An investigation by the New York State Attorney General’s Office concluded that students of color and students with disabilities in Buffalo Public Schools were suspended at significantly higher rates than their white peers and students without disabilities.
The findings stem from a review of district discipline data from 2019 through 2023 school, excluding the COVID-19-impacted year. According to the Attorney General’s report, in the 2022–2023 academic year, Black secondary students were more than six times as likely to receive out-of-school suspensions as white secondary students. Latino secondary students were nearly four times as likely to be suspended as their white counterparts.
Investigators for the AG’s office found that disparities extended beyond serious misconduct. Black and Latino students were suspended out of school for relatively minor, non-violent issues, including absences, cutting class, elopement (defined as leaving a designated school area without permission) and tardiness, at higher rates than white students…