CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Legal Justice Aid Center took statistics from schools across the Commonwealth, looking for one thing: suspensions.
For the 2015-16 school year schools in Virginia issued more than 131,500 out-of-school suspensions. Further research shows students with disabilities were suspended at a rate 2.6 times higher than those who are not disabled.
Parents in Hampton Roads expressed frustration with the study, asking if the researcher grouped together kids that have behavioral problems into the same population as disabled kids.
The study also found African-American students are suspended at a rate 3.8 times higher than Hispanic or white students.
One African- American mom in Virginia Beach told News 3 her two children have not had this problem at Kempsville High School and she is not aware of any examples in the area of this happening.
Other parents say they can see how this could happen in certain areas but did not cite any specific instances of racism or discretion towards disabled kids in our area.
