Student suspensions are at a post-pandemic high in Wake. What schools will do now.
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Wake logged 13,473 short-term suspensions in 2024–25, a 35% rise since 2018–19.
- Black students and students with disabilities face large suspension disparities in Wake.
- District is boosting behavioral supports, restorative practices and targeted coaching.
Out-of-school suspensions are at record post-pandemic levels, but Wake County school leaders say they’re trying to get the numbers down to keep more children in class.
Wake County reported 13,473 short-term suspensions last school year – a 5.6% increase from the prior year and a 35% increase since the 2018-19 school year, according to data presented Tuesday. Wake also had 15 long-term suspensions last school year — a 50% increase from the prior year and a 400% increase above pre-pandemic numbers in 2019.
The rise in out-of-school suspensions has occurred even though student enrollment has been flat during that time period.
“A suspension is more than just a missed school day,” said Paul Walker, senior director of student due process and alternative education. “It’s a disruption to the safety net of many students.”
School administrators told the school board’s student achievement committee on Tuesday that they’re trying to address the discipline issue by improving the behavioral health of students.
“Our ultimate goal is to make sure we’re increasing behavioral supports and reducing suspension rates through proactive intervention,” said Mellotta Hill, Wake’s chief academic advancement officer.
Suspensions up since the pandemic
Under North Carolina law, short-term suspensions are those that keep a student home for up to 10 days. A long-term suspension lasts for more than 10 days and could go as long as the rest of the school year or 365 days depending on the severity of the offense.
Pre-pandemic, suspensions had been declining as part of an effort to keep students in class. Schools increasingly used alternatives such as in-school suspensions.
But out-of-school suspensions rose statewide and nationally after students returned from remote learning during the pandemic. State leaders have cited problems such as the disruption to learning caused by the pandemic and the rise in mental health issues among young people.
Statewide, there was an 8.6% drop in short-term suspensions and a 6.3% drop in long-term suspensions last school year. But even with the decline, suspensions are still above pre-pandemic levels for the state.
Racial disparities in Wake’s suspension data
In 2010, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) began investigating Wake County’s discipline policies amid a review of suspension rates of Black students and students with disabilities. The review was based on Obama administration guidance — since repealed by the Trump administration — that warned schools about racial disparities in suspensions.
The investigation led to changes that prompted OCR to enter into a voluntary settlement with the district in 2018.
The out-of-school suspension data from the 2024-25 school year shows how disparities remain.
- Black students accounted for 57.2% of the suspensions while only making up 21% of the enrollment.
- Students with disabilities accounted for 38.1% of the suspensions while making up 11.5% of the enrollment.
- White students accounted for 16.7% of the suspensions while making up 41.4% of the enrollment.
Hill said the district is focusing on schools with disproportionate suspension numbers.
The issues aren’t unique to Wake. Black students and students with disabilities are disproportionately suspended at the state and national level.
Rise in classroom and bathroom infractions
Wake records where infractions that lead to disciplinary action take place. Wake is seeing a rise in issues reported in the classroom and in school bathrooms.
Last school year, Wake reported 4,7075 classroom infractions — a 14.5% increase from the prior year.
The second-highest location for infractions last school year was in bathrooms, where schools have dealt with problems such as vaping that sets off fire alarms. There were 1,929 bathroom infractions — a 6.1% increase from the prior year and a 15.6% jump from two years ago.
Most students are never suspended
Despite the rise in suspensions, Wake pointed out that most students don’t get into trouble. Last school year, only 7,921 of Wake’s 160,000 students were suspended.
Walker said 96% of students are never suspended. Of those who are, Walker said 80% are suspended only once.
“School climates are successfully keeping nearly all of our 160,000 students in the classroom and in the learning community,” Walker said.
Walker also pointed to how Wake suspends students at a lower rate than the state average and some of North Carolina’s other large districts.
In the 2023-24 school year, the short-term suspension rate per 1,000 students was 215.6 in Cumberland County, 162.34 for the state average, 128.05 in Guilford County and 79.93 in Wake County.
Wake Superintendent Robert Taylor said the district’s Code of Student Conduct requires principals to take more steps before imposing disciplinary action than compared to the other large districts.
“Having those kinds of safeguards in place are going to keep our numbers low,” Taylor said.
Schools use restorative practices
School administrators say they’re making gains in reducing suspensions at some schools by improving school climate and using restorative practices.
Wake singled out Forest Pines Drive Elementary in Raleigh, where the number of incidents dropped from 856 last school year to 220 this school year through Dec. 31. The school credited the drop to coaching received from the district’s Office of School Climate, which includes advising teachers on how to manage their classrooms.
“You cannot have high academic achievement if the classroom is not safe.,” said Altonia Bransome, the principal of Forest Pines Drive.
Restorative practices involve using alternatives to suspensions to deal with disciplinary issues.
For instance, some schools use “circle time” to build community and empathy. Students meet regularly in circles to talk with their classmates and teachers about their feelings, hopes, dreams and concerns.
Hill said schools need to do is teach consistent expectations to students of how they’re supposed to behave in school.
“We’re teaching children strategies with their behavior as opposed to just punishing them when they do not reach those expectations,” Hill said.
