Suspension

From WikEd

Definitions/Descriptions

Out of School Suspension is mandatory leave assigned to a student as a form of punishment that can last anywhere from one day to several weeks during which time the student cannot attend school. The student's parents/guardians are usually notified as to the reason for and the duration of the out of school suspension. Sometimes students have to complete work during their suspensions for which they receive no credit. Also, upon returning to school, it is often mandatory that the student, his/her parents/guardians, and a school administrator have a meeting to discuss the matter. Out of School Suspension is often abbreviated both in writing and in common speech as OSS.

An alternative to OSS is an in school suspension (ISS), in which the student is required to attend school, but is removed from the classroom and the learning environment. Students are required to complete all work that is being covered in their classes and may or may not receive credit depending on the school's policy. Many schools use ISS for minor discipline situations, such as skipping a class or receiving too many tardies.

Suspension is a short-term prohibition that forbids a student from attending school. Gross v. Lopez, established a due process for suspension, which consists of: a notice of the charges, evidence supporting these charges, and an opportunity for the student to defend him or herself but not necessarily with an attorney or witness (Wolfgang 179).

We discussed this case in school law last night and part of the supreme court ruling in this case also established that suspension with this type of due process was to be short term 10 days or less. The longer the suspension the greater need to offer more of due process. If you need to suspend a student for longer than 10 days, until the end of the year than you really need to allow the student more of a hearing. Less than that in most instances due process can be allowing the student(s) to explain their version of the story before you make any determination to suspend the student, get some idea of the facts. Source Wolfgang, Charles H., Solving Discipline And Classroom Management Problems: Methods and Models for Today’s Teachers; U.S.A, John Wiley and Sons, 2001.

For more information on the legal issues surrounding school suspensions, see the School Discipline article from Lawyers.com.

A typical policy for suspension, as it relates to high school discipline is as follows: Students may be suspended for violation of school or district rules or if they present a danger to the safety or health of others or a threat to disrupt school programs. A suspension typically lasts from 1 to 5 days.

During suspension, a student may not participate in regular school classes or activities, including graduation, but may be assigned to an alternative program. A teacher may require the parent or guardian of a suspended student to attend part of the school day and meet with the principal.

A suspended student or his or her parent or guardian has a right to appeal a suspension by following district procedures. To appeal a suspension, contact the school principal. A student who accumulates a number of suspension days may be referred to a district-level review meeting to discuss alternative school placement.

Applications in Classroom and Similar Settings

Because suspension means the student is forced out of the classroom setting, applications in the classroom fit better the students who remain than the one taken out. Do fellow students notice the missing student? Of course! Do they know the extent of the crime committed to earn such punishment? Eventually they will hear the reason(s). Does it cause a reaction to improve any of their own misbehaviors? I would submit that it would tend to be a deterrant to inappropriate behaviors, but not for all students. Some would fear the repurcussions of their own actions, while others would want to emulate the offender. See PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OR COMMENTS for my own views.

When a student is suspended they are missing learning that is taking place in their classes. Some schools have policies that require teachers to gather work for a suspended student to have sent home so that a student can continue working while they are out of school. This provides more work for the teacher, however helps the suspended student not fall behind in course work. Other schools put the responsibility of catching up on the student. The student has to talk to the teacher when he/she returns to school to see what they missed while they were gone.

Evidence of Effectiveness

Stories are told of disciplinarians who were made famous by their legendary disciplinary tactics. Assistant Principal Ruben Perez forged a policy that would suspend any student for a number of infractions, including truancy, absenteeism, even gum-chewing. (http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/1995/04/01/7perez.h06.html)

Despite gaining favor from many parents, even students, none of the 97 students listed on the suspension list (provided by the faculty, no less) were suspended - no, not one. The stories exist of how suspensions may or may not have been doled out, but research to show the effectiveness of suspension is practically non-existent. I am unable to see how a suspension helps the offender; it's obvious that the students who remain might benefit from that student's absence.

