Two students set to be expelled from Palmetto High School in rare occurrence for Manatee County School Board

BRADENTON -- The Manatee County School Board may decide Tuesday to expel two Palmetto High School students, a rare occurrence for a school district that expelled just one student in a five-year span between 2009 and 2014.

The Manatee County School District only expels students in extreme cases because it wants to give them every opportunity to stay in school. In this case, siblings are accused of attacking two administrators.

A ninth-grade female and a 10th-grade male, identified in school district files as sister and brother, are accused of striking and punching the school's principal and assistant principal in May in the hallway between classes.

According to hearing documents, Principal Willie Clark asked the 10th-grader to put away a cellphone and he refused. The student then pushed the principal and was restrained by Clark and Assistant Principal Dustin Dahlquist. The younger sister then ran over and began punching Clark and Dahlquist. In an attempt to restrain the girl and protect himself, Clark let go of her brother who, once freed, hit Clark in the face, documents state.

Both administrators sustained injuries, according to the report. The male student threatened to stab both administrators and was using racial slurs against the principal, who is black, according to district documents.

According to the district student code of conduct, any student who violently attacks a school board employee will be suspended for up to 10 days and may face a recommendation for expulsion.

Expelling students is the last option, said Wylene Herring-Cayasso, director of exceptional student education, student services, alternative programs and dropout prevention. A committee meets to discuss incidents before making a recommendation to the superintendent, who can then decide whether to bring the issue to the school board for final action.

"In lieu of expulsion, we consider alternative placement," Herring-Cayasso said. "You always don't want to close the door."

The students and their family met with the school board for an expulsion hearing July 14, which was closed to the public. If the board accepts the superintendent's recommendation Tuesday, both students will be expelled for the 2015-16 school year.

The students will then enroll in virtual school. If they maintain a 3.0 grade point average throughout the 2015-16 year, they will be eligible to return to Palmetto High the following year. If they drop below the 3.0 grade point average, they will not be eligible to return to Palmetto High and will be assigned to a different program by the superintendent, according to the recommended order.

"They wanted to give these students a chance," Herring-Cayasso said. "We'll be checking in on them."

The students would be only the second and third students expelled from the school district since 2009. One student was expelled from the district during the 2013-14 school year, according to the Florida Department of Education, which also tracks a number of other disciplinary actions taken by school districts. In 2013-14, when Manatee County expelled one student, a total of 845 students were expelled across the state of Florida.

Herring-Cayasso, who came to the district during the 2013-14 school year, did not remember the specific expulsion and could not immediately find the district paperwork about the case. In general, Herring-Cayasso said the district tries to take all other actions before expelling students.

'Dignity in Schools'

That falls in line with a nationwide movement and recent understanding and recognition of the negative consequences when it comes to discipline, said Nancy Trevino, communications coordinator for Dignity in Schools, which works with 100 organizations in 26 states to educate local school boards, parents and community members about a host of school issues with a focus on discipline.

"We want to hold students accountable but keep them in school," she said.

A recent success the group notes: a 2014 law in California limits the ability to suspend or expel students for "willful defiance." The organization has seen similar successes in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Miami, Trevino said.

Florida statutes, and subsequently Manatee's student code of conduct, mandates students be expelled for certain actions such as bringing a firearm or a weapon to school, school function or onto school-sponsored transportation. Expulsion is required even if the weapon or firearm was brought for self-defense.

Other offenses, including drug possession or distribution, bullying, harassment, bomb threats, gang activity, felony arrest and sexting, may carry a recommendation for expulsion, but not necessarily.

The number of students who receive out-of-school suspensions has dropped while the number of in-school suspensions stayed relatively the same, except for the 2012-13 school year, when in-school and out-of-school suspensions dropped sharply from previous years before ticking back up during 2013-14.

In 2009-10, the district reported 5,599 out-of-school suspensions and 4,982 in-school suspensions. For 2013-14, the district reported 4,846 out-of-school suspensions and 4,856 in-school-suspensions, according to district files.

Assaults increase

The number of physical assaults on school district teachers in Manatee County is increasing, according to information presented to the school board in March.

For the 2013-14 school year, the district had five cases of physical aggression and six cases of verbal aggression toward staff. From the beginning of the 2014-15 year until December, there were 12 cases of physical aggression and eight cases of verbal aggression.

Those numbers were based on school reports referring students to outside programs and may not be the complete picture, officials said in March.

An updated report on the number of physical and verbal aggression cases from the 2014-15 year, which would presumably include the May 12 incident at Palmetto High, was not immediately available from the school district. Herring-Cayasso said changes implemented last year and an increased focus on having staff report incidents has partially contributed to the upswing.

"You want to keep everybody safe," Herring-Cayasso said. "If we don't know about it, we can't address it."

Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter@MeghinDelaney.

This story was originally published August 8, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Two students set to be expelled from Palmetto High School in rare occurrence for Manatee County School Board ."