The problem with zero tolerance

Ask anyone about what’s most important for schools to be considered “good” and student safety is sure to be one of the top responses.  A safe and orderly school environment must have an effective framework for ensuring students are engaged and supported while also addressing student behaviors that interfere with learning.  The challenge of creating such an environment led many schools and districts to adopt zero tolerance policies and practices.  This is problematic.

According to Farnel Maxime a Juvenile Justice Fellow for Shared Justice, “zero-tolerance policies were written into school handbooks in the 1990s, created originally to be a deterrent for bringing weapons into schools.”  Research has shown that schools that implement zero tolerance policies likely contribute to the school to prison pipeline.  It is critical that schools and districts explore other options for student discipline.

Did you know that a zero tolerance policy requires school administrators to hand down specific, consistent, and harsh punishment—usually suspension or expulsion—when students break certain rules? The punishment applies regardless of the circumstances, the reasons for the behavior (like self-defense), or the student’s history of discipline problems.  Because of this many critics call these policies “one strike and you’re out.”

The National Education Association (NEA) found that zero tolerance and other exclusionary school discipline policies, which were supposed to make schools safer, have done more harm than good—pushing students out of the classroom and into the criminal justice system at extraordinary rates. In the same report, NEA cited that researchers found no evidence that schools must be able to remove the “bad” students so the “good” students can learn.  In reality, when schools serving similar populations were compared, those schools with moderately low suspension rates had higher, not lower, test scores.

So what is the solution?  Creating safe learning environments is a priority for Team Selma.  At all of our schools and especially our middle and high schools, our teachers and leaders grapple with this on a regular basis.  For that reason, we are examining the school to prison pipeline.  We recognize that our scholars cannot learn if they are not in school. 

Our study will include researching alternatives to zero tolerance and alternatives to out of school suspension.  These alternatives will likely include restorative practices.  Next week, I will share some insights on this and how it may help disrupt the school to prison pipeline while also improving outcomes for our scholars.

Zero tolerance is not the answer for Selma City Schools.  We look forward to exploring this topic and learning ways to better support our scholars, teachers and leaders. 

For more information, email me at avis.williams@selmacityschools.org