How does your school handle discipline problems? This new ranking of DeKalb County schools may surprise you.
A searchable database by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution allows users to see how their schools disciplined students during the 2014-15 academic school year.
Two DeKalb high schools had more instances of out-of-school suspensions than enrolled students.
Various school districts in the metro Atlanta area handle conduct violations in different ways. DeKalb County's Code of Student Conduct outlines seven levels of consequences for violations, including four levels of suspensions.
There are 21 high schools in the DeKalb County school district.
Here are the top seven in DeKalb County with the most out-of-school suspensions in the 2014-2015 academic school year
1. Columbia High School (Decatur): 1,649
Total student population: 1,218
2. Martin Luther King, Jr. High School (Lithonia): 1,161
Total student population: 1,655
3. McNair High School (Atlanta): 1,049
Total student population: 795
4. Miller Grove High School (Lithonia): 941
Total student population: 1,501
5. Towers High School (Decatur): 755
Total student population: 975
6. Stephenson High School (Stone Mountain): 755
Total student population: 1,550
7. Lithonia High School (Lithonia): 599
Total student population: 1,616
The two DeKalb high schools with more instances of out-of-school suspensions than enrolled students were Columbia High School and McNair High School.
"This issue has been on my radar since I arrived in July," Dr. R. Stephen Green, superintendent for the DeKalb County School District, told the AJC in a statement.
"Let's be clear," Dr. Green added, "We in the DeKalb school district want young people to be fully accountable for behavior."
The superintendent said the current disciplinary system "disproportionately punishes male students of color" and that DeKalb should discpline with a restorative approach instead of a punitive approach.
"We see schools with restorative approaches more effective at shaping positive classroom cultures," Dr. Green said. "In DeKalb, our restorative system of discipline will focus on the whole child, not just the bad a child does."
» Explore The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's interactive guide to Georgia schools here
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