Alton L. Frailey
Guest columnist

For Cincinnati Public Schools to become a district of high-performing students, children need to be in school. Last year, however, our district had more than 13,000 cases of suspensions and expulsions, among the highest rates in the state. This is unacceptable. Especially troubling is the fact that eight of the expulsions involved kindergartners.

As a district, we will not tolerate inappropriate student behavior. At the same time, removing children from school often only makes matters worse. Research indicates that suspensions and expulsions tend to increase the likelihood that students will drop out of school. We need better responses.

Students who display antisocial behaviors often require additional support and assistance. We believe that major responsibilities for us as educators is to provide caring and supportive physical, academic, social and emotional environments for our students.

Research shows that the traditional "punitive" approach to discipline - focusing on specific children with problem behaviors by removing them from the classroom - compounds the problems. Children lose valuable instruction time, putting them further behind academically and compounding frustration that can lead to more misbehavior. Meanwhile, the root causes of inappropriate behavior usually remain undetected and unaddressed.

Reactive, punitive discipline - especially suspensions and expulsions - is particularly troubling when applied to kindergartners and other primary-school-age students. Very young children often act up in school because they have not learned appropriate behaviors elsewhere. Rather than suspending or expelling our youngest students, our focus must be on providing developmentally appropriate strategies that teach and support expected behavior in our learning environments.

Instead of punishing children labeled as "bad kids," successful strategies require a comprehensive, proactive approach, providing appropriate interventions for students and professional development for school staff.

After a series of meetings with a districtwide committee including parents, teachers, administrators and community members, our district this month took the first steps away from the solely punitive approach by launching the Alternative Education Program for our high school students. The program permits ninth- through 12th-graders who otherwise would be expelled to continue learning at special sites while underlying behavior issues are addressed.

At the same time, collaborative work continues on a more comprehensive initiative to systematically address the academic and behavioral needs of all our students, including our youngest children. We expect to complete this plan in coming months and implement it next school year.

The stakes for our children and our community are high. We must keep our students in school, engaged in learning, and on the path to becoming positive, contributing members of our society.

Alton L. Frailey is superintendent of Cincinnati Public Schools.