A high school in Oakland, Calif. is reducing its numbers of suspensions by embracing new attempts to reach out to students:
“In the 2011-12 school year, African-Americans made up 32 percent of Oakland’s students but 63 percent of the students suspended. In middle schools, principals suspended about 1 out of 3 black boys.
“The US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights investigated whether the discipline was discriminatory. Before making a legal finding, OCR collaborated with the district last fall on a five-year voluntary resolution plan to reduce suspensions, expulsions, and the racial disparity.
“‘We have been working really hard to basically move away from a zero-tolerance strategy … [and create a] culture that is about healing from harm and restoring a sense of relationship,’ said Tony Smith, OUSD superintendent, at a press conference announcing the plan. ‘There have been deep and long-term structural reasons … that have excluded and pushed out boys of color, and most often … our African-American boys. The waste of so much human potential is not only unacceptable in Oakland, but across the country.’”
