EDITORIAL: CCSD must prioritize safety in schools

The Clark County School District needs a new approach to student discipline.

Late last month, the Board of Trustees received an update on this subject. It was part of the “Focus: 2024” initiative that former Superintendent Jesus Jara put in place. The document showed that there were 12,319 student suspensions in the first semester of this school year. That’s down from nearly 15,000 in the first semester of 2022-23. Expulsions have also dropped, falling to 558 during the first semester this school year from 745 in the first half of the 2022-23 calendar.

Perhaps that’s good news. But it’s hardly relevant without accompanying data on disruptive or violent incidents on district campuses. Yet the update provided to the trustees contained no such information. There were no particulars on how safe faculty members and students feel. There were no figures on fighting incidents or reports of other unacceptable behavior.

The focus on the number of suspensions and expulsions is largely misplaced. Yes, in the best of all worlds, no student would be suspended or expelled. But the district resides in the real world where some teachers and students fear for their safety, where students assault others, including teachers. The district has its own police force to stop and limit violence.

Suspensions and expulsions can help accomplish that goal if used in a reasonable manner. Most obviously, suspended and expelled students aren’t on campus. When violent students aren’t on campus, they can’t hurt others at school.

Being held accountable for one’s behavior also provides important guidance to students. Those who are suspended or disciplined learn that their actions have serious consequences. This serves as a disincentive to repeat inappropriate or violent behavior.

Firm discipline also lets other students know which behaviors are intolerable. A student who repeatedly swears at a teacher and disrupts her class learns little if the only consequence is a healing circle to discuss his feelings. Other students learn that such behavior is tacitly acceptable. Teenagers respond to incentives. Perhaps administrators spend too much time around adults and absorbed in academic dogma to remember such common sense.

Reporting only suspension and expulsion numbers without context involving incidents of violent behavior on campus is like a cop blindfolding himself and then reporting that he saw no crime. It may be true, but it misses the point.

As she assumes control, new Superintendent Jhone Ebert needs to learn from Mr. Jara’s mistakes and make school safety, not simply counting suspensions, her priority alongside improving academic outcomes.