Critics and Their Rationale

I know of no one who would be opposed to suspension, perhaps that's because suspension has always been in America's school system. Why not? It's better than caneing! Many times a suspension leads to a student being transferred to an alternative school. The suspended student benefits with more concentrated attention, and the students left benefit from the removal of the distraction. Those who may oppose may reason that a child has a right to an education; removing him from school denies him of that. In our district, school work can be made up and can be completed from home. The problem is, few suspended students are motivated in school to do school work - how can they be expected to be motivated to do school work while out of school?

For some students who do not like school, out of school suspensions are viewed as a vacation. Many times parents are not home to monitor their kids while they are home from school. So kids sleep in late, are not productive with their homework and they often get into more trouble while out of school. It is easier to drink and smoke in their house while their parents are gone during the day at work. There are both pros and cons to out of school suspension. It is important to to think about what message we are sending students by giving them a punishment that prevents them from learning. When students come back from OSS, many do not make up the work they missed. They get further behind in their studies and their grades end up suffering.

Even in school suspensions can become quite ineffective if not carried out in a thoughtful manner. Some schools cannot afford to pay an aide to sit in a room all day to watch students in ISS. Therefore, the students are sent to places like the office or the library. These students are then privy to all the conversations that occur in those high traffic places. In addition, students that actually do work on their assignments are constantly distracted by people coming and going. However, most students if they are not being watched will simply sleep, use their cell phones, or deface school property.

Personal experiences or comments

I can understand the arguments for suspension that involve students putting themselves or others in danger. In other cases, I can't really understand the benefit of this technique. For example, the only student I know of that has been suspended this year at my school was issued this sanction because he threw a rock on the playground (without hitting anyone). This was a middle school boy who typically doesn't want to be at school anyway. In his case, the punishment is really only affecting his parents who will have to deal with the him at home. I don't see how this system will change the behaviors we as teachers and administrators disapprove of. -Rebecca Hix Foley

If a suspension is truly called for and I wonder how many are called for and how many are a way to get the student out of your class, I feel that we fail when it comes to education. If a student is suspended they should still be learning even if it means they go to juvie for class. We are not only doing the student an injustice by denying an education but in the long run we are doing ourselves a great injustice. Even ten days out of school, for someone who is probably having problems anyway, will make it hard and for repeaters or struggling students they might feel it is easier to quit. After all, they are not wanted, are they? Teresa Hibler

Suspension is needed in schools. During this school year, several things have happened. We had a student bring a knife to school and threaten to cut another student's throat. A student grabbed a teacher by the arms and would not let her go. This resulted in the teacher having bruises up and down her arms. Another incident was when a student threatened to shoot certain students at school. The threat was on the internet. This all happened in a junior high in a town that is considered affluent. For the safety of the students in my building, these students were supended. I believe expulsion has been talked about in a couple of the cases. I know that missing school is not the answer, but they should not be able to be in the school if they threaten the safety of others. NCJ

Most suspensions brought down by schools for punishment are not from the teacher. In my teaching experience, the kids are most often suspended for fighting or causing damage to school property and the suspension is issued by the school's administration. The administration decides if the situation is severe enough for punishment beyond detention. Our school has Saturday detentions, which often seem to be more effective than suspensions. If we do not have the different levels of punishment, then students would have a hard time distinguishing the severity of their offense. A lot of how well the punishment works depends on how the parent(s) handle the situation at home. Chris Snodgrass

I wonder if there is a better way than suspension to handle severe discipline problems. I remember in high school that there were many students who would try to get suspended from school so that they could have a few days off. If they wanted to go somewhere during the school day, they would simply try to get into a fight so they could get suspended and have the time off they wanted. I understand that if the discipline problem is a danger to other people, that student does not need to be in class. I wonder if, in Illinois, there are alternative schools that a student could be sent to instead of just being handed a break from classes. For some, this break from classes could be a reward for serious misbehavior rather than a punishment. Elizabeth Giger

While some teachers here have argued that suspensions are not the way, I think they are necessary. Even though that one student may not be getting the education they deserve, is it right for that student to disrupt the education of the other students? Don't they deserve an education as well? I think in this case, it is more important to focus on the other 29 students in your room, than to worry about the one who is preventing them to learn. If there was a better way to deal with the situation, than obviously that should be done first, but most times, suspension is the last step in an already long list of possible solutions that just didn't work. Amy Higgins

