CHARLESTON – Disciplinary incidents in West Virginia’s school system overall decreased from the previous school year, but incidents, referrals and suspensions for students who are poor, in foster care and homeless are all up, and disparities for minority students persist.
The state Department of Education submitted its semi-annual report on student discipline to the West Virginia General Assembly in July. The report was presented to the Legislative Oversight Committee on Educational Accountability on Sunday during the Legislature’s August mid-session.
The number of disciplinary incidents in West Virginia public schools decreased 3.8%, from 169,963 in the 2022-2023 school year to 163,473 in the 2023-2024 school year. However, the number of incidents resulting in suspensions during the school year increased slightly by just over 1%, from 66,904 in the 2022-2023 school year to 67,565 last school year.
The Department of Education classifies disciplinary incidents by severity level, with level 1 being a minor incident. The classification system continues up to level 4, which represents violent or criminal behaviour. Of the 169,963 disciplinary incidents last year, only 1.4 per cent – 2,337 – reached level 4.
But despite the overall decline, the number of disciplinary incidents involving students of lower socioeconomic status increased 9.6% over the school year, from 120,427 in the 2022-2023 school year to 132,030 last year.
The number of disciplinary cases against children in state care increased by more than 28% from 6,936 in the 2022-2023 school year to 8,896 last year. The number of disciplinary cases against homeless students increased by more than 88% from 9,340 in the 2022-2023 school year to 17,569 last year.
The number of disciplinary incidents against Black or African American students fell by more than 21% over the school year, from 18,914 in the 2022-2023 school year to 14,881 last school year.
Still, Black/African American students will make up just 4.4% of the total student population in 2023-2024, while the total percentage of Black/African American students remains substantially unchanged in 2022-2023. West Virginia schools also saw a decrease in the number of disciplinary incidents against Hispanic and Latino students by about 48%, from 3,435 in 2022-2023 to 1,805 in 2023-2024.
Of the 169,963 disciplinary actions for 2023-2024, 48,949 students were recommended for further disciplinary action, down about 5% from the 51,432 recommendations in 2022-2023. The total number of students suspended during the school year increased by 1.3%, while the number of students receiving in-school suspensions decreased slightly by 1%, and the number of students receiving out-of-school suspensions increased by nearly 3%.
Demographically, the number of suspensions per school year increased by 20% for students of low socioeconomic status, 46% for foster students, nearly 95% for homeless students, 2.7% for Black/African American students, and 46.9% for Hispanic/Latino students.
The report found that 411 students were expelled last year, of which 79% were students with low socio-economic status, 10% were Black/African American students, 10% were homeless students, 9.5% were foster children and 7.5% were students from multi-ethnic backgrounds.
The State Board of Education directed the Department of Education in 2022 to expand the scope and depth of data released earlier that year on school disciplinary actions mandated by passage of Senate Bill 723 in 2020, following complaints from some board members and local advocates that the report did not analyze the data in depth.
SB 723 required the Department of Education to examine statewide data on school disciplinary actions and develop a plan to reduce the number of disciplinary actions. The Department of Education is required to submit a report to the Legislative Oversight Committee on Educational Accountability every two years.
While state law and Department of Education policy set requirements for student discipline, administration of discipline is the responsibility of county boards of education. The Department of Education provides counties with a variety of supports, including student conduct and discipline, social-emotional and behavioral supports, mental health and trauma supports, supports for at-risk students, and community partnerships and initiatives.
The department is creating the STRIVE West Virginia program for the 2024-2025 school year and will work with school systems to strengthen behavioral responses, targeted supports, regular attendance, improve student achievement, implement effective data practices and strengthen support teams.
During the 2024 legislative session earlier this year, lawmakers passed House Bill 2890, which amends student discipline. The bill allows teachers in grades 6-12 to remove students who are disruptive, disrupt the educational process or prevent a teacher from entering the classroom for the remainder of the lesson. Teachers must notify the principal within 24 hours of a disciplinary action, and teachers must submit an electronic record of the incident within 24 hours.
A similar bill dealing with discipline for students in kindergarten through fifth grade was considered during the 2024 legislative session earlier this year, but disagreements between the House and state Senate meant the bill never passed.
