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Wicomico County Public Schools presents discipline data showing more referrals but fewer suspensions
Summary
District staff reported a 3.2% increase in discipline referrals this year versus last, driven by a 73.8% rise at the elementary level, while total suspensions decreased 25.1% and elementary suspension days fell sharply. Administration said improved documentation and expanded interventions explain the pattern.
District administrators presented the board with a first-of-year discipline update that, administrators said, shows more referrals but fewer suspensions overall.
Mrs. Miles told the board total referrals rose from 2,779 to 2,867 (a 3.2% increase). She highlighted a 73.8% increase in elementary referrals and a 12.7% increase in middle-school referrals, while high-school referrals fell about 20.5%. At the same time, she reported a 25.1% decrease in total suspensions, including a 58.6% reduction in elementary suspensions by day count.
"Those numbers look random until you know the story behind them," Mrs. Miles said, adding that the district has strengthened documentation and referral processes so that teachers are routing more incidents to administrators for appropriate action. She described expanded tiered interventions including APR at elementary and secondary, ELT and PATH programs, and the "High Road" program as structured alternatives to exclusionary discipline.
Board members pressed for more disaggregated data (enrollment by program and grade-level breakdowns) and asked for monthly reports and enrollment columns to contextualize referral rates. Mrs. Miles agreed to provide additional disaggregation and noted the monthly discipline reports will continue.
Why it matters: The district framed the rise in referrals as evidence of better documentation and earlier administrative involvement while emphasizing a decrease in more severe outcomes (suspensions). Board members asked staff to continue sharing grade-level and program enrollment data to aid interpretation.
Next steps: staff will provide further breakdowns, including enrollment columns for programs used in the data and continue monthly discipline reporting to the board.
