TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Educators in Kansas’ largest public school district discriminated against Black and disabled students when disciplining them, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, which announced an agreement Tuesday that will have the district revising its policies.
Changes the Wichita district has agreed to include restraining unruly students less often and ending the practice of putting misbehaving students alone in rooms by Jan. 1, 2025, the DOJ said.
The district also agreed to offer counseling or tutoring to every student who was confined alone in a room during the past three schools years, with the number of hours matching those for which the student was secluded. The department said the district already is writing a new code of conduct for students and has scheduled crisis-prevention training for staff.
The agreement comes amid an ongoing national debate about classroom discipline and whether punishments for minority and disabled students are disproportionately harsh. The Justice Department has previously reached similar agreements with other school districts in the U.S.