Little Rock School v. Pulaski County School District

          ORDER

          D.P. Marshall Jr. United States District Judge

         The Court is attaching Ms. Powell's second summary report, which covers discipline-related matters at PCSSD. No. 5502 at 2-3. The Court appreciates her work.

         So Ordered.

         UPDATE OF THE STATUS OF THE PULASKI COUNTY SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT'S IMPLEMENTATION OF PLAN 2000 -DISCIPLINE

         On July 18, 2019, Chief U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall, Jr., directed the Court Expert to issue written status reports on the remaining areas of the Pulaski County Special (PCSSD) and the Jacksonville/North Pulaski (JNPSD) school districts' desegregation plan (Plan 2000) that still remain under Court supervision (Doc 5502). This report is number two of eight.

         PULASKI COUNTY SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

         DISCIPLINE (Section F - Plan 2000)

         Please note that some Plan provisions: F 2, 4, 5 are time specific dating back to 2000. In 2008, The Office of Desegregation Monitoring reported to the Court that the PCSSD had met its obligations under those provisions. As a result, those provisions are not included in this report. In addition, some job titles have been changed or have been eliminated since Plan 2000 was developed. Provision F 6 has been institutionalized since the year 2000 and is not included in this report.

         Please refer to the Office of Desegregation Monitoring report: Update On The Status Of the Pulaski County Special School District's Implementation Of It's Desegregation Plan, dated June 3, 2014, for detailed information on the PCSSD's compliance with Plan 2000 at that time.

         Note: In this case, for reporting purposes, there are only two racial categories: black and white. There is no "Other" racial category; all non-black individuals are reported as white.

         Plan Provision The PCSSD will continue to gather data which allows a full assessment of its success in achieving its objective of eliminating racial disparities in the imposition of school discipline. As a foundation for this effort, disciplinary records shall be kept on each student concerning the nature of any discipline imposed (suspension, Saturday school, expulsion, etc.); the teacher and staff member involved; and the school, race, and sex of the student. (F.l pg.3)

         Findings All of the data reflected in this report come directly from the Division of Equity and Pupil Services Annual Discipline Report Summary, years 2016-2017-2018.

         2016-2017

         Suspensions

         • District wide, when compared to 2015-2016, suspension rates for black males dropped 42%, while the rates for black females fell by 46%. The rate for white males dropped 30% and 33% for white females.

         • Of the elementary schools, Harris (151), Clinton (100) and Bates (83) had the highest number of out of school suspensions.

         • Of the secondary schools, Sylvan Hills Middle (430), Mills High (343) and Maumelle Middle (313) had the highest number of out of school suspensions.

         Bus Suspensions

         • In 2015, 222 black males and 94 black females were suspended from the bus.

         • In 2016, bus suspensions for black males fell 60% (88) and declined 73% (25) for black females.

         In-School Suspensions

         • At the elementary level, 17 black males (46%) were assigned to in-school suspension and a total of 20 white males (54%) were assigned to in-school suspension. Twelve black females (86%) and 2 white females (14%) were assigned to in-school suspensions.

         • At the secondary level, 685 black males (61%) and 452 white males (39%) received in-school suspensions. Black females had 405 (68%) of the in school suspensions, while white females received 192 (32%) in-school suspensions.

         • Sylvan Hills Middle, Maumelle Middle and Maumelle High School had the ...