Change suspension policy

An out-of-school suspension is a warning to the student and parents that the district won't tolerate the behavior that triggered the punishment. Drug use and violence are two examples of actions that lead to suspension. But even those should not, in all cases, incur an academic "death penalty."

The district's job, even for those it suspends, is to make the students successful academically. Children who misbehave and get bad grades and get discouraged and drop out are a bigger problem for society than kids who misbehave but shape up and graduate. A suspension policy the Palm Beach County School Board is considering would increase the number of students who fall into the dropout category.

Under the policy, suspended students would not be able to get a grade higher than 59, which is an F, on homework and classwork, such as quizzes and chapter tests, missed during their suspension. In almost all cases, teachers should grade work based on content. It makes sense to reduce a student's grade when work is turned in late -- whether that student is suspended or not. But it isn't fair -- or wise -- to adopt a policy that sets an F as the highest possible grade.

The proposed policy, which was on Wednesday's agenda but has been postponed, makes some allowances. Suspended students could make up, with no penalty, major tests such as end-of-semester exams. Students could complete projects such as term papers. In addition, teachers could offer suspended students extra-credit work.

If an academic penalty remains in place, however, it would be better to give all returning suspended students the chance to improve their grades through extra work. Rather than discourage students, such a policy would encourage the correct behavior. The district should be particularly reluctant to increase penalties for suspended students because, as district spokesman Nat Harrington concedes, suspensions "do appear to disproportionately affect black and Hispanic students.... It would appear that minorities act out more often or act out more frequently in ways that are punishable by suspension or that whites are not punished equally for the same infraction."

Mr. Harrington says giving F's on missed classwork is intended to "scare straight" the students who would misbehave and get suspended. But there's too much potential for it to backfire. When the policy comes up for consideration, it should be academically sound and not subject to bias.