School Suspension Law Takes Effect July 1st

Several new education laws take effect on July 1st. WNPR’s Diane Orson reports on one law that sets limits on out-of-school suspensions. 

In 2008, the advocacy group CT Voices for Children published a report showing that students in the state were missing thousands of school days due to out-of-school suspension policies. That’s when students are punished for misbehaving by excluding them from the school environment for a certain period of time.

Oftentimes infractions were not violent. Kids were being disrespectful or skipping school. In the 2005 school year, kindergarteners were suspended out of school more than 2,000 days. 

A school suspension law passed in Connecticut in 2007, but was delayed twice because of concerns about cost. And Alexandra Dufresne, co-author of the CT Voices report, says some districts were concerned that they’d have to punish every student in-school..That’s not the case. "The law sets a threshold for out-of-school suspending and says you can no longer out of school suspend unless a child is so disruptive or so dangerous..or if you look at the child’s past behavior that has led to suspensions and the school has tried these other positive means to discipline the child while keeping him in school. If those means didn’t work, then sure you can still out of school suspend." 

Out-of-school suspensions are declining in Connecticut. Dufresne says educators are now turning to mediation, mentoring and teaching kids how to behave in school.