It is argued that the emphasis on the effectiveness of suspension is usually depended on the school and the administration’s system of setting it up. I would say this is partially correct. I my experience most my suspended students do not get anything out of missing days. Don’t get me wrong, I do agree with the idea that suspensions are appropriate consequences in schools. However, if the student does not see missing class and being penalized for it a severe consequence, then I do not see the intentions of suspensions working. The support base for the student must also value and respect the system of supported by the school. I do get frustrated at the suspensions work in my school. If a student gets suspended, they are more likely to receive an in-school suspension rather than an out of school one. I believe this is not beneficial at all for the student. It often will not bring about parent involvement in the matter. Instead, the parents are not affected as long as the student remains at school and is not at home. H. Ro

It has been my experience that any student who has been suspended had already gone through other steps of discipline before reaching the suspension plateau. Except for a major criminal charge, suspended students have aready experienced some kind of punishment. I've never seen a student surprised when he reaches that step, I've never heard them complain, I've really heard very little reaction to the suspension. Oh, except for, "It was a great vacation!" I can't imagine what kind of consequences I would have to face if I was ever suspended from school. Does that tell us how much parenting has on the influence of a student's behavior at school? I think so. Max U.

our school has both in-school and out-of-school suspension. I think the ISS is a necessary consequence for controlling some classroom behaviors. When students are in ISS, they are expected to do the work that they are missing in class. As a teacher, if I don't supply the work, then the ISS teacher calls my class to have it sent. Students are not allowed to sleep or read magazines in ISS. While I agree with ISS in most cases, I do not agree to the student who has been truant for 5 days, then on the day she decides to come to school, she is put in ISS as a consequence for her missed days. She spends a few days in ISS, then is truant again...and the cycle keeps repeating. OSS is thought of as a vacation for many students...they sleep in and their parents go to work so they spend the day unmonitored. E. Morrison

Suspensions are a needed means of school and classroom management. If a student has caused that great a disruption to the learning process, he should be removed from the environment for at least a few days to cool down and reset. However, a problem that I have encountered in our school district is that kids are wanting to get the outside suspensions to slack off and stay home. We have been working to develop an alternative school setup to send the students to when they can't handle the normal classroom environment. This would force students to still come to school while keeping them away from the general student body. Vocational and psychological counseling could be offered, as well as a public service component. This would be beneficial to all parties involved, and I hope our district goes to this system. S. Luxbacher

We have two types of suspension ar our school: in-school (ISS) and out-of-school (OSS). I find that the ISS are the best for the students. They must sit in a room adjacent to the principal's office for the enitre day and do homework. For OSS, the students are suspended from being at school. I think this is like giving the students a vacation. Some behaviors warrant an OSS. Most offenses committed at our school that result in suspensions are too many tardies, too many detentions or just misbehaving in class. As a result, most of our suspensions are ISS. Many of these students want to be suspended so that they can get out of school. As a result, our school tries to avoid OSS. An alternative is a Saturday School. If a student is issued a Saturday School, he or she arrives at school at 8 a.m. on a Saturday and works on homework for the entire day. I think this is a great plan for those students who think that they can misbehave to receive a vacation from school. ~J. Herrmann

I had a student who was failing my class get an OSS. I did not want to see him miss class, because he had been working hard to make up his work and bring his grade up. However, he got an OSS for getting into a fight during my class. The school decided to give him an OSS to make sure that my students felt safe coming to class and to let things in the class settle down before the other students saw him again. I believe it was a fitting punishment for his actions. -R. Fruin

I feel that there is a time and place for ISS and OSS. In the high school in my district, OSS is the choice for students who have had ISS but haven't attended and missed so many classes that they are not allowed to come to school. I'm not sure what the point of this would be?! If the student isn't coming to school, is telling them to stay home the right way to go? We have both in my elementary school and we have recently had to suspend a kindergartner. This child brought a knife from home and because my district has a "zero tolerance" policy on weapons, the child was forced to stay home for three days - is this right? I'm not sure that I agree or disagree with these policies, unfortunately, I don't have a better solution. I think with all things academic, it should be taken on a case by case basis. D. LePla