Student discipline data offers early insight into new code of conduct rollout in DeKalb schools

DeKALB – The impact of having a new code of conduct in place for the start of the 2022-23 school year may have prompted students in DeKalb schools to see fewer out-of-school suspensions but more in-school suspensions, data shows.

The school board at a recent meeting took a close look at data to help gauge the district’s progress related to student discipline.

In comparing the months of August through the first week of December for the 2018-19 and 2021-22 school years, data shows that DeKalb schools likely have made some gains this school year by reducing out-of-school suspensions. The 2020 calendar year was largely remote due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kyle Gerdes, the district’s director of student services, pointed to what he called the administration’s collaboration and training as keys to the changes in suspension numbers for the district. He said it’s important to district leaders that students remain in school.

At DeKalb High School and the two middle schools, there is Crows Landing, which is the staffed in-school suspension room that students can access.

At the district’s elementary schools, however there is no in-school suspension location.

“It’s not set up in the same way,” Gerdes said. “They get creative when they have to. Sometimes that looks like maybe the administrator’s office or another area of the school where a student can be supervised but also not sent home and excluded in that way.”

Across the district in the the 2018-19 school year, there were 183 out-of-school suspensions cited, data obtained by the Daily Chronicle shows. The following full school year – which ended remotely as the pandemic hit in March 2020 – the district logged 173 suspensions out of school.

In the 2022-23 school year, there were 123 out-of-school suspensions cited.

That same data, however, indicates that in-school suspensions have increased in the time that out of school suspensions have lowered.

In the 2018-19 school year, there were 152 students in full day in-school suspensions. The following full school year, this figure amounted to 123, data shows.

In the 2022-23 school year so far, there have been 233 students in full day in-school suspensions.

During a recent school board discussion, board member Jeromy Olson questioned the assessment that the district’s schools are faring better with student discipline in reviewing the data.

“To me, I could easily say well looking at this data, all you did was shift your out-of-schools to in-schools,” Olson said. “Now, you have kids that probably should be out of school that are in school and going back to the classroom and being disruptive just 10 minutes after they were kicked out of the classroom. … This data doesn’t necessarily support that our new code of conduct has improved anything from my perspective. The only way I would know that is if total incidents were down or suspensions in total were down, but I don’t see either one of those things.”

Gerdes replied, saying Olson didn’t make what he called a fair assessment. Gerdes said the district’s new code of conduct was developed between 2021 and 2022, and is in its first year of implementation.

“Preliminary data that was presented in December was intended to provide an initial look at how the use of exclusionary discipline during the current year compared to previous school years at a time when the district did not have its current Code of Conduct,” Gerdes said. “One of the goals is to reduce the use of exclusionary discipline for all students and ensure equitable practices when assigning disciplinary consequences. We’re encouraged by early indicators that we are seeing a reduction in the use of out-of-school suspensions and look forward to continuing to assess and share more specific data that will guide and inform our efforts.”

The district’s updated code of conduct

The 21-page-document highlights the responsibilities, practices and expectations of students, parents, teachers and school administrators.

The student code of conduct also addresses the behavioral and social-emotional supports, behavioral interventions and disciplinary components. The document provides a matrix outlining different types of behaviors and varying levels of consequences.

Students’ behavior can be monitored anywhere on or within sight of school grounds, off school grounds at district-sponsored events, traveling to or from school or events, and anywhere where someone conduct might interfere with school environment and operations, the code states.

During an in-school suspension, a student is removed from the classroom but can complete coursework under supervision and can receive special education when applicable, documents show.

Out-of-school suspension means excluding students from the school for one to 10 days. That determination is made on a case-by-case basis.

According to the code, all students have the right to “access appropriate supports and services to succeed in school, including when experiencing behavioral incidents in the classroom or school environment or when being the target of peer misconduct,” the document states.

Students also have the right to “due process related to exclusionary discipline” which refers to out-of-school suspension, the code reads. The document state that students also have the responsibility to “contribute to a safe learning environment by managing their own behavior and reporting harmful or dangerous situations to an adult.”

By comparison, the code shows teachers and staff have the responsibility to “intervene promptly when inappropriate behavior occurs” which the code lists as “re-teaching behavioral expectations,” and following specialized district individualized education plans.

Teachers must also follow district procedures for student removals from the learning environment, the code states.

Administrators are responsible for monitoring district behavior data and addressing disparities, supporting staff in implementing behavior interventions, and following procedures for student removals, including notifying a parent or guardian if their child is suspended out of school.

The district employs what they call “multi-tiered systems of support” for its discipline protocols, which include problem-solving in a holistic way, according to the code. That can include addressing behavioral and social or emotional needs to ensure each student has full access to their education.

The district also has adopted the use of restorative practices in schools, meaning educators and parents work together to provide a child with solutions to issues that don’t include prioritizing a “punitive mindset” the code states.

Restorative practices aren’t a replacement for consequences or to remove accountability, according to the code.

Consequences range in five levels, from a teacher intervention, a day of in-school suspension, up to three days of in-school suspension, between one to three days of out-of-school suspension, and an extended out-of-school suspension of four or more days.

Consequences are also handed down for possession of explosives or weapons, bullying, academic dishonest, and alcohols, drugs or tobacco use among others.

Demographic breakdown

Between August through the first week of December for the current school year compared to 2018-19 and 2021-2022, data shows a reduction in the number of Black or African Americans suspended.

The data subgroup shows suspensions for that demographic remain higher than other subgroups, however. District administration said that reduction remains a goal.

“We do see that trend heading in the right direction at least early on,” Gerdes said. “That [reduction] trend could also be seen in most of our other subgroups but particularly most illustrated here would be our white subgroup.”

In the 2018-19 school year, there were 12 suspensions of American Indian or Alaskan Native students, zero for Asian students, 157 for Black or African American students, 15 for multi-racial students and 110 for white students, data shows. In the 2021-2022 school year, there were 14 suspensions of American Indian or Alaskan Native students, zero for Asian students, 159 for Black or African American students, 15 for multi-racial students and 48 for white students.

In the 2022-23 school year so far, 3 American Indian or Alaskan Native students have been suspended, two Asian students, 129 Black or African American students, 10 multi-racial students and 29 white students suspended.

Gerdes acknowledged that the district will need to take a deeper dive into this data in the future.

In a report to the administration, he said that if school officials intend to draw any definitive conclusions, it is important to pull from a larger sample.

“We are a district that is in the highest 20% of districts in the state of Illinois when it comes to exclusionary discipline,” Gerdes said. “That’s not a new designation for us. We get the opportunity to kind of formalize a plan and it’s something we’ve been working on for a number of years, including the implementation of our code of conduct. [We get to] highlight on restorative practices being something that’s used at the administrative level but even on down to all staff.”