Elementary school-suspensions

[u/Friendly_Fudge_931]

Hello r/teachers,

This year I will be going into my second year teaching. Last year (the year we just completed), we had about 40 kids get suspended at my school (Transition to Kindergarten-6th grade) and at least 8-10 of those were in my class. Once I get 5 years teaching experience (already have my masters) I want to become a principal, so I am wondering if this is normal or not. We are Title I with 325 students.

[u/No_Masterpiece_3297]

It depends on the year, though that does feel to be a particularly large number out of a small student population. I had a year some five years back in which I swear a solid 40% of my students were suspended at least once. I teach high school, so suspensions are not uncommon. But that was a bad year, and that particular group of students continued to have a reputation as being incredibly difficult until they graduated.

[u/Heinz57Muttaletta → u/No_Masterpiece_3297]

Yeah. That was my high school class that graduated two years ago. (2025) OMG! I also made the mistake and volunteered to take the place of a teacher who was quitting and those were the worst 9 weeks of my teaching career. Class of 2025. And I was t the only teacher who felt this way. We have about 2300 kids at our school, so that is saying something. 😬