ST. PAUL, Minn. – There have been a lot of reports recently about the lack of student discipline in the St. Paul school district, due to a far more relaxed approach to student discipline.

District officials have been following a national trend by trying to reduce the number of out-of-school suspensions for students, particularly black kids, who were getting a disproportionate number of them.

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The district went as far as offering $3,000 bonuses to principals who reduced the number of suspensions in their buildings, according to several sources.

That practice ended in 2014, but district officials still put a great deal of pressure on principals to lower suspension rates, according to Aaron Benner, a black veteran elementary teacher in the district who has been outspoken in his criticism of the disciplinary policies.

“Principals in St. Paul are routinely transferred for having high suspension rates,” Benner said. “If you have high numbers then you’re considered a school that hasn’t embraced racial equity.”

St. Paul officials proudly announced in the spring of 2013 that they had cut the number of student suspensions by about 30 percent.

But where has that left the district? Parents and teachers have been complaining about widespread chaos in classrooms and hallways, with some students doing whatever they want because they know there will be few consequences for inappropriate – and sometimes violent – behavior.

One troubling example of that trend comes from St. Paul’s Farnsworth Aerospace Upper Campus (grades 5-8), where a school employee reports that a seventh-grade boy who has been a constant source of trouble was recently let off the hook for a repeated incident of violent behavior.

According to a “Behavior Detail Report” forwarded to EAGnews, the child had a major meltdown on June 4, the final Friday of the school year.

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“On 6/4 student became upset and refused to follow direction,” the report said. “He was swearing at staff, walking in the hallway spitting on the floor repeatedly, ripping posters off the wall, knocking over trash bins and swearing at peers and staff.

“Student kicked and damaged the heating vent by kicking the facing off. Student then picked up a part and attempted to swing it but staff intervened. Student pushed/shoved and punched staff when given verbal request to stop.”

The student was originally given a three-day suspension for his actions, but by Monday morning – the very next school day – he was back in the classroom, according to the school employee. His punishment ended up being the half day on Friday that he spent at home following his violent outburst.

“Originally the principal said we’re not going to deal with this, see you next fall, we’re done,” said the employee, who declined to be identified due to fear of reprisal from school administrators.

“Then on Monday the assistant principal changes the three-day suspension to a dismissal for the day. They sent him home on Friday (the day of the incident) and that was his punishment.

“He came back to school on Monday. Tuesday was the last day of school.”

That sort of situation is the result of the ongoing focus on keeping kids in school, regardless of how they behave, the employee said.

“In the past when there was a fight, it was an automatic five-day suspension, whether you started that fight or not,” he said. “Then they lowered it to three last year. Now we have kids beating the crap out of each other and get a dismissal just for the day.

“If there are too many (black student suspensions) the principals get in trouble with the superintendent. They don’t want it showing that we just keep kicking out black students. They want to keep them in school.”

The majority of students in the middle school are well behaved, the employee said. There is a core group of about 12-15 kids who constantly cause problems, and under the new forgiving disciplinary policies, they are allowed to remain in school, roam the hallways unsupervised and cause problems, he said.

“A lot of teachers complain that so and so comes into my classroom screaming, then runs back out,” he said. “They run around the halls disrupting classrooms. It’s been crazy.

“Our school is a pretty good school. There are a lot of good kids here trying to get a good education, but then this certain group keeps distracting them and makes it tough on everybody.

“The same stuff keeps happening day after day in all of our schools.”