Community Corner
Reports: Maryland Board of Ed Votes to Curb Suspensions
"Zero-tolerance" discipline policies will no longer be allowed, according to a report from WAMU.
School systems in Maryland will no longer be allowed to enforce "zero-tolerance" discipline policies with automatic consequences, Maryland's Board of Education voted Tuesday, according to WAMU 88.5, Washington's NPR affiliate.
The measure is intended to reduce suspensions, a topic that has been recently debated regionally.
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Among elementary school students, Montgomery County Public Schools used the discipline method less often than at least six other school districts in the state, according to a .
That same report showed that more than 6,000 elementary school students were suspended in the Washington metropolitan area during the previous school year, including pre-kindergarteners and kindergarteners.
Find out what's happening in Bethesda-Chevy Chasewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
MCPS developed a system to monitor suspension rates among some groups of students, namely African-American, Hispanic and students receiving special education services, which has been disproprotionate within the district.
Individual districts that have disproportionate rates of suspension must create a tracking system to address disparities, according to WAMU.
This story was updated to eliminate the reference to the Associated Press.
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