The 25 Central MA Schools with Worst Discipline Issues

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Wednesday, June 03, 2015

Patrick Sargent, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Last school year, more than 50,000 students across the state of Massachusetts were suspended or expelled.

In Worcester, just over 2,600 students (nearly 1 in 20) faced suspension. Worcester had the third highest total of disciplined students behind Springfield (3,656) and Boston (3,378).

SEE SLIDES BELOW: 25 Central MA Schools with Worst Discipline Issues

According to data from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Brockton High School had the most students disciplined last year 1,274 - roughly ⅓ of the school’s enrolled students.

In Central Massachusetts, Fitchburg High School tops the list for most students disciplined during last school year with 373. Fitchburg is followed by South High and North High in Worcester with 307 and 293 students disciplined, respectively.

Which Districts Top the List?

Beyond the three largest school districts (Boston, Springfield and Worcester) that occupy the top three districts with the most disciplined students, Brockton, Lynn, Lowell, Fall River, Holyoke, Lawrence and Chicopee round out the top ten.

Holyoke had 1,281 disciplined students last year, but it also had the highest percentage of disciplined students served with an out-of-school suspension with 20%.

The district with the highest percentage of students facing an in-house suspension was Fitchburg with 9.5% of students disciplined getting an in-house suspension. Another Central Mass town, Oxford, was second with 9.4%.

How Do Worcester’s Schools Discipline?

Across Massachusetts, students are not typically permanently expelled. In Worcester, students are not expelled at all and are instead transferred to another school.

When they are suspended and transferred into another school, the suspension still counts as an out-of-school suspension for state data.

A positive note for Worcester Public Schools is the data shows that last school year, with the highest enrollment in the city, Doherty Memorial High School had the second lowest out of school suspension rate of Worcester’s secondary schools. Doherty’s rate was 8.5%, just ahead of Worcester Tech’s city-low 2.3% out of school suspension rate.

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Related Slideshow: See the List: The 25 Central MA Schools with Worst Discipline Issues

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