Exception for suspension of young students amended, advanced to final round

A bill that would allow Nebraska schools to suspend pre-K through second-grade students in certain cases advanced to final reading Feb. 17 after lawmakers adopted an amendment clarifying parental involvement and written notification requirements.

LB653, sponsored by Glenvil Sen. Dave Murman, also would require option school districts not in a learning community to automatically accept siblings of currently enrolled option students with Individualized Education Programs.

The proposal, which was introduced last session, was amended during first-round debate to remove several other provisions related to option enrollment and to add provisions from Murman’s LB430. Those provisions would partially repeal a 2023 law banning suspension or expulsion of pre-K through second-grade students by allowing an exception for students who engage in physical violence that harms others.

As amended, LB653 also would require schools to provide parents written notice when a child is suspended, including available resources, steps taken to address the behavior and strategies to keep the student in school.

During select file debate Feb. 12, Omaha Sen. Terrell McKinney offered an amendment that would define chronic disruptive and violent behavior as grounds for suspension, but also would allow elementary schools to use “purposeful in‑school suspension” for those students.

The amendment defines such suspension as a short-term, structured intervention emphasizing instruction, behavioral support and quick reintegration into the classroom.

McKinney said the amendment would require supportive interventions for students such as written parental notification, individualized behavior plans and referrals for assessment if a student’s behavior indicates a possible disability.

Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha offered an amendment to McKinney’s amendment that would add a requirement for school districts to compile and publish on their websites an annual report on suspension data consisting of:
• the number of K-12 students suspended during the prior calendar year;
• aggregate data on the infractions causing suspensions; and
• data on suspensions disaggregated by demographics.

Spivey said the amendment wouldn’t create new expenses or requirements for districts, which already collect the data, but would increase transparency and help prevent disproportionate impacts of suspensions on students of color.

Seward Sen. Jana Hughes opposed both amendments, saying teachers and districts need to focus on preserving the classroom environment for the other students who are trying to learn, rather than focusing all their energy on one disruptive student.

Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha raised similar concerns.

“We have to be willing to say, ‘If you are the one who is creating the problem, you’re the one who has the consequences,’” Kauth said. “We cannot keep punishing and holding hostage all the other children in the classroom because of one student’s bad behavior.”

Both amendments failed on 16-29 votes. Twenty-five votes were needed. Lawmakers adjourned for the week before taking a vote on advancement of the underlying bill.

When debate resumed Feb. 17, Lincoln Sen. George Dungan offered what he characterized as a compromise amendment, developed in consultation with Murman. The amendment would specify that a meeting involving the parent, guardian or educational decisionmaker must be held following a suspension and would allow such a meeting to be requested if it does not occur.

The amendment also would require written notice of the charges leading to a suspension.

Following the 36-0 adoption of Dungan’s amendment, senators advanced LB653 to final reading on a vote of 28-7.