Wednesday, September 08, 1999
Discipline cases down, city schools say
Suspensions decrease, but expulsions up
BY DANA DiFILIPPO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Disciplinary actions decreased 14 percent in Cincinnati Public Schools last year, according to a district report released Tuesday.
Suspensions fell 16 percent, from 10,874 in 1997-98 to 9,152 last year, according to the district's research and evaluation office. That's down from a peak of nearly 21,000 suspensions in 1991-92.
Expulsions rose 2 percent, from 1,251 in 1997-98 to 1,274 last year. That's down from a high of 1,910 in 1995-96.
The net decrease largely was due to the continuing conversion of the district's middle schools and elementaries into kindergarten-through-eighth-grade programs, administrators say. Nearly 30 of the district's 77 schools are K-8.
Structuring a school as K-8 eliminates the disruption of switching schools and encourages seventh- and eighth-graders — as the school's oldest students — to behave better and act as role models, school board member Sally Warner said.
Teaching a class or two of seventh- and eighth-graders in an elementary — instead of packing hundreds of adolescents into a middle school — also creates a more family-like atmosphere, she added.
“Adolescence is a time when many kids act out. There's a bulge around (grades) 7, 8 and 9 where our suspensions, expulsions and dropouts really rise,” Ms. Warner said. “The K-8 environment is more developmentally appropriate for that age.”
High schools continue to yield the most disciplinary problems, with nearly 4,600 suspensions and expulsions last year.
African-American males were disciplined more often than their peers. More than 85 percent of disciplinary actions were against black students, and about 68 percent against boys. The district is about 70 percent African-American. Gender figures were unavailable.
Most suspensions lasted four to five days, while most expulsions were 31 to 48 days. The most common offenses were unruly or disorderly conduct, fighting and profanity.
Among suspensions and expulsions:
• Sixty percent were given for offenses such as smoking, trespassing, unruly conduct, improper driving, gambling or sexual conduct.
• Thirty-five percent were for breaking and entering, violent disorderly conduct, fighting, forgery, fraud, false identification, obscenity, sexual harassment, theft or vandalism.
• Five percent were for physical or sexual assault, explosives/weapons, robbery, false fire/bomb report, drugs or destruction of property.
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