Maplewood Richmond Heights superintendent, Karen Hall took part in a town hall discussion about racial disparities in school suspensions in Missouri on Oct. 28. More than a hundred educators, parents and students came together at the Nine Network, in St. Louis for the event.
According to St. Louis Public Radio, African Americans make up 16 percent of the k-12 school population in Missouri, but 40 percent of school suspensions are given to African American students.
Hall said children aren’t cattle to be herded through the educational system.
“They are in our care,” she said, according to the post. “We have to be patient, we have to be persistent and we must love them.” Hall also said it’s incumbent on educators to address the reasons behind behavioral issues.
Participants said educators need more training on implicit (relatively unconscious) bias and alternative learning styles. They said schools need more resources to address issues like poverty and mental health that can hinder a student’s ability to learn — or lead them to act out.
Read the full report at St. Louis Public Radio.