Work Group Meeting, Friday, February 14, 2025, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams

Attendees: Bekah Brown, Diane Coffey, Matthew Ellinwood, Rev. Paul Robeson Ford, Katie Foster, Devonya Govan-Hunt, Hayley Lampkin-Blyth, Jovonia Lewis, Gerri Mattson, Valerie McMillan, Letha Muhammad, Mavreen Nanton-Scott, Peter Rawitsch, Brianna Session, Megan Vinh; Guest: Sally Herndon; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • The meeting began with introductions and participants sharing their current state.
  • Several participants mentioned feeling lighter and more positive due to Friday and sunny weather. Some participants reported recovering from illnesses.
  • Peter Rawitz mentioned Love Our Children's 4-year anniversary and 28 Days of Love campaign.
  • Discussion on finding state rankings for short-term suspensions in North Carolina. Suggestions for data sources included, Office of Civil Rights and Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count Data Center.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The Short-Term Suspensions Work Group’s 2024-2025 priorities include:
    • Disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline, beginning with early childhood programs by reducing the use of school suspensions and expulsions and increasing the use of counseling services and community-based programs and initiatives
    • Increase racial, ethnic, gender, and disability status diversity among school and childcare leadership and staff and the institutions that train them
• Policy Campaign Subcommittee
  • One-Pager
    • Peter shared recommendations for revisions for the one-pager with key points on out-of-school suspensions.
    • Shared a manual with information on school boards and suspension policies for 12 counties. Discussed adding more counties to the manual.
    • Discussed checklist for local advocacy efforts.
    • Mentioned the need to include information on pre-K level exclusionary practices.
    • Talked about potential strategies for engaging with different audiences on suspension issues.
  • Maryland Suspension Statute Discussion
    • Reviewed Maryland's suspension statute language. Refer to State of Maryland - Suspension Policy.
    • Discussed the statute's focus on restorative practices and limitations on suspensions.
    • Planned to research the definition of 'imminent threat' in Maryland statute.
• Progress Updates
  • Tobacco and Vaping Issues
    • Sally Herndon discussed using Juul settlement funds for restorative practices in schools.
    • Mentioned efforts to raise the minimum legal sales age for tobacco to 21.
    • Discussed strategies to reduce vape shop proximity to schools.
    • Co-leaders to schedule additional time to discuss this with Sally and her team.
  • Education Justice Alliance (EJA)- Too Young to Suspend Campaign
    • Letha announced an upcoming job opportunity for Early Child Care Statewide Organizer. The role will focus on building coalitions among parents across the state to address exclusionary discipline practices in early childhood education.
    • Planned for additional information to be shared regarding the Too Young to Suspend campaign for the work group meeting in April.
• Closing
  • Action items included:
    • Bekah Brown: Research and analyze the Maryland statute, compare it to previously gathered information, and look for definitions of 'imminent threat.’
    • Letha Muhammad: Prepare presentation on Too Young to Suspend campaign for April meeting.
    • All: Email Rev. Ford, Letha, Brianna, and/or Ashley with agenda items for the next meeting.
  • The next work group meeting is on Friday, April 11, 2025, from 10:00 to 11:00 am on Microsoft Teams.

Work Group Meeting, Friday, December 13, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams

