A Special Special Education Issue

I keep hearing that HCPS is in need of some good PR.


I am eager to assist.

Click here to read the formal complaint:

Does this issue need to be addressed to gain some good PR?



• In addition to turning to police as disciplinarians, Florida schools increasingly
utilize internal discipline methods that focus on isolation and removal instead of
addressing the underlying behavioral problem. In fact, the growth in the number
of out-of-school suspensions has outpaced the growth of the student population by
almost two-to-one. Out-of-school suspensions rose from 385,365 during the 1999-
00 school year to 441,694 in 2004-05, a 14 percent increase, even though the
student population increased by only 8.4 percent.




3During fiscal year 2006-2007, Hillsborough County recorded the highest actual number of school related referrals (1,881) which represented a 20% reduction from figures previously reported during the 2004-2005 fiscal year.

4 The overall percentage of delinquency referrals from
Hillsborough County that were school-related was consistent with the statewide average (16%).

5 Although HCPS does not routinely disaggregate school-related referral data by students’ disability status according to the Hillsborough County Public Defender’s Office, the school district’s exceptional centers for students with disabilities tend to arrest a large number of students. During the 2004-2005 school year seven exceptional centers were the source of 47 school arrests.