Feds to hear Wake County student discipline concerns at forum

Investigators from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights are holding a community forum Tuesday to hear concerns about how the Wake County school system disciplines African-American students.

Wake has been under federal investigation since the state NAACP and other groups filed a complaint in 2010 over how black students are disproportionately suspended compared to other groups in the district. Federal officials say the forum will help them with their review of whether the district’s discipline policies and practices discriminate against African-American students on the basis of race.

Investigators say the forum will provide an opportunity for students, parents of students, and other members of the community to share their experiences. The forum is scheduled to run from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Vital Link School Event Center, 1214 E. Lenoir St. in Raleigh.

The district has made changes in its discipline policies, resulting in a 34 percent reduction in the number of suspensions since the 2010-11 school year.

But critics of the district’s policies note that black students accounted for 63 percent of Wake’s suspensions during the 2014-15 school year while making up 24 percent of the enrollment.

In addition, African-American students accounted for 69 percent of the referrals that school resource officers made to the court system last school year.

Some of the groups that filed the 2010 complaint are planning to hold a news conference at 4 p.m. Monday in front of Martin Street Baptist Church, 1001 E. Martin St. in Raleigh.

This story was originally published April 11, 2016 at 1:16 PM with the headline "Feds to hear Wake County student discipline concerns at forum."