New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
‘Suspending them to the street’
Data: Black boys still punished disproportionately
NEW HAVEN — Although black boys make up 18.6 percent of students in New Haven’s public schools, 41 percent of suspensions within the last five years have been imposed on black boys.
Board of Education staff recently presented statistics about the ongoing “exclusion of black boys” in the city and in the nation at a school board meeting, following up on board members’ request for more information after a presentation in November.
“This is a national issue; it’s not unique to New Haven, but it’s still jaw-dropped when you see those numbers,” said Gemma Joseph Lumpkin, chief of youth, family and community engagement.
According to district data, in the year’s first marking period, black boys received 42.3 percent of suspensions. Latino boys, who comprise 23.6 percent of the district’s enrollment and are the second-largest group represented in suspensions, received 20.1 percent of all suspensions issued in the first marking period.
Greater New Haven NAACP President Dori Dumas said her chapter is aware of the school-to-prison pipeline and it’s “something we have brought to the forefront and discussed.”
“No way at 19 percent (enrollment) should there be 41 percent (suspensions),” she said. “We have to address that. We have to have dialogue.”
Dumas said the local NAACP education committee has been charged with finding ways to change the disproprotionate punishment of black boys.
“We’re already in talks,” she said.
In absolute numbers, the number of suspensions has declined in the city’s schools. Staff reported that there were 768 suspensions dealt to black boys in 201415 and 547 in 2017-18.
On average for the last five years, 29 percent of suspensions given to black boys were for fighting, 20 percent were termed as physical altercations, 12 percent for “disorderly conduct,” 9 percent were for battery or assault and 6 percent were for threats or intimidation.
“Barriers to success include unmet social-emotional needs, low expectations, unconscious biases, disengagement, school climate and multigenerational poverty,” said Kermit Carolina, a supervisor within the youth, family and community engagement department. “Our goals as a district are to disrupt traditional exclusionary practices, increase attendance and find and implement research-based approaches to discipline without compromising learning or safety and supporting the whole child.”
Staff also presented state observations that, in Connecticut, black and Hispanic boys are two to three times more likely to be suspended or expelled than white counterparts. Although black boys have the highest rates of suspensions and expulsions, black girls are disciplined at a rate five times higher than white girls in Connecticut.
“We know our schools are a microcosm of society,” said Director of Student Services Typhanie Jackson, so many students arrive at school with various anxieties and stresses rooted in race and poverty.
According to state data, in-school suspensions fell by more than 10,000 from 2013-14 to 2017-18, from 63,568 to 49,667. There were nearly 10,000 fewer out-of-school suspensions in the state during the same time period — from 40,648 outof-school suspensions in 2013-14 to 31,834 in 2017-18.
Although a state law was passed to prevent out-of-school suspensions of students in grade two or lower, officials say those suspensions are still happening.
Board Secretary Tamiko Jackson-McArthur, who is a pediatrician, said she is aware of cases of young children being suspended from school, although she would not divulge more information, citing privacy laws.
In 2017, after the law had passed, 1,672 students in second grades or below had been suspended, according to a state report.
Mayor Toni Harp spoke against out-of-school suspensions, saying that they amplify existing problems for already vulnerable students. Very few New Haven households with children have an adult who does not work, she said, meaning students who are suspended from school are often not being supervised.
“When you are suspending kids, you are suspending them to the street, and I
“No way at 19 percent (enrollment) should there be 41 percent (suspensions). We have to address that. We have to have dialogue.” Greater New Haven NAACP President Dori Dumas
think it’s really important that you know that the street doesn’t help them; it doesn’t make things better,” she said.
Jackson said that the best solution to reducing suspensions is by resourcing agencies that work with students to engage with their social-emotional needs. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights was offering guidance under President Barack Obama, she said, but the current administration has pulled back on offering guidance and resources to students exhibiting risk factors.
Some parents said they knew about the schoolto-prison pipeline, and the time to talk about it is overdue.
“I’m not surprised; I’m angry, but I’m glad it’s becoming a topic, and I hope that the presentation gets people stirred up enough to want to do something about it,” said Citywide Parent Team President Nijija-Ife Waters.
Waters, who frequently addresses the school board during meetings to accuse them of ignoring their policies around special education and allergies, said she sees many black boys left behind because of implicit bias in determining things like ADD or ADHD in young black boys.
“A lot of those students are lacking appropriate accommodation,” she said. “When you start looking a bit deeper, many are denied services or have not properly received services. They might not be able to read and they’re struggling, and now they become frustrated. They look around and see their peers excelling, and when you’re not getting services, you start to lash out.”