Moving Mountains: Changing the way we discipline in Washington State Jess Lewis, Behavior and Discipline Program Supervisor

USDE Office of Civil Rights Dear Colleague Letter: Prohibition of Discrimination in Student Discipline Adverse Discriminatory Impact “Federal law prohibits public school districts from discriminating in the administration of student discipline based on certain personal characteristics.” “Statistical evidence may indicate that groups of students have been subjected to different treatment or that a school policy or practice may have an adverse discriminatory impact.”

Different Treatment and Disparate Impact The administration of student discipline can result in unlawful discrimination in two ways: If a student is subjected to different treatment based on the student’s protected class If a policy is neutral on its face, and is administered in an even-handed manner but has a disparate impact

Enforcement: A Shift in Thinking USDE (OCR) will now look carefully at: Definitions of misconduct to ensure they are clear and nondiscriminatory The extent to which disciplinary criteria and referrals are made for offenses that are subjectively defined Whether there are safeguards to ensure that discretion is exercised in a nondiscriminatory manner School districts should: Establish a system for monitoring all disciplinary referrals Have a system in place to ensure that staff who have the authority to refer students for discipline are properly trained to administer student discipline in a nondiscriminatory manner