WHEREAS, school principals are in the difficult position of having to balance the needs of individual students with those of the community when they recommend suspensions, expulsions, or other disciplinary actions; and

WHEREAS, students with disabilities are disproportionately at risk for being suspended with a recommendation for expulsion,* and

 WHEREAS, the Manifestation Determination Review committee in only 79 out of 367 cases in 2003-2004 found the students’ offenses to have been caused by their disabilities, even though research has shown that many disabilities, such as learning disabilities, autism and emotional disabilities, have a profound effect on a student’s behavior, judgment, susceptibility to peer pressure, and resilience in the face of stress;

 THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the FCCPTA requests the FCPS Board examine the suspension and expulsion process and take action to address possible systemic causes of the disproportionate suspension and expulsion rates of special education students, with the goal of reducing the incidence of suspensions and expulsions.

* Statistics provided to the Advisory Committee for Students with Disabilities:

In 2003-2004, 1055 FCPS students were suspended with a recommendation for expulsion, of which 367 were in special education, adding up to 34.4% of cases, compared to the 14.5%  incidence of students receiving special services out of the total student population.

 

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