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State education leaders will make changes to a set of proposals designed to shift student discipline practices in Maryland toward a more “rehabilitative” approach that would reduce suspensions, keep students in school and teach positive behavior. The Maryland State Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to withdraw proposed regulations and amend them in a way that officials said would not alter the spirit of the reforms but would address some complaints voiced in recent months.

The changes will revive regulatory language that recognizes “an environment of order and discipline necessary for effective learning” and add a preamble that points out the authority of local school boards to create district discipline policies.The board held firm in its emphasis on rehabilitative practices, as well as its revised definitions for out-of-school suspensions and its requirement that schools provide educational services for suspended students.

My daughter has a language impairment and has been on an IEP since last year. She has had a rough year and was just suspended from school for pushing another student into a locker. This is her second suspension this year for fighting. I think she's getting into these fights because she has so much trouble understanding how to use words in tense social situations. Does the school have to provide her any educational services while she is suspended? The Vice Principal told us he's considering expelling my daughter. Can the school system do that?

Suspension rates have more than doubled over the last three decades across all grade levels. At the same time, racial gaps have widened: Black students are three and a half times as likely to be suspended or expelled as their white peers, according to Department of Education data released earlier this spring. The Office for Civil Rights gathered the data from 72,000 schools in 7,000 districts, which educate approximately 85 percent of the country’s students.

Click here to register for this webinar What: This presentation examines how students who are at greater risk for suspension, expulsion and referral to the juvenile justice system because of behaviors associated with their disabilities, are targeted by school push-out policies and practices that systemically exclude these most vulnerable students from school and deny them their education. Our presenters will describe the array of such policies and practices - retention, academic sanctions, ineffective interventions, including those used for bullying and harassment, abusive use of zero tolerance, criminalization of disability related behavior and referral to law enforcement. Presenters will also identify and discuss concrete strategies for parents and advocates to use to help students protect their rights to remain in school and receive a high quality education. Time is provided for questions from participants. When: 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm MT

What: This presentation examines how students who are at greater risk for suspension, expulsion and referral to the juvenile justice system because of behaviors associated with their disabilities, are targeted by school push-out policies and practices that systemically exclude these most vulnerable students from school and deny them their education. Our presenters will describe the array of such policies and practices - retention, academic sanctions, ineffective interventions, including those used for bullying and harassment, abusive use of zero tolerance, criminalization of disability related behavior and referral to law enforcement. Presenters will also identify and discuss concrete strategies for parents and advocates to use to help students protect their rights to remain in school and receive a high quality education. Time is provided for questions from participants. When: 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm MT

The main body of this report documents gross disparities in the use of out-of-school suspension experienced by students with disabilities and those from historically disadvantaged racial, ethnic, and gender subgroups. The egregious disparities revealed in the pages that follow transform concerns about educational policy that allows frequent disciplinary removal into a profound matter of civil rights and social justice. This implicates the potentially unlawful denial of educational opportunity and resultant disparate impact on students in numerous districts across the country.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED), in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), today released a school discipline guidance package that will assist states, districts and schools in developing practices and strategies to enhance school climate, and ensure those policies and practices comply with federal law. Even though incidents of school violence have decreased overall, too many schools are still struggling to create positive, safe environments. Schools can improve safety by making sure that climates are welcoming and that responses to misbehavior are fair, non-discriminatory and effective. Each year, significant numbers of students miss class due to suspensions and expulsions—even for minor infractions of school rules—and students of color and with disabilities are disproportionately impacted. The guidance package provides resources for creating safe and positive school climates, which are essential for boosting student academic success and closing achievement gaps.

In accordance with the requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA),  the state must report annually to the public on the performance of each local educational agency located in the state on the targets in the State's Performance Plan. Because baseline data and/or performance targets have not been established for all of the performance indicators, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), has informed states that they are only required to report district performance for students with disabilities on indicators 1-5 and 8-12 this year. These performance indicators address the following: Graduation, Dropout, Assessment, Suspension/Expulsion, Least Restrictive Environment (ages 6-21), Parent Involvement, Disproportionality As A Result Of Inappropriate Identification, Child Find Timelines, and Early Childhood Transition (transition from Part C to Part B). The district's performance data is 2008-2009 data that was submitted by the district to the OPI as a part of its child count, exiting, student discipline collections and/or collected during a compliance monitoring record review. Performance data for performance indicator #8, Parent Involvement, is based on parent survey data. The Parent Involvement Survey was distributed to districts that were compliance monitored in school year 2008-2009. Districts were asked to provide a copy of the survey to all parents of IDEA-eligible students receiving special education and related services through an Individualized Education Program (IEP). The District Public Reports can be found on the OPI Web site at:  http://data.opi.mt.gov/SPEDReporting/ .

Working and non-working parents alike are forced to scurry to school in the middle of the day to pick up children for issues that the school could have typically handled internally. These repeated pick-up calls beg the question as to whether the school can legally require parents to come get their special needs children before the school day concludes.