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Dallas ISD Student Discipline Problem Still Needs Work

March 18, 2015 / 6:20 PM CDT / CBS Texas

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DALLAS (CBS 11 NEWS) - New numbers suggest the Dallas Independent School District still has work to do in addressing its discipline gap.

Last month, a survey out of UCLA found that African American students in DISD were twice as likely to be suspended. District officials correctly noted that the study looked at numbers three years old -- so we asked for an update.

Now, the district's own numbers show that suspensions overall are on the rise.

During the 2011-2012 school year, 19,777 students faced out of school suspension. That figure jumped to 26,028 during the 2012-2013 year, and last school year fell slightly to 25,124.

"We can always do better," said C.A. Williams, PhD, DISD's Director, Office of Student Discipline and Truancy. "We are dealing with situations where our children are coming to us with greater problems than we've seen in the past."

Dr. Williams points to what she calls a 'disconnect' between students, and between students and teachers who often struggle to relate to the challenges of students' lives.

"They (students) do not have those coping skills," he said, adding, "which is why it's critically important that we meet our children where they are. We have to know them. We have to take the time to get to know them. We have to take the time to build that relationship so we can understand where they're coming from."

Among DISD's bumper crop of rule breakers, the ones at the district's Village Fair Alternative School, one might argue, are the lucky ones. Students at the walk-the-line alternative school— (literally: students walk on black lines painted in the hallways with their hands folded behind their backs ) still receive instruction, and so much more.

"I've learned that discipline actually makes a student better," says Gilberto Ramirez, a junior at Thomas Jefferson High School. "And I actually like the school because it's more organized."

Students serving suspensions of just a few days, do so at home. And that is lost instruction time that is never regained. And that fact is not lost on district leaders.

"Our job is to make sure we can do everything we can—new things, new innovative things-- looking at alternatives, as opposed to always looking at the punitive side," says Dr. Williams, " looking deeper. What is the situation? What's really going on behind the behavior?"

It's an approach that's already showing results at TW Browne Middle School in Dallas. According to school officials, suspensions there have dropped 24-percent since last year. Still, the increase in suspensions district wide remains a concern.

In many ways, educators say, when society coughs, the schools catch a cold. "If there's 400 here, 300 are here for drugs," says Gail-David Dupree, Principal of DISD's Village Fair Alternative School.

Dupree is tasking with convincing students to do whatever it takes to stay out of trouble. "To learn discipline and make a better decision next time," says Lincoln freshman Derrick Wallace, "it helps you think, basically."

But, when Ramirez was asked how likely he would be to continue towing the line when he returned to his home school—and trouble courting crowd of friends—he was honest.

"Gonna be pretty hard," he admits, "everybody I hang with? Same thing—I'm not going to promise you, but I'll try my best."