The Every Student Matters Campaign (ESM) unveiled its updated Long Beach Unified School District – School Climate Profile, which is a comprehensive look at the facts and figures related to school climate and school discipline for the 2012-13 school year. There were 11,752 suspensions in 2012-13, and48% (5,618 incidents) of those were for “willful defiance”—a subjective, minor misbehavior such as talking back or not following directions. We also see that African American and Special Education students are more likely to be suspended than their peers. Click here to review the full profile, and click here for the summary.
ESM youth continue to advocate for alternatives to suspensions, expulsions, transfers, and other classroom removals through the use of positive approaches such as Restorative Justice, School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, and more support staff such as counselors and school psychologists to help foster positive and healthy school communities.
