OMAHA- Under a newly-proposed student code of conduct, the youngest of students in the Omaha Public Schools system would no longer be suspended in most cases. The school board is set to consider the second reading of the proposal this week. If it's approved, no child in pre-kindergarten to second grade would be able to be suspended by administrators unless they bring a weapon onto school grounds.
"Young children need to be taught and then practice self-regulation to develop memory, attention, and self-control skills necessary for the learning environment," the proposed code reads, "If a pre-K through second grade student must be removed from the classroom, they will work in the school with staff and resources to practice and develop skills to support a return-to-the-classroom environment." Under the current code, first and second grade students are only allowed to be suspended from their school for a maximum of two days.
The revision to OPS's code comes right after the passage of Sen. Terrell McKinney's LB632, which was included in a large package of education bills and prohibits any school residing in a city of the metropolitan class from suspending students from pre-K to second grade. McKinney, during the debate of his bill, argued that school districts need to use alternatives to suspension more often to keep students from poor outcomes like substandard academics or involvement in the criminal justice system. "Suspension from school sets children up for failure," said Connie Edmond, a representative from the Nebraska Commission on African American Affairs, "There are no second chances."
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