Black and Hispanic students, English language learners, and students with disabilities are suspended at disproportionate rates in Arlington Public Schools, according to a report from the Office of Student Climate and Culture presented to the school board on Thursday.

The new data, which cover the 2021-2022 school year, continue a longstanding trend in school discipline in Arlington and school districts across the country. The numbers come as Arlington is on the cusp of a new effort, through the Office of Student Climate and Culture, to address the problem, including hiring office director Gradis White over the summer.

“There are a number of areas, this being one of them, where the Board for years and years has expressed unhappiness here on the dais, and that doesn’t mean anything changes,” said board member Barbara Kanninen. “Recognizing the data and the problems is a good first step, but the next step that has to happen is you have to devote resources.”

Regardless of age level, Black and Hispanic students bear the brunt of school suspensions in comparison with their white and Asian peers. In public elementary schools in Arlington, Black students are about 10% of the student population, but make up 30% of the suspensions. The gap widens a little in high school and middle school, with Black students in those age ranges making up roughly 10% of the population but accounting for about 35% of suspensions.

The data is also consistent over time for Hispanic students, who are about 30% of the student population, but whose share of suspensions jumps from just over 30% in elementary school to 46% in middle school and 40% in high school. The pattern is similar for English language learners.

For students with disabilities, the disproportionality narrows slightly as students get older. In elementary school, students with disabilities are 14% of the population but received nearly 57% of suspensions — the widest gap of all. By high school, students with disabilities are 16% of the student body and account for 44% of all suspensions.

Meanwhile, the disproportionality for white and Asian students goes the other way: White students in middle school are 43% of the student body, but only serve 10% of all suspensions.

Students can be suspended in Arlington for a wide range of reasons, including threats made against other students or staff, bullying, fighting, insubordination, destruction of property, and possession of a controlled substance.

At last week’s meeting, school board members and county staff offered different interpretations for the outsized impact of suspensions on certain student groups.

“There could be many explanations for disproportionality, and those could include things like an environment that is not welcoming to certain students, or staff who have not had training to engage effectively with certain students,” said board member Mary Kadera.“The slide you shared about students with disabilities is especially striking to me.”

Gradis White, with the Office of Student Climate and Culture, agreed with Kadera’s assessment, based off of the office’s work observing what’s happening on the ground in schools. He believes APS staff need additional cultural competency training and support to ensure they’re giving out suspensions without bias.

White said the school division is working on turning the trend around through preventative measures — helping school staff and administrators make connections with underserved students and their communities, offering professional development courses, and updating the schools’ code of conduct and procedures for administrators. The office is also implementing restorative justice practices in schools, starting this fall, and the office sends out staff to monitor what’s happening at 20 school sites per week.

“One thing I would like to highlight is that we are planning to ensure that all students can identify one point of contact in school that supports them and encourages their academic growth,” White said.

White used his own experience as a Black student with Puerto Rican heritage and a hearing impairment as an example.

“For years, I couldn’t understand what people were saying,” he said. “So I was labeled as bad, I was labeled as stupid, I was labeled as special needs. I was none of these things, [but] no one took the time to sit down with me and do a deep dive into why my behavior was the way it was.”

White said his office is examining what interventions happen — and if they happen at all — after a student has been suspended.

“I’ll give you an example. Reviewing the data from the previous year, one student was suspended eight times in two months,” he said. “That’s unheard of.”

“What happens between the first and the eighth suspension?” White went on. “What parent conferences are taking place? Who’s being called? Who’s doing the deep dive into building relationships with these students? This is what we have to address.”

White’s presentation to the school board came with a funding request for the next fiscal year, FY24. His office is asking for $50,000 for coaching for school-based restorative justice teams, plus $300,000 total to hire two more student climate and culture staff and one trauma-informed care specialist.

“We can talk about these numbers all day, but we’re not talking about the relationship-building with our students,” White said.