School suspensions soar in St. Cloud, decline elsewhere

Student suspensions in the St. Cloud school district spiked by nearly 60 percent in the 2013-2014 school year, and the increase reflects a huge uptick in suspensions of black students, newly released Minnesota Department of Education data shows.

The St. Cloud increase defied the statewide trend. Suspensions of all students, including black students, declined across Minnesota during the last four years.

The Department of Education data includes out-of-school, in-school and partial day suspensions.

Suspensions statewide went down 5.5 percent from the previous year. Over the last four years, they declined by nearly 12,000, a 19.2 percent drop.

But in St. Cloud — and to a lesser extent, in neighboring districts such as Sartell-St. Stephen and Sauk Rapids-Rice — the numbers told a different story.

St. Cloud school district doled out 1,125 suspensions last year, a 59.6 percent year-over-year increase and a 65.4 percent increase over the last four years.

Suspensions rose last year for virtually every racial group in St. Cloud. The sharpest increase came with black students, of whom suspensions increased 107 percent last year. That group experienced an increase of 121 percent over the last four years.

Statewide, suspensions of black students declined by 26.8 percent over the last four years, according to a Department of Education news release.

Black students accounted for 50.6 percent of suspensions given by the St. Cloud school district in 2013-2014. They made up 24.7 percent of the district's student population that year.

"Unfortunately, this data does reflect our reality. We recognize it as serious, and we are not satisfied with it. Bottom line: We want to keep our kids in school," said St. Cloud school district Superintendent Willie Jett in a statement.

The increase comes as racial disparities in school suspensions have become an increasingly hot topic in Minnesota. The Minneapolis school district recently faced a federal investigation into its suspension policies after broad racial disparities in discipline were made public in that district.

Sartell-St. Stephen, Sauk Rapids-Rice and Rocori school districts also saw increases in student suspensions last year.

In Sartell-St. Stephen, suspensions increased to 126 in 2013-2014. That was up 114 percent from last year and 38 percent over the last four years.

Sauk Rapids-Rice gave out 365 suspensions last year, a 5.5 percent year-over-year increase and a 92 percent increase over the last four years.

At Rocori, 58 suspensions were given out last year. That was a 13.7 percent year-over-year increase but a 44.8 percent decrease over the last four years.

The statewide numbers released Thursday showed a narrowing gap between white students and students of color when it comes to discipline in Minnesota schools.

Black, Hispanic, American Indian and multi-racial students still face disproportionately higher rates of suspensions and other disciplinary action. But they made up a smaller chunk of disciplined students in the 2013-2014 school year than years before.

Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius on Thursday credited the statewide decrease in suspensions to a program that creates alternatives to suspensions and emphasizes a proactive, rather than reactive, teacher approach to discipline.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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