Schools are supposed to be a place where students can learn, grow, and feel supported. In ICSD, however, they have become places of exclusion for a growing number of students, particularly students of color, students with disabilities, and students from low income households.
During the 2025-2026 academic year, 194 ICSD students were suspended, which accounted for 3.7 percent of the district’s student population. Combined, these students missed 884 days of school, with 13 students excluded for more than one tenth of the academic year. Of those suspended, 27 were children ranging from kindergarten through third grade. In comparison, according to data compiled by The Village at Ithaca, a youth-centered nonprofit that advocates for educational equity, the neighboring Groton Central school district did not suspend a single elementary student that year.
These numbers are already concerning on their own but, the disparities behind them reveal a much deeper issue within the district.
According to ICSD Equity Report Card data presented in The Village 2025-2026 yearbook, out-of-school suspension rates roughly doubled between 2022 and 2025. Black students faced disproportionately high and increasingly unequal rates of exclusion compared to their peers. Students receiving special education services were three times as likely to be suspended as general education students, while students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch were six times as likely to face out-of-school suspension as their peers.
When certain groups of students are consistently receiving disciplinary action more than others, we must question whether these policies are serving all students equally.
These problems have already been recognized by the district, but have yet to be effective. Despite the Board of Education’s (BoE) adoption of the Unified Code of Conduct in 2023, which discourages punitive approaches, the following school year saw 225 suspensions, a 64 percent increase from the previous year.
Additionally, during the 2025-2026 academic year, 82 students were suspended for attendance related infractions, such as skipping class, tardiness, or leaving campus without permission. In other words, students already missing instructional time were disciplined by being forced to miss even more.
The Village reported that 184 students were suspended for behaviors falling under categories that ICSD’s own Code of Conduct identifies as potentially manageable at the classroom level, including disruptive behavior, insubordination, and inappropriate language.
Although the severity of individual incidents may vary, the district’s policy emphasizes classroom-based interventions and restorative practices before resorting to exclusion. This raises an important question: If ICSD recognizes that these behaviors can potentially be addressed without removing students from school, why are so many students still being suspended for them?
ICSD is relying too heavily on suspension rather than addressing the root causes of student behavior. Suspensions should be a last resort to manage disruptive behavior, rather than a first response.
In a survey conducted by The Village, one student who experienced suspension reflected, “No daily structure enabled me to spend much more time around terrible friends and give me more chances to get in trouble.” Rather than correcting the behavior that initially led to disciplinary action, suspensions can leave students with even less structure and support, potentially worsening the very problems they are intended to address
Students who are repeatedly excluded from school lose access to classroom instruction, relationships with teachers, and extracurricular activities. In surveys conducted by The Village, students describe feeling left behind academically, experiencing isolation from their peers, and developing negative attitudes towards school. Larger-scale studies show a correlation between suspensions and lower academic performance.
ICSD must move beyond acknowledging the harms of exclusionary discipline and begin implementing meaningful changes. This starts with stronger enforcement of its existing Code of Conduct and prioritizing restorative approaches over unnecessary suspensions. However, restorative practices alone are not enough if the underlying needs of students remain unaddressed. Just as ICSD provides English as a New Language (ENL) services tailored to students’ language needs, the district should identify whether students facing behavioral or attendance challenges need individualized academic support, counseling, or other resources rather than automatic punishment.
The district must also improve transparency surrounding suspension data, particularly when it comes to racial and socioeconomic disparities. Without consistent reporting and accountability, it becomes far too easy for these patterns to continue unnoticed or unaddressed. Much of the data used in this piece was obtained through Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests and research conducted by The Village, which reports that ICSD denied its request for 2025-2026 suspension data broken down by race.
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