Student discipline tracking system approved

Nebraska will track and report individual student discipline data under a proposal given final approval April 29.

LB154, introduced by Omaha Sen. Justin Wayne, requires the State Board of Education to implement a statewide system for tracking individual student discipline by type and by demographic characteristics including race, poverty, high mobility, attendance, disability and limited English proficiency.

Under the bill, each school district is required to report any individual student act resulting in suspension or expulsion, assignment to an alternative school or alternative learning program, the use of physical contact with a student or the restraint or seclusion of a student.

Districts will report any offense constituting grounds for a student’s long-term suspension, expulsion or mandatory reassignment regardless of the consequences assigned. They also will report any student act resulting in law enforcement involvement and any school-related citation or arrest.

Each school will designate at least one person to gather and report the required data. The state Department of Education will analyze and report on student discipline in a currently required annual report on student achievement.

Finally, LB154 requires the board to include student discipline as an indicator in an accountability system used to measure the performance of individual public schools and school districts.

Lawmakers passed the bill on a 46-0 vote.