KTVI is reporting that several St. Louis area school districts are considering ending out-of-school suspensions for their youngest students.
The idea is to do away with out-of-school suspensions for pre-schoolers through third graders. Studies support the use of more social workers and behavior health specialists versus removing students from an educational environment.
Some experts, KTVI reports, say suspending a student by placing them out of a learning environment, punishes the child, but does not actually remedy the behavior. A handful of Missouri school districts say they are pushing for an effective policy change in 2018. Others say they are going to implement a new approach next school year.
Should school districts consider ending out-of-school suspensions for elementary school students?