The Tucson Unified School District’s new approach toward high school students who are facing long-term suspension or expulsion is built on a common-sense premise: bad behavior rarely happens in a vacuum and can be a red flag for serious and complex problems in a student’s life.
The plan, called the District Alternative Education Program (DAEP), will have space for 75 to 90 students who have not been in trouble much in the past, but have committed a “Level 5” offense like harassment, indecent exposure, robbery, extortion and incidents involving weapons.
“We’re trying to interrupt the school-to-prison pipeline,” said TUSD Superintendent H.T. Sanchez. “A lot of students who are long-term suspended or expelled, a lot of times they don’t come back and they end up finding more trouble and get into the court system or incarcerated.”
The program will be voluntary and parents must attend an orientation with the student. The student must sign a contract agreeing to attendance rules and a dress code. The DAEP classes will be held at Project More and the Southwest Education Center, so students will be away from their usual campus for up to 45 days.
School disciplinary systems traditionally focus on the punishment and removing the offending student from the campus. But kicking out students for months, or even an entire school year, ignores why the student might be acting in a particular way. Help a troubled student address the real problems in their lives — often homelessness, substance abuse, domestic violence — and you’ve made a difference in that student’s future.
“The idea that some kids are just bad, you can’t buy into that and call yourself an educator,” Sanchez said.
The program will cost TUSD more than $400,000 for five certified teachers, a counselor, a behavior intervention monitor, tutoring and teaching supplies. Sanchez says the goal is for it to be up and running in September.
“This is a better investment than them ending up in prison system,” he said.
The question of whether spending precious funds on students who have committed serious offenses is a good use of taxpayer money isn’t the right question to ask, Sanchez said. “I think the better question is why haven’t we done it earlier?”
TUSD will also be changing its in-house suspension program at 10 high schools for students who commit Level 3 offenses, such as talking back to a teacher, using profanity, writing on a bathroom wall — behaviors that put a student on the verge of out-of-school suspension. “We’re going to offer very similar services, ask where do they need assistance?” Sanchez said.
The crux of both changes is to get the student in trouble connected with community resources that can help address an underlying situation contributing to misbehavior. Sanchez recalled a student who was on her way to being suspended for 180 days for telling off a teacher, leaving campus and more.
“We couldn’t figure out why she was so tired and frustrated,” he said. “Somebody asked her what was going on and she said that her mother had left about two weeks before, her dad left a long time ago and she said, ‘I’ve been trying to find a way to take care of my brother, and we have no money.’ Her actions at school were a reflection of a horrible home circumstance.”
The impetus behind the program is good, and we are hopeful that it can make a difference for students and schools. The key will be creating partnerships between TUSD and people and groups in the community that can help, because Sanchez said the budget doesn’t include money for the services like substance abuse treatment, outside clinical psychologist appointments and more. TUSD officials plan to meet with officials from the Pima County Juvenile Court to learn more about what’s available, such as psychologists who do pro bono work with teens.
If this plan is to succeed, those partnerships must be effective and be more than a handoff from district to social service agency. The details are still being worked out, but we are encouraged that TUSD is taking a holistic look at discipline and how to make a meaningful difference in students’ lives.
