Seventy percent of the preschool suspensions in the Charleston County School District (CCSD) after August 2020 involved a Black child, according to four years of the district’s data.
But from the 2021 school year through 2024, 24% of the 714 suspension incidents involved White children and nearly 5% involved Latinx students, according to the data.
It is difficult to clearly report the race and gender of students of the 3- to 5-year old students who were suspended because of how the data is reported. But school officials and an education advocacy group generally agree Black children spend the most time out of the classroom because of behavioral issues.
They do not agree, however, on how to interpret the data or the reasons for a higher suspension rate for Black students. For example, the school district’s analysis included data involving pre-kindergarteners (PK-3 and PK-4), but not kindergarteners. They also don’t agree with how to fix the problem.
Andy Pruitt, CCSD’s director of communications, said educators acknowledge and are “deeply concerned about the disparities in discipline and achievement data between students of color and their White peers. These inequities are unacceptable, and we are committed to taking meaningful, decisive action to address them.”
The school district recently released the suspension data to the Beloved Early Education and Care (BEE) Collective, a Tri-county advocacy group, and its research partner, Impact Stats in Buffalo, N.Y. The groups requested the data under the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
In its analysis of the suspension data, Impact Stats said Black children suspension rates spiked to 80% during the 2023-24 school year. Its analysis included kindergarteners.
The district, however, disagrees with that finding, saying Impact Stats used a non-standard approach in its analysis, which led to inflated disparities. The group’s analysis focused on incidents rather than students, ignoring that a small percentage of students were suspended more than once, Pruitt said.
But Dr. Melodie Baker, Impact Stats’ president and CEO, said the data from the school district “only focused on gender, race and incidents. They did not provide enrollment or the number of 3-5 year old students who were suspended more than once so we couldn’t produce that information if we wanted to.”
Pruitt said the district has a “well-established system for assigning consequences based on specific, well-defined student behaviors, which is laid out in the Progressive Discipline Plan.”
Pruitt said the BEE Collective and Impact Stats offered an inaccurate and distorted portrayal of the district’s disciplinary data which may “mislead the community, hinder collaboration efforts and misrepresent the district’s significant progress toward equitable disciplinary practices.”
The district is continuing a long-standing practice of closely monitoring suspensions, he said. The monitoring is even more important this school term because suspensions spiked to 219 incidents involving 103 students during the 2023-24 school year, according to district data. That data does not provide the students’ race or gender.
Meeting postponed
Early this year, the BEE Collective and Impact Stats released a report, “Facing a Broken System,” that accused the district of unfairly suspending more Black children than White students. The American Heart Association’s Voices for Kids initiative funded the report, which recommended steps that policymakers, educators and parents can take to reduce suspensions.
On Dec. 6, the district served Treva Williams, the BEE Collective’s campaign manager, with a four-page letter asking the group to “cease misrepresenting student data for questionable motives” or face legal action.
The district’s staff attorney, Lindsay Anne Thomas, wrote that the BEE Collective “attributes gaps in suspension rates to systemic, racist funding practices with very limited evidence.”
The BEE Collective and the district were scheduled to meet recently, but the district cancelled the meeting, Williams said.
“Why does the district insist on using suspensions as a tactic to address behavioral problems when it clearly doesn’t work?” Williams asked during an interview. “I hope the district puts in as much energy into addressing their massive disparities as they do claiming we are sharing skewed data.”
Baker said, “As research scientists, we stand by our methodology, which is consistent with practices endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education and other reputable organizations. … Their statement lacks research support and citations, unlike our findings.”
The district’s focus on incidents rather than individual students distorts the analysis, Baker said. “[It] fails to recognize the significance of the findings,” she said. “The concentration of suspensions among a small number of students can reflect systemic biases and highlight the need for targeted interventions.”
Pruitt said suspensions are the last resort and are only used when “all preventative measures and interventions have been exhausted, and a child’s actions pose a serious safety risk.
“We will continue to intentionally focus on providing all students with increased wrap-around services, community support, outreach, and family engagement to curb behaviors that lead to disciplinary measures,” he said. “Recognizing the importance of maximizing classroom time for all children, CCSD has implemented intentional strategies to manage challenging behaviors and reduce reliance on disciplinary measures.”
Help keep the City Paper free.
No paywalls.
No subscription cost.
Free delivery at 800 locations.
Help support independent journalism by donating today.