Progress For MPS Since Ban On Suspensions For Youngest Students

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) –Minneapolis Public Schools say they're seeing progress with new school discipline standards.

This fall, Superintendent Bernadia Johnson put an end to non-violent suspensions of students in pre-kindergarten through first grade.

Since September, a moratorium on non-violent suspensions for students in Pre-K through first grade has led to a drastic reduction in suspensions district wide.

"We've now reduced suspensions across the system by 50 percent," Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson said.

But Johnson said those numbers still include more suspensions for non-white students.

"Seventy to 75 percent of African-American students are still suspended in that 50 percent that we have suspended," Johnson said.

Johnson is enhancing the district's behavior standards.

"Not only change the behavior of students in our schools, but create positive learning environments where students can excel," Johnson said.

Starting Monday, she plans to reduce non-violent suspension even more.

"I and my staff will start to review all non-violent suspensions for students of color, especially black boys, to we can understand why they are being suspended. So we can help intervene," Johnson said.

Intervention can be in the form of help from mental health professions that are embedded in schools across the district.

Johnson hopes to reduce suspensions by 25 percent by the end of this school year, 50 percent by 2015 75 percent by 2017 and 100 percent by 2018.

"If you're not in school you can't learn, and if you're not learning you cannot address the achievement gap," Johnson said.

Minneapolis Schools have been taking action for several years. For more information on their school discipline goals, visit their website.