Why are black students in some York County schools being suspended at higher rates?

One school in the county has taken specific steps to fight against this nationwide tendency.

Rick Lee
York Daily Record
School news

"That's quite enough, young man. Come with me. We're going to the principal's office."

Since the beginning of schools and the opening of the first principal's office, untold millions of American school children have heard that phrase.

In a disproportionate number of cases, that person being escorted to the office is African-American.

Nationwide, minority public school students receive out-of-school suspensions at substantially higher rates than their white classmates. It is no different in some -- but not all -- York County school districts.

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York City makes an adjustment

In each of York County's 16 public school districts, black students are in the minority of total student body. In the York City School District, Hispanic students make up the majority of the district's population.

The city school district recognizes the disparity in discipline and in recent years has begun a concerted effort to address the concern.

Beginning this school year, the city district implemented a new policy that "has deliberately pivoted from the traditional punitive approach to student discipline," district Superintendent Eric Holmes said recently.

"African-American male students, in particular, have received out-of-school suspension consequences at disproportionately higher rates than other students," Holmes acknowledged. 

"We are working to eliminate this disparity while drastically reducing the overall number of suspensions.

"We are moving away from the ‘go to the principal’s office’ approach to discipline ..."

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Why does this happen?

There are decades of white papers, theses, civil rights investigations and government-directed studies all attempting to discern why or what is behind the disparity. 

Not all agree.

According to a 2014 study of Austin public schools by KUT, an NPR/University of Texas public radio station, the likely causes behind the uneven application of school suspensions are culture, communication and curriculum.

Although much of the data that can be found online is dated, the Pennsylvania Department of Education provides disciplinary information for as recently as the  2016-17 school year.

A look at outliers in York County

The charts below compare student populations with rates of suspensions based solely on student conduct, a subjective category that includes perceptions of defiance. Categories not covered in these charts but reported by the education department include drugs and alcohol, tobacco, violence and weapons.

Notably, the York County School of Technology is the only school that reported no suspensions for conduct. It did, as did all other districts, report suspensions for drugs and alcohol, tobacco, violence and weapons.

Not all school districts in the county are charted below. In the rest of the 16 York County school districts, the disparity in suspensions is either not as glaring or the percentage of suspensions is comparable to the racial breakdown of the student bodies.