N.H. study shows certain groups of students more likely to be kicked out of school

A recent University of New Hampshire Carsey School of Public Policy studyfound that male students, students of color, students with disabilities, and homeless students were much more likely than their peers to experience exclusionary discipline.

News Story (New Hampshire)

Lola Duffort
Concord Monitor (NH)
October 8, 2016
READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Tags: Education, Schools: Discipline

Organizations mentioned/involved: New Hampshire Legal Assistance (NHLA)

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DETAILS

But that’s not necessarily anything to celebrate, according to Michelle Wangerin, an attorney with New Hampshire Legal Assistance’s Youth Law Project.

“I think we have a low expulsion rate because we call it suspension,” she said.

Legally, the only difference between an expulsion and a suspension is that suspensions are for a definite period of time – expulsions are indefinite. A child can technically be suspended for the length of a school year and remain enrolled.

Current New Hampshire law also doesn’t allow a child expelled to re-enroll at a public school, Wangerin said. (Legislation under consideration right now could change this.) Often, school boards will offer students the opportunity to simply transfer out to an online charter school — with the understanding that the alternative is expulsion.