Washington Proposes Alternatives to Suspensions Bill
Delegate Washington Proposes Alternatives to Suspensions Bill
Prince George’s high school students may be assigned community service as opposed to suspension or expulsion under a proposed pilot program.
“I went to school in Prince George’s County,” said Del. Alonzo Washington (D-Dist. 22) of Hyattsville who proposed the alternate suspension program. “I’ve seen the numbers, I’ve talked to principals, I’ve talked to students, I’ve talked to parents, and we need another solution.”
During the 2013-14 school year, 13,846 students were suspended or expelled from Prince George’s County Public Schools, more than half — 7,463 — for insubordination or disruption, according to information from the Maryland State Department of Education.
Washington’s bill would create a program at three county high schools that would assign community service rather than suspension for nonviolent, nonsexual offenses committed on school property.
“We can’t continue to suspend our kids and keep them out of the classroom,” Washington said. “We need to find a way to keep the learning going.”
Washington said it is difficult for many working families to provide daytime supervision to suspended students, and that lack of supervision, combined with idleness, can lead suspended students to get into more trouble.
“By providing community service, we would be providing more of a learning experience for students,” Washington said.
School board chairman Segun Eubanks said the school board has yet to take an official position on the bill. Eubanks said the board’s Policy, Legislative and Legal Review Committee will consider the bill during its next meeting, which has yet to be scheduled.
“I’m a very strong proponent of alternatives to suspension,” Eubanks said. “We have to keep kids in a learning environment.”
Eubanks said the school system is developing its own programs to provide alternatives to suspension, but added that the real challenge is finding the resources to support the programs.
Kenneth Haines, president of the Prince George’s County Educators’ Association, the county teachers’ union, echoed the need for more help.
“Schools need the resources — both human and logistical — to furnish alternative settings when the effects of misbehavior disrupt the learning environment for both classmates and the teacher,” Haines said in an email.
Washington said students would be expected to find their own transportation to their community service, much as students already do to complete their community service requirements for graduation.
Washington said the community service resulting from an alternative to suspension would not count towards their community service graduation requirement.
Source: The Gazette
Author: Jamie Anfenson-Comeau
Date: January 8, 2015