SB239 Summary

• Restricts out-of-school suspensions to only students whose disruptive behavior includes willfully causing bodily injury, threatening serious bodily injury or death, or bringing weapons or controlled substances onto school grounds.

• Requires teachers and administrators to use alternative interventions for other disruptive behavior, including conferences with parents, counseling, tutoring, restorative justice practices, and in-school suspension (limited to 90 minutes for all-day classroom settings).

• Mandates schools and districts collect and publicly report out-of-school suspension data disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and disability status by June 30 annually.

• Requires schools exceeding suspension rate thresholds (12 per 100 students in 2016-2017, declining to 8 per 100 by 2018-2019) or suspension gaps between subgroups to implement restorative justice practices and establish "Smart Discipline Advisory Committees" with administrators, parents, teachers, community members, and students.

• Directs the Department of Education to provide technical assistance on restorative justice to schools with high suspension rates.