The California Department of Education recently released guidelines to support local educational agencies grappling with an uptick in student misbehavior. After more than a year of social isolation and trauma, teachers, education officials and student advocates have speculated that students are returning to campus with underlying mental health challenges that may result in behavioral issues.

This is likely to be especially true among students most impacted by the pandemic — low-income youth, students with disabilities, Black and Latino students in particular — who have historically also been those most impacted by exclusionary discipline policies in school.

California has been shifting away from suspensions and expulsions in recent years and toward more holistic practices meant to address the underlying causes of student misbehavior through counseling, restorative practices and the adoption of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). In 2019, California banned suspensions in elementary and middle schools for willful defiance, defined as disrupting school activities or defying school authorities.

The guidelines summarize such shifts in law and policy related to exclusionary and other forms of discipline in K-12 schools over the past several years and includes resources where LEAs can gain a deeper understanding of alternatives to suspension or expulsion such as multi-tiered systems of support, behavioral intervention strategies and supports, attendance improvement, asset-based pedagogies and more.

LEAs are also encouraged to invest in implicit bias training for teachers and other school staff. In 2019–20, Black students accounted for 15 percent of students who were suspended statewide despite only making up 5.4 percent of public school enrollment. Research has long shown Black youth don’t behave any worse than their peers on average but that they receive harsher punishment for minor offenses such as talking in class and other nonviolent, disruptive behavior.

“Particularly as we grapple with the immediate and post-pandemic effects of COVID-19, students and families face unprecedented challenges that will inevitably affect students’ stress levels, behaviors, and their ability to participate in school,” wrote State Superintendent of Instruction Tony Thurmond and State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond in a letter to education leaders. “Like suspensions, these challenges fall disproportionately on students of color and other marginalized groups. Separate and apart from the pandemic, our communities are crying out for support and education, not suspension. In this moment of extraordinary need, the most successful schools will partner with communities to better understand and support students’ mental and physical health needs so they are able to engage in accelerated learning at school.”