Brevard Schools: Discipline rates fell, but some groups still disproportionately impacted

By Finch Walker

After more than two years of revamping their discipline policies, Brevard Public Schools has seen a drop in discipline rates of nearly 2,000 compared to the same time last year, according to data presented by student services at a Tuesday work session.

Superintendent Mark Rendell compared it to police officers writing tickets on a busy road, saying he was happy to see the number dropping off.

"When you correct misbehavior, you have to write a lot of tickets," he said. "So last year, we were writing a lot of tickets ... and at this point this year, the number of referrals are down almost 2,000, and that's amazing."

The district's discipline policies and procedures have been revamped over the past couple of years, particularly surrounding how quickly teachers, administrators and bus drivers must submit reports — or "referrals," as they're called by district staff — after an incident has occurred. The change came after a March 2023 audit into the discipline process in the hopes that it would streamline the process and make things run more smoothly.

At this point, in addition to submitting referrals within a set period of time, district procedures also involve monthly trainings for administrators, transportation problem-solving meetings, meetings with Brevard Federation of Teachers and more.

Here's what the data showed.

How many students were disciplined?

Overall, the number of referrals dropped during the first semester of the 2024-2025 school year compared to the same time period during the previous school year, as did the number of students receiving referrals, according to district data.

During the first semester of the school year, 43,696 referrals were recorded. That's 1,948 fewer referrals than what the district saw during the same time period in the 2023-2024 school year, when there were 45,644 referrals in the first semester.

Referrals during the first semester of this year were divided among 14,196 students, as compared to 15,273 students in the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year.

How much time is spent on suspensions or at alternative learning center?

The number of in-school suspensions dropped from the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year compared to the first semester of this year, though the number of out-of-school suspensions rose.

Last year, there were 4,803 in-school suspensions during the first semester, while this year, there were 3,506, according to district data.

As for out-of-school suspensions, there were 15,358 suspensions during the first semester of last year, while there were 15,723 suspensions during the first semester of this year.

Placements at the alternative learning centers — BPS learning facilities students who are facing expulsion can choose to attend instead of opting for homeschooling or private school — dropped between this year and last year. There were 325 placements at the ALCs during the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year, while this year, there were 257.

Are any groups disproportionately impacted?

While the overall number of placements at the alternative learning centers were down this year for all races compared to last year, Black students were still disproportionately represented. Of the 257 students who were placed at these centers during the first semester of the school year, 117 of them were Black, while 81 were white, 30 were Hispanic, 28 were multiracial and one was American Indian/Alaskan Native.

In other words, about 46% of those placed at BPS' alternative learning centers were Black. That's an increase from the first semester of last year, when Black students made up about 42% of the students placed at alternative learning centers.

Of the more than 74,300 students in all of Brevard Public Schools, 11,398 — or about 15% — are Black.

Several groups also saw a high risk ratio compared to the first semester of last year. Risk ratio refers to a measure used by the state to determine if a district is "at risk" based on the number of suspensions given to a particular demographic. Ideally, each demographic should be at a 1.0, while a ratio of 2.5 puts the district on "alert status," and a ratio of 3.0 is when action needs to be taken to solve the situation.

During the first semester of the 2024-2025 school year, the risk ratio for Alaska Native/American Indian, Black, English Language Learner and non-gifted special education students all increased, while the ratio for Asian, free or reduced lunch, hispanic and multi-racial students dropped. The ratio for white students — 0.54 — remained the same between both years

Alaska Native/American Indian and Black students were tied for the highest jump in risk ratio at 0.09 from the first semester of 2023-2024 to the first semester of this year, placing their overall risk ratios at 1.19 and 2.66. Students on free or reduced lunch saw the biggest drop in risk ratio, with their risk falling from 2.75 to 2.53.

What do admins, teachers, bus drivers say?

Teachers, administrators and bus drivers were asked how they felt about the current discipline process.

Of 118 administrators, the vast majority said policies and procedures were clearly defined, monthly training updates were adequate and that they understood the rules for corrective strategies as written in BPS' code of conduct.

Bus drivers — 102 of whom were surveyed — overwhelmingly said they knew what to do if they had a disciplinary issue on a bus and agreed or strongly agreed that referrals were processed more quickly than in the past.