In sixth grade, he set the tip of a girl's ponytail on fire and was suspended for a quarter of the year, then transferred to a different school. The suspensions continued. Each time he lost more days in class and became angrier, Lee said. Lee quit her job, became PTA president and spent time in her son's classes, trying to keep him under control.
Never in all those years did the schools get to the source of her son's bad behavior, she said, even as she desperately tried everything she could to help him.
Last fall, at 16 years old, he stole a car while he was out of school on suspension, according to Lee.
When he was arrested, Lee said, she gathered all his school records and went to the judge, pleading for help for her son. He was diagnosed with a mental illness and sent to a therapeutic residential school in Vermont where he got counseling. His mother believed his behavior was improving, but while he was home on a short break in March, he ran away. Two weeks ago, he was arrested and charged as an adult with possession of a handgun and drugs. He is now in the city jail.
Maryland ranks in the middle of states nationally for the percentage of students it suspends, according to data from 2004. Fifteen years ago, 6.8 percent of students in the state were sent home, according to statistics released annually by the state Department of Education. In the past school year, 9 percent or 74,518 students were suspended.
Despite some people's perception that schools are growing more violent, state statistics show that suspensions for violence and weapons have fluctuated over the past nine years but were no greater last year than in the 1989-1990 school year. For example, student attacks on teachers and staff occurred at the same frequency last school year as five years ago.
When the suspension numbers are broken down by incidents, 37 percent are in the category of disrespect, insubordination and disrupting a class. Twenty three percent were for incidents involving threats, fighting or attacks.
Discipline policies and suspension rates vary widely across Maryland, from a high of 17.2 percent in Somerset County to Howard County's 4 percent. The variation depends on each school system's philosophy and the rigor with which principals enforce the rules.
There's one notable geographic pattern: Eastern Shore counties are generally the most aggressive in suspending kids, while their rural counterparts in Western Maryland have comparatively low rates.
