Disciplinary Actions

Date posted: 05/06/2009

School districts report suspensions and expulsions by the type of incident and by the race/ethnicity and gender of students involved. These data reflect the number of incidents and do not reflect an unduplicated count of students receiving disciplinary actions. A student may be suspended more than once in a school year, or may be suspended and later expelled. (Colorado Department of Education). There are three types of suspension reported by school districts:

• Classroom Suspension/Teacher Removal: The student is removed from the classroom and may include contacting the parent or guardian, having a student-parent-teacher conference, and in the case of a second removal, developing a behavior plan.
• In-School Suspension: The student is suspended from a classroom to another location in the school.
• Out-of-School Suspension: The student is suspended from school grounds.

Expulsion from school is the most serious action taken. A student may be expelled for any length of time up to a maximum of one year. Some violations carry an automatic expulsion, such as bringing a firearm into school or drug distribution. Procedures for dealing with behaviors which incur disciplinary action and reporting requirements are part of state statute.

Colorado law requires that all children between the ages of seven and sixteen attend school. Therefore, an expelled student must have options during the time of expulsion such as alternative schools, home-schooling or private schools. Educational options are explained to expelled students and their parent/s or guardian/s. Options in school districts can vary from attending an independent partner school, receiving homebound education, or accessing classes online to maintain credits. Cost also varies for these options. Some districts partner in funding with independent institutions or cover the cost of other options through the district. However, if funding for educational options does not exist, the cost is the responsibility of the parent/s or guardian/s. If a student is expelled and is 16 or older, the district has no authority to keep the student in an educational system and the choice to continue is up to the student. For specific options and requirements in Larimer County, contact the individual school districts.

What this chart shows: Total Suspensions and Expulsions in Larimer County School Districts, 2000-01 to 2007-08

Data Source: Colorado Department of Education

See data table

What this chart shows: Suspensions and Expulsions as a Percentage of Actions Taken in Larimer County School Districts, 2007-08

Data Source: Colorado Department of Education

See data table

What this chart shows: Disciplinary Actions Taken Involving Male & Female Students by Race/Ethnicity - Larimer County School Districts, 2007-08

Data Source: Colorado Department of Education

See data table

What these data tell us:

State statutes were changed prior to the 2000-01 school year, adding incidents requiring disciplinary actions and changing reporting requirements. All schools began recording incidents by statutory category, resulting in more consistent recording and reporting. From the 2000-01 school year to 2006-07, suspensions have varied annually, with the seven-year high coming in 2005-06 (5,490). Expulsions, however, varied slightly from 2000-01 through 2004-05, before increasing 36.5% (71) in 2005-06, and peaking with 108 expulsions in 2006-07, representing a 52.1% increase over the previous school year. District officials have stated there is no single reason or action for fluctuations in the number of students being suspended or expelled in a given year.

Since the incidents at Columbine High School in 1999, Colorado school districts have moved toward implementation of 'zero tolerance' policies. These policies leave teachers little or no discretion in matters of discipline and have had an effect on the number of disciplinary actions taken since. Behaviors and actions by students that were once dealt with more moderately now command immediate disciplinary action such as suspension, expulsion and referral to law enforcement. For example, bringing a squirt gun to school is grounds for immediate expulsion, as it resembles a real firearm.

In-school suspension was the predominant disciplinary action taken in the Thompson School District in 2007-08. Both Park and Poudre School Districts had more out-of-school suspensions than in-school suspensions during this period, by 21.3% and 17.8%, respectively. Although Park School District had a higher percentage of expulsions (3.0%) than either Poudre or Thompson School Districts, this is due to the relatively smaller student body, since only six students were expelled from Park, whereas 35 and 37 students were expelled from Poudre and Thompson School districts, respectively.

The distribution of disciplinary actions among racial/ethnic groups and between genders has roughly the same similarities to the percentages of total enrollment by race and ethnicity in Larimer County School Districts. White (Not Hispanic) students had the highest percentage of actions taken in 2007-08 (males 69% and females 61%) while Hispanic students had the second highest percentage (males 24% and females 33%). In overall district enrollment, White (not Hispanic) students represented nearly 78% of the total enrollment with the next largest group being Hispanic students at 16%. Hispanics thus appear over represented in disciplinary actions. School officials do not have a clear reason for this trend.

