Survey Suggests Some Bronx Schools Slow to Adopt New Student Discipline Approach

Students who said they didn't enjoy school were more likely to have been disciplined than those who liked school, according to a survey and report released Monday by the New Settlement Parent Action Committee.

The Bronx-based group polled almost 400 students, parents and school staff members last year from 50 schools. It found more than half of the students enjoyed school, both academically and socially. But 52 percent of those who didn't enjoy school socially said they were disciplined in the past four years, compared with 35 percent of those who enjoyed school academically. Those who didn't enjoy school academically were also more likely to be disciplined.

"They're not really getting the kind of support that they would need," said parent leader DeJohn Jones of New Settlement.

She also said the survey found that those who don't like school were twice as likely as other students to say they would never turn to a teacher, administrator, social worker for safety agent for help. Instead, she said, they tended to seek out friends and family.

The report recommended adding more social workers. It noted that there are just 107 full-time guidance counselors and 52 full-time social workers for more than 35,000 students in District 9 of the Bronx.

It also called for more targeted social-emotional support for disengaged pupils, and restorative justice practices that involved other students.

Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration has encouraged these alternative forms of discipline and suspensions have gone down. The city has also created more community schools, which provide additional resources, and has hired 250 more guidance counselors.  Last week, the city reported its high school graduation rate inched up in 2015 while the drop-out rate declined.

The New Settlement report noted that the city was at "a critical crossroads for school discipline reform," as policymakers moved away from punitive, zero-tolerance models. However, it noted that the Bronx continued to have the highest rate of arrests and summonses.

"I run into students who are not receiving these kinds of supports," Jones said, adding that she recently broke up a fight between two girls who said there was no mediator at their school. "They don't feel like they are supported and they don't feel like there is someone they can turn to."

(This report has been updated to reflect an editing change in the New Settlement report)