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Forest Grove equity committee flags disproportionate suspensions, recommends policy revisions
Summary
Dr. West briefed the board on the district equity committee’s year‑one review under SB 732, finding disproportionate suspension rates for Hispanic students, Native Hawaiian students and students receiving special education services and recommending policy changes, restorative practice emphasis, and earlier outreach to expand access to advanced pathways.
Dr. West presented the district equity committee’s year‑one report on June 9, outlining data‑driven findings and policy recommendations under the state requirement established by SB 732 (2021).
The committee’s data review found persistent disproportionality in disciplinary outcomes: Hispanic students, Native Hawaiian students and students receiving special education services were suspended at higher rates than peers; Hispanic students spent more total days out of school due to suspension than any other group. Dr. West told the board the committee’s goal is to eliminate demographic predictability — the ability to predict a student’s outcome by demographic group — and to align policies with student‑centered outcomes.
Key recommendations include revising policy language that relies on subjective or unclear categories (dress code and discipline policies were cited), increasing emphasis on restorative practice and student voice, and earlier, intentional outreach to underrepresented students for pathway programs such as AP and CTE. The committee formed a policy subcommittee that included student members and consulted real‑world student scenarios to evaluate how policies are experienced in practice.
Dr. West said the committee did not simply seek to rewrite policy language but to build systems that keep students engaged in learning and preserve student dignity. She noted the committee will monitor implementation of policy revisions and continue building data systems to identify when and where to intervene earlier in students’ educational trajectories.
Committee work was informed by student members who participated actively in policy review; Dr. West singled out one student (Elizabeth) for contributing a clear youth perspective. Board members asked detailed questions about data collection methods, how to reach families earlier and how to involve counselors and middle‑school interventions to change students’ trajectories into advanced coursework.
Next steps: policy changes recommended by the committee are entering the board’s policy review process and will be shared across the district; the committee plans to monitor implementation and continue expanding data capacity to inform interventions.
