More Gwinnett County students are getting into trouble for offenses such as attacking a classmate, bringing drugs to school or sharing sexually-explicit material, according to a school district report released Thursday.
The number of disciplinary hearings rose from 1,289 during the 2014-15 school year to 1,588 during the 2015-16 school year, the data, discussed in a presentation to school board members, showed. The biggest increase was for allegations of student indecency, such as sharing sexually explicit material or inappropriately touching a classmate. Other major increases included students accused of drug, alcohol or tobacco possession.
In about half of the cases, Gwinnett disciplinary hearing officers wound up referring students to alternative schools for part of or the entire semester. In 18 instances, the student was expelled.
Board members and officials attributed the increase, in part, to about 4,000 new students in Gwinnett last school year, about a 2 percent increase in enrollment.
The report also showed a slight increase in out-of-school suspensions, from 16,730 to 16,869.
Administrators focused on the more positive data points, such as a decrease in reported bullying, from 303 alleged incidents during the 2014-15 school year to 276 during the 2015-16 school year. They also noted a decline in gang activity since the 2013-14 school year.
“Culturally, our students have learned that these things are not tolerated in our schools,” said Eric Thigpen, who oversees student discipline for Gwinnett.
Officials credited the decrease to peer mentoring, counseling and work by school resource officers. Officials said they plan to continue more of those initiatives to improve student discipline.
Gwinnett releases a report annually on student discipline that it shares with board members. Some critics of Gwinnett’s disciplinary policy have suggested more restorative practices and say Gwinnett should rewrite some disciplinary policies that penalize students for fighting when the student may not have struck anyone.
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