miller and Jen Garland as licensed social workers among staff additions).
Board members asked whether trauma‑informed care is mandatory district training and how the district links substance interventions with mental‑health supports. Tarkington and Achievement staff said trauma topics are included in training tracks but many modules remain optional; staff agreed to follow up about mandating modules and to provide more detail about referral pathways for services offered under third‑party MOUs.
Superintendent Andrade said the district will bring interim goals and a progress‑monitoring calendar in October and encouraged board members to use the community listening materials to collect feedback.
