HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — As a new school year begins — the issue of discipline is being discussed in Hillsborough County.

According to data collected by the U.S. Department of Education, discipline disparities disproportionately impact students of color and those with disabilities nationwide. 

In Hillsborough County, the numbers show an 11% decrease in district-wide referrals between the past two school years, dropping from 66,313 to 58,963.

However, it also shows that the average number of referrals for Black and Hispanic middle and high school students was 2 to 3 times higher than that of White students.

Jalem Robinson, a former educator and administrator, says that every situation is unique, and it’s important to examine specifically what happened and the backgrounds of everyone involved.

“When you think about suspensions — you can’t just think about what did the student do," said Robinson. "You have to think about what the setting was like in the classroom? What is the setting like in the school? What factors around that situation were in play? Who was around the situation? What is the background or family look like of the student? What is the background of the reporting adult? Who handled the situation when it got to the office? So, it’s so many different factors that really come into play that when you have the conversation, it’s just more than black and white.”

April Cobb has 26 years of experience in education and heads up a summer camp in Tampa. She says students don’t always follow the rules and that educators do sometimes need to intervene. But she’s concerned about referrals and suspensions in Hillsborough County schools.

“A Child’s education when they are continuously suspended — it impacts them big time because that creates learning gaps for a lot of them,” said Cobb, who founded the Sunshine Education Coalition (SEC).

Cobb says her grandson, who lives with a disability, got a referral that resulted in a suspension.

“The suspension probably wouldn’t have been as bad if he didn’t have to undergo a threat assessment at 7 years old,” said Cobb.

She fears it can take a toll on students and their mental health. 

 “It triggered some behaviors that he was dealing with and already going to counselling for,” Cobb added.

The Hillsborough County School Board held two workshops to review recent discipline referrals data. 

School board chairperson Karen Perez says coping skills aren’t the same for all children.

“We keep using the same discipline measure and measuring each child by the same gauge and that doesn’t work,” said Hillsborough School Board Chair Karen Perez.

Board members reviewed the code of conduct and talked about the need for consistency.

“The numbers are going down, but we have to look at the consequences. You get 10 days at this school for skipping, but at another school, you don’t get 10 days. The key there is consistency,” said Hillsborough County School Board member Shake Washington.

Bias mitigation was also discussed.

Joshua Kristol, the District’s General Director of Climate and Culture, mentioned that new school report cards have been helpful.

“I think a lot of times people [administrators] may not know they are doing it. This is about correcting their behaviour too. We’re teaching everyone,” said Kristol.

Cobb mentions that it’s a continuous journey.

“Until we bring all those collective parties in together with the data and then make it transparent so that everyone in the community is aware of the data by posting it on their website, we’re started,” said Cobb.

She says it’s critical to figure out what’s causing the problem and to fix it.

“Regardless of what it is, we’ve got to do something about it,” said Cobb.

If not, Cobb says the gap regarding school discipline could continue to widen.

This year, the school district introduced a program called PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support). It rewards students for positive behavior and is currently active in 67 schools within Hillsborough County.