Don’t limit school punishments for language, dress, disrespect, NC lawmakers say

There’s a new push to crack down on school discipline in North Carolina amid a surge in student suspensions and reported school crime.

The state House K-12 Education Committee backed a bill Tuesday that removes wording from state law that says using inappropriate language, disrespecting teachers, dress code violations and minor fights are not to be deemed serious student disciplinary violations.

Rep. John Torbett, a Gaston County Republican and primary sponsor of House Bill 188, says the change is needed because of how lax discipline has gotten in schools.

“Without discipline that effectively addresses the issue, it will ultimately bring down the demise of our civilization because it will begin to spread out in the general population and get worse and worse and worse,” said Torbett, who also co-chairs the Education Committee. “We are allowing this to occur in our schools.”

The bill was mostly backed along party lines with Republicans in support and Democrats opposed. Democratic lawmakers said it would lead to over-suspension of students for minor infractions.

“If it is a minor offense: a dress code, a not getting out of the bus line, that is minor,” said Rep. Marcia Morey, a Durham Democrat. “Do not allow that to lead to the most draconian punishment of an out-of-school suspension.”

Push to reduce suspensions

In 2011, state lawmakers added the language that “the use of inappropriate or disrespectful language, noncompliance with a staff directive, dress code violations, and minor physical altercations that do not involve weapons or injury” are not serious violations.

It was a bipartisan effort to say that long-term suspensions, which are for more than 10 days, should be reserved for serious violations. The belief was that if students were in school more, they’d be less likely to have poor grades and drop out when they fell behind.

Short-term suspensions fell by 24% and long-term suspensions dropped by 78% between the 2010-11 and 2018-19 school years. But the trend has reversed since the pandemic.

A state report released this month shows that school crimes were up 16.9% last school year from the 2018-19 school year. In addition, short-term suspensions are up 7% and long-term suspensions are up 18%.

Torbett said it’s gotten to the point where disruptive students are allowed to stay in the class and take away from the education of other children.

“That student in the classroom stands up and yells obscenities at that teacher,” Torbett said. “When that teacher reports the child, that child actually looks back at them and says, ‘well, there’s nothing you can do about it.’”

But Torbett said the bill should address the concerns of critics because it encourages schools to use in-school suspension over punishment that sends students out of school.

The House passed a similar student discipline bill in 2021, but it died in the Senate.

Bigotry of low expectations?

Morey introduced an amendment Tuesday to have the four examples of student misconduct still not be considered serious violations. Torbett urged the committee to reject it, saying the amendment would gut his bill.

Rep. Cecil Brockman, a Guilford County Democrat, sided with Republicans in a 14-9 vote rejecting Morey’s amendment.

“The lessons that we’re teaching our kids matter, and if we just say those type of things aren’t major, that says a lot about why we’re in the situation where we are now,” said Brockman, who is Black.

During the committee meeting, other Democratic lawmakers pointed to how Black students and students with disabilities are suspended at much higher rates than white students. They said that the legislation could disproportionately impact students of color.

“We know that Black students are continually punished in bigger numbers for disrespectful language,” said Rep. Julie von Haefen, a Wake County Democrat. “Girls are punished more for dress code violations than boys are.

“There’s a reason that examples were put into this bill because they are guiding principles that if guided, local school districts make sure that they’re not punishing kids disproportionately for these specific things.”

But Rep. Ken Fontenot, a Wilson County Republican who is Black, said it reflects the “bigotry of low expectations” to say that having higher standards will disproportionately affect Black students.

“Discipline and standards for African Americans is a benefit, especially at time when they may not have the structure at home to get those,” Fontenot said. “Because if we do not give it to them at schools, unfortunately we discover that they’re going to get it in jail because this society is going to hold them accountable even if schools don’t.”