Andre Coleman understands that when students misbehave at school, they will be disciplined accordingly.
But the recent Bremerton High School graduate, who is African-American, thinks many times he was treated differently because of his race.
“Black students are punished way more than any other students,” said Coleman.
Coleman said students are not always treated unfairly because of their race, but it happens more often than not.
“An African-American, they will get sent out of class and suspended. Someone else will do or say the same thing and get after-school detention. It’s happened to me plenty of times,” he said.
Although Coleman’s reactions are just his personal feelings, there may be significance in what he experienced during his days in high school.
In both the Bremerton and Central Kitsap school districts, disproportion exists among certain student groups — based on race — being disciplined at a higher or lower rate than their overall makeup in the schools and districts.
Even though the data may lead one to believe that minority students are being disciplined at higher rates than white students because they actually break more rules than their white — and Asian — counterparts, administrators contend that the data, combined with interviews with students, shows minority students receive more scrutiny, attention and disproportionate disciplinary action.
There is a pattern of over-representation of African-American as well as Hispanic and American Indian/Alaskan Native students that are being suspended in both districts, according to discipline reports for the 2009-2010 school year, which is the most current data.
There is also a trend of under-representation for the percentage of reported Asian and white students being disciplined.
The data
In the Central Kitsap School District, October 2009 enrollment of African-American students was at 3.8 percent. African-American students that were suspended accounted for 11.3 percent of suspensions at the elementary level, 5.6 percent in junior high and 10.8 percent in the high schools.
In the same year, enrollment of Hispanic students was at 5 percent while suspensions for this group of students was 6.3 percent for elementary, 6.5 percent in junior high and 6.5 percent in the high schools. American Indian/Alaskan Native student enrollment was at 1.2 percent and the percentages for students in this group that were suspended ranged from 4.2 percent to 4.8 percent from the elementary to secondary level.
Meanwhile, white students made up 66.8 percent of the population and students in this category that were suspended ranged from 60.3 percent to 63.4 percent from the elementary to secondary level.
For the Bremerton School District, in October 2008, Hispanic students made up 7.2 percent of Bremerton High School’s population. African-American students made up 10 percent.
In the 2009-2010 school year, Hispanic students made up 9.7 percent of suspension totals for the first semester and 9.5 percent in the second semester.
In a similar trend of over-representation in discipline, African-American students made up 10.7 percent of out-of-school suspension totals for the first semester and 21.5 percent in the second semester.
The number for the second semester is more than double the African-American student population of the school district.
White student enrollment was at 59 percent and in the first semester, white students made up 64.4 percent of suspensions, which is an over-representation.
In the second semester, the percentage dropped to an under-representation of 50.4 percent.
The perspective
Fashion marketing teacher at Bremerton High School, Madonna Hanna, who is black, said she has not had any discipline problems resulting in her students being suspended from school, so that she could not speak for teachers who have that experience.
However, the fact that discrepancies exist among student groups based on race is concerning, she said.
“That’s just really unfortunate that the number is that high,” Hanna said.
Lester “Flip” Herndon, superintendent of the Bremerton School District, acknowledged that the percentages should match up more closely to the student enrollments for each race category.
“Ultimately we would like to see no over-or under-representation in any of the areas,” he said.
Herndon said the district trains teachers to be culturally competent through various specialists who come to work with faculty and administrators, including Dr. Sharroky Hollie of the Center for Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning in Los Angeles. The Central Kitsap School District has also worked with Hollie, who will return in August to work with the district and community.
Bremerton has plans for Ronald Ferguson, a senior lecturer in education and public policy at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, to visit the district in October, Herndon said. Ferguson will discuss how communities and families influence education and his visit will include an evening component for the public to hear him speak, Herndon added.
“We try to do what we can. If anyone had it figured out, you wouldn’t see those trends,” Herndon said of the disproportions among race groups on the discipline data.
Comparisons
The state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction does not have breakdowns of state discipline data based on race but school districts are required to send raw numbers on discipline to the state so they can be sent to the federal government, said Nathan Olson, spokesman for that office.
School districts record and report the data divided by race categories because it is required by the federal government as part of No Child Left Behind, said Patty Glaser, spokeswoman for the Bremerton School District.
Because there is no comprehensive statewide data, Olson said he could not comment on a trend — if any — at the state level.
“Even if there is any kind of speculation, I have no data to back it up,” Olson said. “If there is a trend or it needs attention, it needs to be directed at the district level.”
