BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Advocates for Buffalo Public Schools students say the district has made little progress on student discipline reforms, four months after entering into an agreement with the New York Attorney General's office.
At a news conference on the steps of City Hall on Tuesday, Samantha White of the Western New York Law Center acknowledged the number of suspensions has dipped — but said that is not enough.
"We welcome any reduction in suspensions as a positive step. But the AG's investigation wasn't just about the number of suspensions; it identified serious concerns, racial disparities, improper treatment of students with disabilities, basic due process violations impacting the civil rights of every student," White said.
Jessica Bauer Walker, co-chair of the Community Health Worker Parent and Student Association, said students are still being suspended without proper written notice — and that notices are not always being provided in families' home languages.
"It's been over 100 days at this point. We're at the end of another school year. We continue to see our students suspended," Bauer Walker said.
WATCH: Advocates for BPS students say little has changed after AG agreement to reform discipline practices
"I've had multiple cases where students are being kept home from school or told they're suspended without any type of written notice. That notice also has to be provided in that family's home language. I have multiple cases where families are receiving notices in English when they do not speak English," Bauer Walker said.
Sam Radford, with Buffalo Solutions Not Suspensions, called on the broader community to hold the district accountable.
"We are out here doing the best we can as parents and advocates, but we need this whole community to come together and say that this school district cannot continue to do this, even in the face of an attorney general's ruling that they have violated our children's rights. They continue to do it," Radford said.
Rich Nigro, president of the Buffalo Teachers Union, said the safety of students and staff needs to be considered.
"We certainly don't want to just carelessly start issuing suspensions. Kids walk in the hall, OK, you're out. A kid drops something on the floor, you're out. That would be ridiculous. But certainly in an instance where there's violence and most certainly if the violence is acted out against an adult or a staff member, then yeah, I want to see some swift decisive action and then we can have the restorative conversation afterwards," Nigro said.
The Buffalo Public Schools district did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Advocates said they are hopeful the Buffalo Common Council will take up the matter in the near future.
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