Attendees: Hayley Lampkin Blyth, Veronica McLaurin-Brown, Rev. Paul Robeson Ford, Katie Foster, Alice Freeman, Scottie Jackson, Gerri Mattson, Letha Muhammad, Peter Rawitsch, Brianna Session, Jacquie Simmons, Rebecca Trammel, Megan Vinh, Brenda Williamson; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Participants introduced themselves and shared their organizational affiliations.
  • Hayley Lampkin-Blyth from Children's Law Center discussed challenges in school discipline.
  • Peter Rawitz from Love Our Children NC expressed optimism for the upcoming year.
  • Katie Foster and Jackie Simmons introduced their roles in childcare health and safety.
  • Brianna Session from Health and Human Services discussed her role in behavioral health.
  • Rebecca Trammel shared her work with Champions for Compassion and Leandro project.
  • Letha Muhammad emphasized the importance of joy in advocacy work.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The Short-Term Suspensions Work Group’s 2024-2025 priorities include:
    • Disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline, beginning with early childhood programs by reducing the use of school suspensions and expulsions and increasing the use of counseling services and community-based programs and initiatives.
    • Increase racial, ethnic, gender, and disability status diversity among school and childcare leadership and staff and the institutions that train them.
• Policy Campaign Subcommittee
  • Discussed launching a district-by-district campaign focusing on three counties.
  • Shared continued progress with funding from ZSR and plans for KBR support.
  • Provided updates on the draft one-pager.
  • Considering the inclusion of a western county impacted by Hurricane Helene in the pilot.
  • Discussed aligning campaigns with other organizations like EJA (Education Justice Alliance).
  • EJA will be releasing a report on suspensions in early childcare through third grade.
  • Consideration of partnerships with organizations like Down Home North Carolina.
• Progress Updates
  • Love Our Children NC- Peter Rawitsch
    • Modified suspension policies were a focus of Love Our Children's ongoing efforts.
    • Faced challenges with transparency in school data reporting.
    • Held a discussion on new school board members and their positions.
    • Provided updates on the interim superintendent and the potential for progress.
  • Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils (JCPC) and Collective Impact- Rev. Ford
    • Discussed the need for bus monitors to improve safety and behavior management.
    • Encountered challenges with hiring and retaining bus drivers due to pay and scheduling issues.
    • Emphasized the importance of Leandro funding in addressing these issues.
    • Expressed concerns about misplaced priorities in school spending.
    • Proposed cross-training bus drivers as teacher assistants.
    • Discussed creating career pathways for school staff.
    • Debated whether to rely on volunteers or advocate for proper funding.
    • Planned to form an ad hoc committee to brainstorm creative staffing solutions.
• Closing
  • Clarified the goals for the ad hoc committee on bus driver roles.
  • Discussed historical practices of combining bus driver and teacher assistant roles.
  • Planned for follow-up on additional counties for campaign expansion.
  • The next work group meeting is on Friday, February 14, 2025, from 10:00 to 11:00 am on Microsoft Teams.

Work Group Meeting, Friday, October 11, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams

Attendees: Diane Coffey, Rev. Paul Robeson Ford, Alice Freeman, Scottie Jackson, Gerri Mattson, Valerie McMillan, Dawn Meskil,  Peggy Nicholson, Carlton Powell, Brianna Session, Brenda Williamson; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Rev. Paul Robeson Ford welcomed everyone and asked those present to share signs of progress related to short-term suspensions they were seeing locally.
  • Carlton Powell shared a recent success in overturning a long-term suspension in superior court. The student had received a long suspension for allegedly bring a weapon to school that was a pencil sharpener.
  • Carlton shared short-term suspensions data regarding pre-K through third graders; refer to Consolidated Data Companion Report SY2021-2022.
  • Brianna Session is the new NCDHHS Co-Leader for the Short-Term Suspensions Work Group. Brianna is the new Behavioral Health Clinical Consultant in the School and Adolescent Health Unit at NCDHHS.
  • Question about the data available regarding the number of children involved in short-term suspensions are in foster care. Carlton shared he could try to find that data.
  • Concerns expressed about the reintegration of children in the western part of the state following short-term suspensions, particularly considering school openings. Gerri noted worries about how schools might manage trauma and loss, fearing that this could lead to increased reliance on certain disciplinary measures.
• Progress Updates
  • Winston-Salem and Forsyth County Schools
    • Rev. Paul Robeson Ford highlighted a victory in updating the student code of conduct for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, where no student under grade four can be suspended without exceptional circumstances, based on New Hanover County’s template.
    • Data shows a significant drop in suspensions and in-school suspensions for Pre-K through third grade from last year to this year; see WS/FCS 2023-24 data by race (week 8).
    • Positive classroom dynamics are evident, influenced by professional development, the hiring of behavioral intervention specialists, and a focus on restorative practices, especially early in the school year.
    • The Classroom Walkthrough platform will capture qualitative data on classroom environments and disruptive behavior management.
    • A question was raised about data for students with disabilities, which Rev. Ford will provide.
    • Peggy Nicholson noted that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools requires additional procedural review for early grade suspensions, with approval needed from the superintendent.
  • Z. Smith Reynolds (ZSR) Foundation-Systems Change Grant: An application has been submitted to the Z. Smith Reynolds (ZSR) Foundation for a State-Level Systemic Change Grant. If the funding is secured, the grant would provide resources for three to five communities with high suspension rates.
  • Partner Support Fund: If the ZSR grant is received, Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust will be approached about establishing a partner support fund. This fund would provide resources to help communities, such as advertisements, mailers, collaborating with partners, etc.
  • Too Young to Suspend: The North Carolina Coalition for Inclusion, Not Expulsion is a statewide effort to reduce and eliminate suspensions, expulsions, and exclusionary practices in early care and education. Education Justice Alliance's Too Young to Suspend campaign seeks to reduce the racial disparities in elementary school suspensions.
• Policy Campaign Subcommittee
  • A question was asked about inviting a representative from the Association of North Carolina Superintendents to be involved in this work at some point. The co-leaders plan to have additional discussion about this.
  • The draft one-pager was reviewed. Rev. Ford highlighted that this was a collaborative project, and the one-pager contains multiple comments and back-and-forth review.
  • Work group members are asked to review the one-pager and provide additional comments and feedback.
  • At the next work group meeting the group will review a semifinal version on the one-pager and additional information regarding timeline and planning for a formal launch of the policy campaign around the state.
  • Alice Freeman shared she wanted to be a part of getting the Pre-K through third grade suspension policy in Robeson County. Alice shared in Robeson County the suspension rates in elementary schools are high and concerns have been raised by parents about advocacy for their children. Robeson County will be added to the list of counties to approach. Alice was asked to share available data on suspension rates, demographics, disaggregation by race, students with disabilities, and similar data.
• Closing
  • The next work group meeting is on Friday, December 13, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:00 am on Microsoft Teams.