Vicki Collins, Bremerton School Board president, thinks the situation is not only a problem in Kitsap, but at most schools across the country.
“What we see in our schools is a microcosm of what we see in society,” Collins said. “There’s disparity — it shows up in a whole lot of places and not just at our school doors.”
Of course students that behave poorly must meet the consequences, though some students think they are receiving more attention because of their race.
Alana Cruz, who will be a senior at Olympic High School in the Central Kitsap School District, said there was an incident last winter where she exchanged insults with two other girls while off school grounds. The two white girls reported Cruz to school officials and instead of bringing all the girls in to hear them out, Cruz was called alone and lectured. Her mother was also summoned to the school.
“He just seemed to like the other two (girls) a lot more,” Cruz said. “It wasn’t fair. They didn’t ask for my side of the story.”
Cultural insensitivity along with a lack of knowledge — or maybe just ignorance — play a role in the discipline trends at the schools, Collins said.
Even parents like Cedrick Stewart, who is African-American and has a son in the Central Kitsap School District, said that although he thinks racism is taught at home, the schools need to do a better job of addressing the issues.
“I’m sure they hear the ‘N’ word. I hear it when I’m there,” Stewart said. “I just don’t think they focus enough on it.”
Fixes
Stewart added that creating a school minority board made up of students may help bring open discussions about the problems faced in the schools.
Although there are those that feel like minority students are not treated the same as other students, there are some students who feel like they are equals among their peers regardless of their race.
Kericho Corry, an African-American student at Central Kitsap High School, said he feels that teachers treat and talk to him the same as they would to anyone else.
“But that’s just me, I don’t know about those other students,” said Corry, who will be a senior in September.
In the Central Kitsap School District, staff that are African-American make up 1.31 percent of the total followed by 1.9 percent that are American Indian/Alaskan Native and 2.49 percent that are Hispanic.
JD Sweet, an African-American history teacher at Central Kitsap, provides support for African-American students in the school, said Corry. They get together and meet a few times a month and discuss issues they may be going through, he said.
For other students, it may be difficult to find a teacher that will understand them.
“If they don’t have a role model, it’s harder for other administrators to relate to them, or even for students to relate to the administrator,” Corry said.
Administrators alike understand Corry’s perspective.
“Some don’t have the awareness to work with people of other cultures,” said Peggy Ellis, the district’s director of elementary teaching and learning. She added that through professional development and having teachers form relationships with students and families, connections that otherwise may not be made can be created.
More training for the teachers to understand these issues could help, Corry said.
Even if each school cannot meet the needs of having someone of a specific race in the building, administrators should at least have the resources to help or contact someone in the community to help students, said Robert Boddie Jr., spokesman for the Community Leadership Coalition and Alliance. The alliance is a community group made of African-Americans founded in 1998 that often work with the local school districts.
Boddie said he receives a few calls a month from the schools either to give input or mediation on student situations.
“If I get a call, we have a problem,” Boddie said. “It’s always based on race. And 80 percent of the time it’s on discipline.”
Both the Central Kitsap and Bremerton school districts are working hard to bridge gaps among race groups by having programs such as mentoring offered for students, but improvements still need to be made, Boddie said.
There is no cohesion among the way teachers write up discipline slips on students at Central Kitsap High School. Some teachers may be treating some students differently because of race without even purposely meaning to, he added. Sweet also thinks that the district needs to better prepare for things — such as Hollie’s visit in August — because without any preparation or explanation on why the training is needed, it will have very little significance and impact on teachers, Sweet said.
“It’s not enough to just do it,” Sweet said.
Franklyn Mackenzie, the district’s director of secondary teaching and learning, acknowledged this concern.
“We’ve been guilty of doing one thing and doing another thing, or something else,” he said, adding that the district plans to have more cohesive training.
Central Kitsap School District Superintendent Greg Lynch said the fact that the district and schools are having conversations and assessing the discipline data is a starting point.
“We are looking for information to decide whether it is relevant in impacting student achievement,” Lynch said. “Students can only learn if they are present in the classroom.”
Lynch added that in an ideal situation, the student discipline data in all categories should be closer to zero. Some believe the disparity in discipline exists because of accepted norms in society, it may be difficult to reverse — but can be done.
“There are so many variables and pieces to the puzzle, but if you provide enough, maybe we can combat the issue,” Collins said.
