Black students in Austin ISD, 6.5% of the district's student population, accounted for 17.5% of all disciplinary actions in the district during the 2021-22 school year. Students receiving special education services, 13.4% of the district's student population, accounted for 29.7%.
Disciplinary actions result in either home suspension, in school suspension or discretionary removal.
The board set discipline rate goals for 2021-22 at 15% and 34% for Black and special education students respectively. The board set a long-term goal for the district of entirely eliminating discipline disparity for both student groups by the end of the 2025-26 school year.
The discipline rate for Black students dropped by only 0.2% from 2020-21 to 2021-22, while the rate for special education students decreased by 11.4%.
Oscar Adams, AISD associate director of discipline standards and accountability, said he was encouraged by the overall reduction of disciplinary actions for all students within the district since the 2018-19 school year. There were 13,432 total disciplinary actions in 2018-19 and 6,133 in 2021-22.
The district also laid out next steps to meet disparity reduction goals going forward.
The multi-tiered systems of support department will provide training to teachers and assistance to campuses. Also, administrators at schools will continue to update discipline action plans and restorative practice coordinators will assist on campuses.
Kevin Foster, District 3 trustee, said he is interested in big changes that will help reduce discipline disparity.
"I'm not as always interested in incremental gains, I'm interested in the brilliance that produces transformative innovation," Foster said.
The board's next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 8.
First semester data was previously discussed during a March 10 board information session.
