Suspended students: a practical approach - Police Practice - Column

With a truancy rate projected as high as 25 percent of the student population at both the elementary and middle school levels, a problem in North Miami Beach, Florida, schools quickly became a community and police concern. School administrators did not want suspended students back until they served 3 to 10 days out of school; the regional school district had nowhere to send them; working parents could not stay home or bring their children to the office. Thus, instead of staying home under parental supervision, suspended students loitered at the local convenience store, hung out at the mall, or broke into homes and vehicles.

Together, the police, city council, and city manager developed a creative solution to resolve this community problem. The Alternative to Suspension Program (ASP)(1) brought together parents, teachers, city and school officials, and police officers in an effort to keep suspended students off the streets and from getting involved in criminal activities. At the same time, the program was designed to provide students with an alternative to staying home alone and an opportunity to remove their suspensions from their permanent records. But first they would have to earn it.

A Disciplined Approach

The key to the alternative program is structure. Students serve their suspensions in a classroom setting away from the school. Their parents or guardians drop them off each day at 8:30 a.m. and pick them up at 3 p.m. Students bring a brown-bag lunch - a significant change for children accustomed to cutting class and going out for lunch. A part-time teacher provides instruction in reading and math, a school counselor holds group and individual behavior-modification sessions, and police officers from the department's community policing and crime prevention units discuss crime and criminal behavior.

Two disruptive elementary students - a fifth and sixth grader - attended the first class. The teacher taught the basic curriculum. The police officer "rapped" about teens, crime, and the community. The counselor was able to "get inside their heads," and the students paid attention. They completed the program and returned to their regular classes without further incident.

The Middle School Program

Building on the success of the elementary school program, the community partners tailored a new curriculum to middle school students. According to police department records, these youths caused the most disruption in school and committed the majority of youth-related crimes in the city. The size of the middle school class quickly grew to 40 students by the end of the first month. Most of these youths had been given 5- to 10-day suspensions.

The middle school curriculum focuses on math - a subject in which most of the students perform at a level far below their peers in the same grade, as well as the national average. When students begin the program, the teacher administers a test to gauge their proficiency level. Then, using mnemonics and repetition, the teacher helps them learn and memorize formulas. Moreover, the nature of the ASP curriculum, which requires complete immersion in the lessons without distractions, almost ensures complete learning.

By the end of their suspension periods, more than 90 percent of the students had improved their math skills. Many of the students had been conditioned through repeated past failures to believe that they could not solve complex math problems. When they realized that they did possess these skills, their self-esteem increased dramatically.

The police officers also modified their instruction to suit the needs of the middle school students. Topics of discussion include drug and alcohol abuse, burglary and robbery, gangs, sexual assault and date rape, vandalism, conflict resolution, and self-esteem issues. The methods used to convey these messages are as diverse as the students themselves. Officers use printed materials, audio and videotapes, and role-play scenarios, as well as more traditional discussions and lectures.

Guest speakers may prove the most successful way of communicating with the youths. Listening to their peers retell the horrors of addiction, abuse, gang life, arrest, and incarceration makes a greater impact on today's youths by giving them the opportunity to relate these issues to their own lives, while quieting the mantra of youth, "It can't happen to me."

Graduation

By the end of the school year, 121 out of 165 students had successfully completed the program and returned to school, resuming their educations without further mishap. Only 44 were terminated from the program; the majority of these students had signed up but never attended. They had to serve their suspensions without supervision, and in contrast to students who graduated from ASP, their suspensions remained a mark on their records.

With property crime rates - which traditionally indicate juvenile involvement - dropping as much as 28 percent, this program appears to be an

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