ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Ann Arbor Public Schools is suspending black students at a disproportionate rate, according to an analysis of suspension data the district released.
The data.
As of Feb. 20, the district suspended 501 students in 2024-25 and the analysis project the district will suspend 884 by the end of the year. The district suspended 415 students in 2021-22, 575 in 2022-23 and 683 in 2023-24.
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In 2024-25, black students represented 43.9% of the students suspended and were 12.5% of the student enrollment. From 2018-19 through 2024-25 (not including the 2020-21 COVID year), the percentage of black students that were suspended ranged from as low as 41% to as high as 56.6%.
The district did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Reasons for the suspensions.
The most common reasons for a suspension were physical aggression (88 cases), followed by fighting (68), disruptive conduct (42), alcohol/drug activity (37), physical assault (34), insubordination/open defiance (26) and tobacco use/possess (18).
The report states, “Suspensions are disproportionate across the six year analysis period, with Black/African American students, Economically Disadvantaged students, Students with Disabilities, and male students.”
Peri Stone-Palmquist, executive director of the Student Advocacy Center of Michigan, said her organization was pleased the Ann Arbor district is being transparent with suspension data that showed suspensions had gone up and “there is a disproportionate number of students of color being suspended.”
“We would love to see a deeper analysis to help us better understand where and when this is happening,” Stone-Palmquist said in an email to Michigan News Source. “Are there specific schools or even teachers who may need more support? Are there certain infractions where there is more disportionality? It’s challenging to tell you why without more analysis.”
The long-term plan.
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Stone-Palmquist said Ann Arbor Public Schools has a long-term commitment to dramatically reducing suspensions and expulsions.
“Behavior is communication and children who lived through the pandemic, especially those in under-resourced families, have struggled with academics and mental health. That shows up in behavior,” she said. “We have suggested the district pull together a team of educators, parents, youth, advocates and community members to more closely study this and co-create recommendations and a written lesser intervention plan so everyone knows how their school is proactively working to address behavior and reduce removals.”
Stone-Palmquist said there are many theories as to why schools across the country suspend students of color at higher rates.
“Some argue that students of color misbehave at higher rates — but there has been research that casts doubt on this and shows that even for the same infraction, students of color are disciplined more harshly,” she said. “There is also research that has shown students of color are surveilled (watched) more often and that Black boys are girls are often viewed more as adults, more culpable and less innocent in comparison to white boys and girls.”
She added, “This is a complex issue that asks a lot of the adults in the room — adults who often don’t have the support they need. But we believe it’s our responsibility to keep working at it in as collaborative a way as possible.”