Gwinnett County Public Schools in Gwinnett County, a suburb of Atlanta, is acknowledging a racial disparity in how it disciplines its Black students compared to other racial groups, as outlined in an AJC report.
Marlyn Tillman lives in Gwinnett County and says her son was impacted by the school district dating back to 2001 when she moved to the county.
“This is nothing new, so when you said the recent report, when you say the recent report, I wanted to interrupt you and say, the latest recent report, this report has been going on for too long,” she said.
Tillman is the executive director and co-founder of Gwinnett STOPP, a parent-led advocacy group that focuses on dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline and student discipline has been a key focus for the group since it began in 2007.
Tillman says Gwinnett STOPP has pushed for changes within the county’s public schools at the local, state, and federal levels. She says the disparity in discipline can be quickly improved if the district employs tactics such as hiring more teachers of color and making sure existing teachers are better trained to be more culturally competent toward the students they are teaching.
Gwinnett County had 177,394 students enrolled last year with 32 percent Black students, 33 percent Hispanic or Latino, 20 percent white, 11 percent Asian and 4 percent multiracial. The district’s graduation rate was 83 percent in 2020.
Last year, in Gwinnett County, Black students accounted for more than 40% of disciplinary incidents followed by Hispanic students at 35 percent and white students at 15 percent.
Most Black students that are disciplined are predominantly boys and the consequences often include juvenile detention or a court referral, followed by school bus suspensions and being sent to alternative school. Most of the discipline stems from infractions involving harming others. “The highest number of infractions is, fighting,” Tillman said.
Last summer, the Department of Education under President Biden announced they would be collecting information to craft policies that will help close the discipline gap similar to what President Obama had in place and President Trump had undone.
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