FCPS: Expulsions and Reassignments Dropping

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) has released the 2010-11 annual report of its Hearings Office, which shows a 30-percent decline in the number of discipline hearings over the past four years.

There were 106 fewer expulsion hearings during the 2010-11 school year, as well as a drop in school reassignment hearings from 67 during the 2009-10 school year to 62 in 2010-11, the school system reported.

A total of 716 disciplinary hearings were held at the Superintendent level during the 2010-11 school year. Of those, 530 were expulsion hearings, 62 were reassignment hearings, 19 were exclusion hearings, and 105 hearings were for students requesting enrollment in FCPS or in a different FCPS school or program. 

The School Board considered 103 student disciplinary cases. The total number of cases referred to the Hearings Office continued a pattern of decline, showing a 30-percent decrease in the number of hearings since the 2006-07 school year.

Less than one-third of one percent of all FCPS students were recommended for expulsion. Drug-related offenses, especially marijuana offenses, accounted for a majority of all recommendations for expulsion, more than any other category.

Of the 716 cases considered, 364 students (51 percent) were assigned to an alternative education setting, 223 students (31 percent) were assigned to a regular school program, and 82 students (11 percent) were forwarded to the School Board for final determination. The percentage of students recommended for expulsion or reassignment declined for each of the four largest racial-ethnic groups represented in FCPS.

The report covers 2010-11 school year, before changes were made to the Student Rights and Responsibilities handbook. The report covers only student discipline cases handled by the Hearings Office and not the vast majority of discipline cases handled at the school level. 

 The complete report can be found at http://www.fcps.edu/supt/hearings/finalsbreport1011.pdf.