SCHOOL SUSPENSIONS RISE STEEPLY WITH 'ZERO-TOLERANCE' POLICIES

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Get-tough policies adopted after the 1999 Columbine school
massacre in Colorado have led to increasing numbers of North Carolina
students are being suspended or expelled.

In 2001-02, the most recent year for which statewide data are available,
school systems reported increases in suspensions of 20 percent or more from
the year before. The number of students who were expelled and refused
readmission because of the most serious offenses rose 50 percent.

The figures on suspension rates are fueling a debate about school safety
and the need to help individual students who break the rules, disrupt
classes or commit violence.

"The numbers create concern," said Joanne McDaniel, director of the North
Carolina Center for the Prevention of School Violence. "When you start
suspending kids, they miss instruction and can increase risk behaviors."

Statewide in 2001-02, schools suspended 133,879 students at least one time
during the year for up to 10 days -- a 17 percent increase from the year
before. The number of long-term suspensions -- more than 10 days and often
for the rest of the year -- jumped 25 percent from the previous year, to
3,318 students.

The biggest increases were reported among students in middle school and the
first two years of high school. Black male students are disproportionately
represented among all suspended students.

Rules governing suspensions are made at the school-district level by
administrators and school boards. In most districts, aggressive behavior is
the most frequent reason given for suspensions of any length, according to
the state's analysis.

Among students given long suspensions, frequent reasons include possessing
drugs or alcohol and breaking rules.

Along with the tougher policies have come more aggressive enforcement and
closer vigilance, often from law enforcement officers now stationed in many
high schools and middle schools.

"There's a great deal of attention being paid to this," said Richard
Murphy, principal of Leesville Road High School in North Raleigh and a
veteran Wake school administrator. He said he's not surprised by increasing
suspension rates, given the current expectations of high schools and the
public demands to keep schools safe.

"Over the years," Murphy said, "there's been a change from 'every child
needs to be saved' to 'zero tolerance,' especially after Columbine."

All but one of the state's 117 school systems now provide some kind of
alternative schooling, yet not always for suspended students. The quality
of those programs is uneven. Some education leaders argue that more
attention is needed from experts in juvenile justice and mental health to
better serve students' needs.

A bill introduced in the General Assembly this year would have required the
State Board of Education and other agencies involved with youth issues to
study ways of expanding alternative schooling for suspended students. The
bill wasn't approved, but a group led by the Department of Public
Instruction will make recommendations on the issue to the state board next
month.
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