School Discipline

Several Illinois school districts are banning smartphones this year.“80% of all of the behavior issues that we have this year were cell phone related.”Why school leaders say smartphones are causing major social and academic issues & what these bans will actually look like.

Civil rights groups filed a federal complaint against Rockford Public Schools. It claims the district discriminates against students by over-referring them to police for tickets.“We saw students and their families getting defaulted for $750.”More details on the complaint.

On Tuesday, two civil rights organizations filed a federal complaint against Rockford Public Schools, alleging discriminatory discipline practices.

The state’s 3rd-largest district knew it was suspending way too many students. Has a new code of conduct made a difference?

Rockford Public Schools perennially have some of the highest student mobility rates in the state. Mobility Rate is the percent of students who experience at least one transfer in or out of their school during the school year. Experts say that disruption can be really harmful.

This spring, an investigation from ProPublica and the Chicago Tribune showed how students are ticketed by police for in-school incidents and have to pay fines. WNIJ’s Peter Medlin looks at how much DeKalb students have had to pay over the past few years…

“I think for a long time, not just Summit but regional programs, in general, were thought of this place we put kids we don't know how to manage. We pay a reduced rate for them to come to school and we just hope to not hear a whole lot.”

“A great many of our students that get pulled out of their home schools on an EIA, would be for having a vape on them. Pushing that kid out of school, who is often a student on track and doing well in school, to kick them out -- we're not owning their education anymore, and outsourcing it. It really doesn't do anything to repair the harm that was done," said RPS' chief of schools.

We're looking at behavior and discipline and a school district's quest to restore their community's trust in solving both.

Does having more officers in a school automatically mean more safety? More and more school districts are questioning that premise after protests sparked…