Schools

Pre-K Students in Maryland Schools Suspended: What's the Number in Your County?

Maryland school leaders are reportedly working to trim the number of suspensions for students younger than kindergarten-age.

Dozens of pre-kindergartners were suspended last school year in Maryland, with the highest number in Baltimore, reports the Baltimore Sun, highlighting a practice that some experts say is too extreme for young children.

The newspaper says the number of out-of-school suspensions in Baltimore for children ages 3 and 4 nearly doubled since the previous year to 33, according to data provided by the city school system.

Anne Arundel County reported 19 suspensions and Howard County officials said they have never suspended a child that young.

The pre-K suspensions underscore a broader debate about zero-tolerance policies, sparked by young children being suspended for actions such as making gun hand gestures and chewing a breakfast pastry in the shape of a gun, the Sun said. Such policies are aimed at making schools safe, but some say they have been taken too far.

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Across Maryland, 91 pre-K students were suspended or expelled in the 2011-2012 school year, the most recent year with statewide data available. That compares to 75 in 2009 and 105 in 2010, according to the newspaper.

Howard County is the only area district that has never reported a pre-K suspension.

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Carroll County reported no pre-K suspensions last year; Harford County had two pre-K suspensions last year; and of Anne Arundel's 19 pre-K suspensions, the majority resulted from physical attacks on other students, the Sun said.

The following are the number of pre-kindergarten suspensions in the Baltimore-area school systems for the 2012-2013 school year, according to the report:

Anne Arundel County: 19

Baltimore City: 33

Baltimore County: 1

Carroll County: 0

Harford County: 2

Howard County: 0

Read more about the school suspensions on the Baltimore Sun website.


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