Panel seeks discipline alternatives in schools

Hopes to stem expulsion rate for students of color

A School to Prison Pipeline Committee is being formed to help change the city’s disciplinary record — especially when it comes to punishment for black and brown male students.

The initiative, led by Amalio Nieves, assistant superintendent for social and emotional learning and wellness, is in addition to a plan to launch a safe and welcoming school department next year.

The goal is to work toward building a safe environment, reducing the number and rate of suspensions and expulsions, and increasing educational opportunities to engage kids.

Nieves said the schools are shifting from “punitive” measures to a more positive approach that supports kids’ social and emotional needs.

“What can we do on the front end? Are we providing them with tools so they can be successful in school?” said Nieves. “We have to look at the academic piece, making sure we’re engaging students and providing greater educational opportunities. We also have to attend to their needs to make sure they feel safe in the school environment.”

The initiative comes after a 2014 state law that replaces zero-tolerance policies and emphasizes keeping kids in school and due process for students.

For 30 years, the discipline gap between students of color and white students has been increasing, school officials said. Suspended or expelled students are more likely to be held back, drop out or be incarcerated, they added.

In Boston, 5 percent of all students were suspended in the 2014-15 school year, while 10 percent of black males, 6 percent of Latino males and 9 percent of students with special needs were suspended, statistics show.

Recently, Brighton’s Mary Lyon Pilot High School, along with four city charters (City on a Hill in Dudley, Roxbury Preparatory Charter School and two UP Academy Charter Schools in Dorchester) were cited for excessive use of long-term suspensions and a discipline bias against minority and special needs students.

“I think that just about everything is needed to address the problems of black and brown youth and the pathway that is created for them toward prison,” said Kevin Peterson, director of the New Democracy Coalition. “I applaud the school department in their willingness to look at this systemic problem of incarceration of black and brown men by addressing it at the root cause when they are young.”