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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island lawmakers are considering a bill to curb out-of-school suspensions and study if there's bias in school disciplinary practices.
The state House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the legislation Wednesday.
The bill's sponsor, Providence Democratic Rep. Grace Diaz, says it expands on a 2012 law she sponsored that bans schools from making students stay home just because of truancy or absenteeism.
Diaz says that law led to improvements but she believes there are still too many suspensions contributing to high dropout rates.
Her new legislation would further limit out-of-school suspensions to the most disruptive students.
It would also require superintendents to conduct annual reviews of school discipline data to make sure punishment isn't disproportionately meted out to students based on race, ethnicity or disability status.
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