Students involved in fights in Des Moines Public Schools are getting pulled from classrooms and shifted to virtual learning under a new policy that launched this school year.
Yes, but: The rules are likely to take more students out of classrooms and increase disciplinary disparities among students of color, says Cheryl Hayes, a juvenile justice reform advocate with A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy (AMOS), a network of metro churches and community groups that runs a mediation program in the district.
Catch up quick: The fight policy was implemented in December due in part to “a steady decline in civil discourse” that has influenced student behavior, superintendent Thomas Ahart wrote in his announcement.