Suspensions are down by 71 percent in Duval County’s public schools in just one year, according to figures comparing the first nine weeks of the previous school year with the current school year.
In the first 44 days of school, suspensions fell from 8,541 last year to 2,500 this year. Discipline referrals — when a student is written up by a teacher for bad behavior — are down by more than 30 percent year to year, from 27,857 to 19,083. Referrals can often lead to a student’s suspension.
The percentage drops for suspended students were virtually the same among all races. The majority of the suspended students, 72 percent, are black.
Dana Kriznar, the school system’s executive director of alternative education programs and behavioral support, said the progress is attributed to better discipline data monitoring, teacher training, fewer referrals from teachers and improved attendance at the Jacksonville Journey’s Alternative to Out-of-School Suspension centers.
Students who attend the suspension centers are not recorded as suspended because they are still in an academic environment. About 1,300 students were referred to the suspension centers in the first quarter.
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