Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Buffalo School Board reached an agreement with the New York State Attorney General's Office on Thursday to reform disciplinary practices in the district.
"Every child deserves to feel safe and supported at school, and every family deserves to be heard and treated fairly,” said James in a statement on Thursday. "For too long, too many Buffalo students were denied that right. Today, we are taking a major step to bring accountability and justice to Buffalo Public Schools’ disciplinary system. My office will continue working to ensure all New York students have an equal opportunity to learn and thrive."
James says her office's extensive findings revealed significant disparities in how student discipline was imposed at public schools in Buffalo. Black and Latino students were suspended at significantly higher rates than White students, especially for minor misconduct, such as tardiness and other low-level infractions.
She adds students with disabilities also faced substantially higher suspension rates and lost far more instructional time than their peers without disabilities. In many cases, students with disabilities were sent home early without documentation - an illegal, informal suspension that would limit the child’s ability to access necessary due process protections.
James says her office also identified systemic concerns affecting students’ and families’ rights, including unclear and inconsistent discipline rules, limited or ineffective alternative education options, inadequate suspension notices, disciplinary hearings that were unjust or severely limited, and insufficient language access for non-English speaking families.
The agreement requires Buffalo Schools to appoint an independent monitor with expertise in school discipline and restorative practices. The monitor will oversee implementation of the agreement for, at least, four full school years, review district data and records, and issue regular reports evaluating the district’s progress.
James says the Buffalo Public School District must revise its Code of Conduct to remove vague terms, clarify behavioral definitions, and establish a more just disciplinary framework that prioritizes prevention, intervention, and restorative responses in lieu of out-of-school suspensions. The district will limit the use of suspensions through third grade and revise policies related to law enforcement.
Buffalo Public Schools must provide standardized, detailed, and timely notices for all suspensions, including meaningful explanations of the alleged conduct. The district will immediately stop its practice of sending students home early in lieu of a formal suspension.
All students facing a long-term suspension must be given the opportunity to present their case at an impartial disciplinary hearing. The complainant, such as the staff member who initiated the disciplinary referral, must participate in live disciplinary hearings so that students can question witnesses and challenge the evidence presented against them.
Buffalo Public Schools will maintain alternative education programs consistent with New York law, and take steps to ensure students removed from the classroom receive meaningful instruction, including appropriate staffing and supports for students with disabilities who are suspended.
“Today’s agreement is a much-needed step towards a more supportive, welcoming, and safer Buffalo Public Schools community," said Quinn Martha, Education Strategist at the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU). "For years, we’ve watched the District deny students access to schoolwork and mental health support for months on end, kick out our youngest students for normal childish behaviors like whistling, violate Black and brown students’ civil rights, and push countless children into the school to prison pipeline. Students deserve the chance to learn, explore, fail, and then pick themselves back up — not constantly worry about getting suspended over the smallest infraction. We’re hopeful that this settlement will rectify the civil rights violations rampant in BPS, keep more kids in the classroom, and focus more educators on the student-centered, restorative forms of discipline that actually work.”
“This agreement is a long-overdue response to years of advocacy. It recognizes that excessive and disproportionate discipline has damaged trust, denied opportunity, and placed students at risk for far too long,” said Parent Advocate Samuel Radford III. “I want to thank the New York State Office of the Attorney General for listening to parents and community voices and for responding to long-standing concerns about student discipline. This process affirms that families deserve to be heard and that civil rights and student safety must remain central to educational policy.”
The district serves approximately 27,000 students, nearly 90% of whom are economically disadvantaged. Black and Latino students make up a significant portion of the district’s enrollment, along with thousands of students with disabilities and English language learners.