In the midst of a districtwide disciplinary overhaul, Woodland Hills School District has received national recognition for its efforts to revise discriminatory practices.
Little more than a week after a team of administrators presented a revamped code of conduct to board directors at a legislative meeting, select members of that team — superintendent Alan Johnson, curriculum coordinator Licia Lentz and instructional coach Lori McDowell — were chosen to participate in a daylong White House school discipline summit.
The new code was designed to severely reduce the number of suspensions given to students, particularly black males, by lessening zero-tolerance practices. New policies will require each building in the district to track the gender, ethnicity and disability status of students subjected to any measurable disciplinary practice and submit a monthly report to the administrative office.
Representatives from more than 40 districts around the country — including LA Unified, Baltimore City Schools and Houston Independent School District — were invited in recognition of progress made in improving the school climate of their respective districts. Woodland Hills, with a total student population of almost 4,000 students across 12 municipalities, and York City Schools were among the few Pennsylvania schools in attendance.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Attorney General Loretta Lynch were among speakers discussing the impact of the school-to-prison pipeline and discipline biases that impact minority students.
“Creating and sustaining safe, supportive schools is absolutely essential to ensuring students can engage in the rich learning experiences they need for success in college, work and life,” Mr. Duncan told attendees. “We are proud to stand as partners with these educators to say that we have to continue to do better for all of our students.”
The district made headlines when, in February, it was ranked among the top 10 school districts nationwide for having the highest percentage of out-of-school suspensions of elementary students for the 2011-12 school year. The report, released by the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the University of California at Los Angeles, showed almost 25 percent of elementary students in Woodland Hills were suspended from school at least once. An internal disciplinary study found the average suspension length for a black male student was 3.3. days, while the average for a white male was 0.3 days.
The data mirrors disciplinary trends seen nationwide. Federal data show that, among students with disabilities, black females have higher rates of suspension than white males at both the elementary and secondary levels. English-learners living in states with English-only instruction policies also tend to have high suspension rates
The superintendent has also spoken about changes to the district’s process for transitioning students in and out of its alternative education program — Rankin Promise. Enrollment records show that students who left during the 2013-14 school year spent an average of more than 230 enrolled days in the program.
The Rankin Promise program will fall under the new leadership of former Edgewood Elementary principal Janet Carter in the fall, and a redesigned system will now require a thorough review for students after 45 days in the program.
“We know we’re on the path to change; now it’s about the implementation and using the resources available to us to make it right,” Ms. Lentz said. “We still have things to work on, but it’s good to know and be recognized for the fact that we’re on the right track. Now we can bring all of this information back and hit the ground running.”
Clarece Polke: cpolke@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1889 or on Twitter @clarepolke.
First Published: July 31, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
