As Buffalo Public School students head back to class this fall, many are wondering how long they’ll get to stay there.
In the 2024-25 school year, BPS suspended 4,130 students, some as young as 4 years old. In all, 13% of BPS students were suspended at some point during the school year. For the seventh time in eight years, BPS has suspended a higher proportion of its students than any of the other five biggest school districts in the state.
We know that each suspension increases the likelihood that a student won’t gain proficiency in reading or math, graduate high school, or enroll in postsecondary education. For the sake of students’ education, it’s past time for BPS to change their punitive system and adopt proven reforms.
The district has made incremental progress . There were 136 fewer long-term suspensions (six days or longer) and the racial disparity in who received these suspensions also decreased slightly. But Black students are still nearly three times more likely to receive long-term suspensions .
Last school year, long-term suspensions went up by 28% in grades PreK-3, compared with the previous school year. An astonishing 93% were issued to children of color, and 71% to children of color with disabilities.
Research shows that suspensions don’t reliably improve student behavior, and may even lead to more misbehavior. Restorative practices, however, in which educators work with students to repair harm , have been proven effective by a growing body of research.
The New York Civil Liberties Union – alongside BPS students and community members – has long pushed for changes to the BPS Code of Conduct that will reduce harm to Buffalo kids. Now, the school board must take action by formally adopting improvements to the code.
The board should eliminate suspensions in grades PreK-3, limit suspensions to a maximum of 20 days, and prevent students from being suspended for low-level, subjective infractions. BPS should also commit to not suspending students for violations of the new state-wide cellphone ban.
BPS officials have the power to make changes to the suspension policy that will help make sure all our students can learn, grow and thrive in the classroom, where they belong.
Quinn Carroll is youth programs manager for the New York Civil Liberties Union’s Education Policy Center.
This piece was originally published in The Buffalo News.