Work Group Meeting, Friday, August 9, 2024, 10:00 to 11:00 am, Microsoft Teams

Attendees: Will Boone, Diane Coffey, Matthew Ellinwood, Rev. Paul Robeson Ford, Devonya Govan-Hunt, Scottie Jackson, Veronica McLaurin-Brown, Valerie McMillan, Peter Rawitsch, Andrina Scott, Rebecca Trammel; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The Short-Term Suspensions Work Group is part of the NC SHIP Community Council. Highlights from their Annual Meeting included the need for collective impact for policy change, House Bill 1027 in the Education Committee, and the bipartisan support for amended House Bill 207, which is still at the Committee level. Highlight slides are available for review. Other work groups are interested in collaborating due to their interconnection, such as the SHIP Tobacco Committee. Co-leaders and staff will be planning a joint gathering to discuss and align the work of different groups for a united front.
• Priority Review
  • The work group’s priorities were reviewed. The work group has focused on the first priority and is open to discussing the second priority.
    • Disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline, beginning with early childhood programs by reducing the use of school suspensions and expulsions and increasing the use of counseling services and community-based programs and initiatives.
    • Increase racial, ethnic, gender, and disability status diversity among school and childcare leadership and staff and the institutions that train them.
• Policy Campaign Subcommittee
  • The Policy Campaign Subcommittee has drafted a one-pager for the toolkit and considered the successes of Forsyth County and Love Our Children in New Hanover County for adopting policies to end out-of-school suspensions for K-3 students, except in extreme situations. Feedback on the one-pager is welcomed. The intention is to equip local communities with toolkits and insights from work done in successful districts to help advance their own efforts. The Subcommittee has identified three potential counties for further engagement, Chatham, Orange, and Wake. There are opportunities for intentional collaboration to move the policy campaign forward between the Subcommittee and Freedom Hill Coalition hosted by CREED.
• Progress Updates
  • Systems Change Grant- Change Statement Proposal: An application has been submitted to the Z. Smith Reynolds (ZSR) Foundation for a State-Level Systemic Change Grant. If the funding is secured, the grant would provide resources for three to five communities with high suspension rates, particularly affecting black, brown, and students with disabilities, to advance the policy campaign work. The proposal includes opportunities for local organizers to gather for training and share insights and successes statewide.
  • Partner Support Fund: If the ZSR grant is received, Rev. Ford and Letha Muhammad will approach the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust about establishing a partner support fund. This fund would provide resources to help communities, particularly those facing resistance, to advance effective policy campaigns.
  • Love Our Children NC: Peter Rawitsch reported that New Hanover County’s School Board recently fired their superintendent. The acting superintendent is open to discussing Love Our Children’s concerns and requests. A staff climate survey revealed that 14% of staff felt supported by the district on school discipline, and 6% felt supported by the Board of Education. Veronica McLaurin-Brown mentioned that they have been hosting sessions on parental rights related to short-term suspensions.
  • Rebecca Trammel shared a petition supporting the Leandro Comprehensive Remedial Plan. If this plan was funded, it would support more teachers and teaching assistants, professional development, smaller class sizes, and early childhood education. Anyone interested in working on these efforts can contact Rebecca at advocateinaction007@gmail.com.
• Expansion of Work Group
  • The work group will keep connecting with statewide efforts to address exclusionary discipline. Members are asked to suggest valuable contacts via survey.
• Closing
  • The next Policy Campaign Subcommittee’s meeting scheduled for Thursday, August 15, 2024, may be rescheduled.
  • The next work group meeting is on Friday, October 11, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:00 am on Microsoft Teams.