STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The de Blasio administration is reportedly planning to release a new school discipline code this fall, in response to data indicating minority students are more likely to be stopped, and subsequently suspended or arrested. According to a report in the New York Times, the revisions would be part of a larger initiative to examine school safety,...
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The de Blasio administration is reportedly planning to release a new school discipline code this fall, in response to data indicating minority students are more likely to be stopped, and subsequently suspended or arrested.
According to a report in the New York Times, the revisions would be part of a larger initiative to examine school safety, discipline, suspensions and arrests in the city's public schools.
The de Blasio changes would likely mirror a national move away from "zero tolerance" policies regarding student misbehavior, according to the Times report, which cited federal data that found African-American students made up only 15 percent of students nationwide, but represented 44 percent of students suspended, and 36 percent of students expelled in public schools across the country.
The de Blasio revisions are likely also to involve undoing yet another school policy enacted during the administration of former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Under Bloomberg, schools increased the presence of police and uniformed school safety officers; added both permanent and mobile metal detection units to many of the high schools, and had students "wanded" by security before they could enter the building for classes. The move brought outrage from parent groups and civil liberty advocates.
The Department of Education, under Bloomberg, also adopted a "zero tolerance" policy for offenses, incorporated into the Chancellor's Regulations, which set the protocol for principals to follow.
While the de Blasio administration has not released specific changes it plans to make to the discipline policy, according to the Times, the new policy is likely to rely more heavily on such practices as conflict resolution and peer mediation programs.
In fact, suspension rates in the city's public schools have declined steadily since the DOE last revised its discipline code three years ago. That revision took all but the most serious offenses off the table.
"We want these reforms to create a safe and supportive learning environment in every school," DOE spokeswoman Devora Kaye told the Times.
It's not the first Bloomberg safety policy being eyed for undoing by the de Blasio administration.
Last week the mayor announced plans to end the cell phone ban in public schools.
The cell phone ban became an issue with parents during the later years of the Bloomberg administration, when school safety officers started using portable metal detectors for random scanning of students. The metal detectors were supposed to detect weapons, but hundreds of cell phones were also detected and confiscated.
Should the school discipline code be revised? If so, what revisions would you suggest the mayor make? Tell us what you think in the comment section below.