The Seattle school board has declared a one-year moratorium on out-of-school suspensions for elementary students who commit nonviolent offenses.
Starting this school year, the moratorium ends out-of-school suspensions for disruptive conduct, rule-breaking, and disobedience. Data show that in the 2014-15 school year, 146 elementary students were suspended for such offenses, which make up about a fourth of elementary-student suspensions in the district.
As part of the board’s action, the district must make a plan by next year for how to significantly reduce suspensions for all grade levels and a way to collect data on the suspensions that do occur.
