Education

Durham Public Schools rethinks student discipline, prioritizing restorative practices

Durham Public Schools is reviewing its discipline policies, focusing on a restorative practice center instead of traditional in-school suspension.

Posted 2024-05-07T21:12:07+00:00 - Updated 2024-05-07T21:38:51+00:00

Durham school board reviewing discipline data, procedures

Monica Casey

, WRAL Durham reporter

Durham Public Schools leaders are set to take a closer look at the discipline of students when board members review policies on Thursday.

The district uses a restorative practice center, with a focus on repairing harm over punishment, rather than a traditional in-school suspension. Also, the district said it wants to make sure rebuilding is part of the process when it comes to accountability.

“Our main goal is the well-being, safety and security of every student, each and every child that comes into a Durham Public School,” said Dr. Laverne Mattocks Perry, the district’s senior executive director for student support services.

"Reflection is one of the main components of the restorative practice center that makes it different from the in-school suspension," she said.

Data provided by the district shows the percentage of students facing an in-school suspension or restorative practice center have decreased from the 2018-19 levels (percentage of total students):

2018-19

Elementary: 2.96%
Secondary: 17.15%

2019-20

Elementary: 2.59%
Secondary: 13.13

2020-21*

Elementary: 0.07%
Secondary: 0.08%

2021-22

Elementary: 1.5%
Secondary: 10.19%

2022-23

Elementary: 2.79%
Secondary: 11.22%

Asterisk* indicates the period during the COVID-19 pandemic when students shifted to remote learning.

Here’s a look at the percentage of students who have faced short-term suspensions:

2018-19

Elementary: 3.00%
Secondary: 9.95%

2019-20

Elementary: 2.35%
Secondary: 7.83%

2020-21*

Elementary: 0.07%
Secondary: 0.05%

2021-22

Elementary: 2.12%
Secondary: 9.53%

2022-23

Elementary: 3.09%
Secondary: 11.74%

The number of secondary students who are given long-term suspensions has increased since 2018-19:

2018-19: 0.2%
2019-20: 0.2%
2020-21*: 0%
2021-22: 0.4%
2022-23: 0.5%

Mattocks-Perry said student behavior has changed since the pandemic.

"We were told that people were going to have different reactions, behaviors and mindsets coming out of all of that isolation, and we are seeing that, and that impacts how effective we now have to be with our classroom management,” Mattocks-Perry said.

The Durham Board of Education meets at 5:30 p.m. Thursday for its work session.