The superintendent of the Martin County School District said he has a goal for this school year that most principals don’t like to talk about: suspensions.

Superintendent Michael Maine said he wants to reduce the disproportionate number of African-American students who are expelled from classes for things like assault or an arrest on campus.

WPTV education reporter Stephanie Susskind examined the numbers and discussed why the superintendent said this is a problem the district needs to address.

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“African-American students make up a small percentage of the student body. Less than 10%. But the number of expulsions was over 20%,” Susskind told Maine.

“Yes. You are absolutely right,” Maine replied. “And that is disheartening to me as a principal and to any school or district administrator.”

Maine acknowledged that the Martin County School District may not be meeting the needs of its minority students.

“It’s not always the child’s fault,” Maine said. “Sometimes we don’t do things internally the way we should. And we have to admit that. We’re not going to be perfect, but we need to look at that data and use it to provide training opportunities for our staff and teachers to reduce these problems.”

Maine said teacher training needs to be better in classroom management, communication and keeping calm.

“We are looking at our internal practices to ensure that we reduce the number of African-American and Hispanic students who are repeatedly subjected to multiple disciplinary actions,” Maine said.

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