Schools try new ways to impose discipline

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After eleventh-grade student Destin, 17, failed to serve three detentions, he got an in-school suspension.

The junior at New Visions High School for Advanced Math and Science (AMS) on the Kennedy campus had to report to school at 1 p.m. to serve the suspension, but was not allowed to attend his classes earlier that day.

“I was just home, watching TV, helping my mother out,” he said.

AMS senior Daquan, 18, meanwhile, who got an in-school suspension for arguing with a teacher, said he spent the first half of his suspension day sleeping. It took him three days to catch up on his school assignments.

“I missed a whole day of work,” he said. “Being at school the whole day would have been better.”

Missing class is one of many reasons for the City Council and Department of Education’s (DOE) recent push to reduce the number of suspensions issued in New York City’s public schools. 

In February, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito called for school discipline reform in a speech highlighting the council’s 2015 agenda. The City Council push aligns with statements the Department of Education has made about such reform; last fall, it announced it was working with the mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice and the NYPD on a plan to retool the system. 

Following Ms. Mark-Viverito’s speech, Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña on Feb. 13 announced a proposal for a series of what she called “school climate” and discipline reforms. Along with requiring school principals to have authorization from the DOE’s Office of Safety and Youth Development before suspending students, the DOE is pouring $1.2 million into implementing restorative justice programs in schools, along with $432,000 in funding for at-risk student mentoring. 

A leadership team has been established to oversee the changes as they roll out throughout the spring, the DOE said. 

The northwest Bronx’s Community Education Council 10 President Marvin Shelton supported the reform measures.

Suspension, Kennedy Campus, Department of Education, Restorative Justice, Bronx Collaborative, Brett Schneider, Maya Rajamani
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