Zero Tolerance policies and changes in reporting may account for some of the ups and downs. Also, as these data represent total actions and not unduplicated students, a handful of students getting into trouble several times during the school year would add to the overall figures. Data are tracked for reporting purposes but there is no detailed analysis of the data at this time.

Some of the schools in the Poudre and Thompson School Districts instituted the State-sponsored Positive Behavior Support Initiative during the 2006-07 school year. The purpose of this Initiative is to develop school-wide strategies to assist students in achieving needed social and learning outcomes and to prevent problem behaviors. Some officials hope, by instituting this project, they will have a better opportunity to track behavior patterns, perform analysis and look for solutions.

Additional Information:

In Larimer County School Districts, breaking any law constitutes a Referral to Law Enforcement, but does not necessarily result in expulsion. Likewise, there are also actions that result in expulsion that do not constitute a referral to law enforcement. For example, 'Habitually Disruptive' is a category used when a student has committed three willful or overt harmful actions towards fellow students, the school or the community. These categories are part of a type of 'three strikes and you're out' classification which can lead to expulsion. However, these actions may not call for a referral to law enforcement. Possessing a firearm or any form of harmful weapon on school grounds is an example of something that would result in a referral to law enforcement and automatic expulsion.

See A Brief analysis of K-12 Student Discipline Incidents (2006-08 school year) compiled by the Colorado Department of Education for more information.

Actions/Classifications That Can Lead to Expulsion - Larimer County School Districts

2007-08	Referred to Law Enforcement		Habitually Disruptive
School District	Number	% of All Actions/ Classifications	Number	% of All Actions/ Classifications
Poudre	93	3.3%	2	0.07%
Thompson	245	9.2%	1	0.04%
Park	9	4.5%	0	0.00%

On Compass-

• ACT Scores
• Charges Filed - Juveniles
• CSAP scores
• Dropout Rates
• Enrollment - K-12, Public School
• Enrollment - Public, Home-Based, & Non-Public
• Enrollment - Special Needs
• Ethnicity - Demographics
• Funding Per Pupil
• High School Graduation Rate ( ethnicity, school district)
• Juvenile Arrests
• Juvenile Probation
• Pupil/Teacher Ratio
• Teachers - Ethnicity & Gender

Outside Compass-

• Ask Colorado - Interactive online librarian service from Colorado libraries
• Centers for Disease Control, Understanding School Violence
• Colorado Department of Education
• Colorado School Violence Prevention & Student Discipline Manual
• Park School District
• Poudre School District
• Thompson School District

Standards or Target: N/A

Data Tables:

Total Suspensions and Expulsions in Larimer County School Districts

School Year	Suspensions	Expulsions
2000-01	4,282	62
2001-02	4,557	49
2002-03	4,490	55
2003-04	4,817	45
2004-05	4,425	52
2005-06	5,490	71
2006-07	5,095	108
2007-08	5,224	78

See chart

Suspensions and Expulsions, Larimer County School Districts

2007-08	Classroom Suspension or Teacher Removal		In-School Suspension		Out-of-School Suspension		Expulsion		Other Actions	Totals
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number
Poudre	518	18.4%	998	35.4%	1,174	41.7%	35	1.2%	93	2,725
Thompson	12	0.5%	1,241	46.6%	1,114	41.9%	37	1.4%	257	2,404
Park	1	0.5%	75	37.5%	91	45.5%	6	3.0%	27	173
TOTALS:	531		2,314		2,379		78		377	5,302

See chart

Disciplinary Actions Taken by Race/Ethnicity

2007-08 MALE STUDENTS	All Disciplinary Actions Larimer County School Districts
	Number	% of Total Actions
American Indian	75	1.8%
Asian/Pacific Islander	60	1.4%
Black Non Hispanic	137	3.3%
Hispanic	1,022	24.3%
White	2,910	69.2%
TOTAL:	4,024	100.0%
2007-08 FEMALE STUDENTS	All Disciplinary Actions Larimer County School Districts
	Number	% of Total Actions
American Indian	15	1.0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	10	0.7%
Black Non Hispanic	70	4.7%
Hispanic	486	32.9%
White	894	60.6%
TOTAL:	1,475	99.9%

See chart

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