Education Department to introduce new rules around suspending, expelling or excluding students from classrooms amid record figures

The state government says its new rules to cut down on school suspensions will stop certain groups of students being unfairly hit by the practice.

New rules for suspending or expelling students from school – including a requirement to consider their age and developmental stage – are aimed at reducing the record numbers of South Australian kids being ejected from classrooms.

Updates to Education Department procedures also include rules around how principals must provide reasons for suspending or expelling a student, and clarification on how decisions should be documented.

Schools will also be required to stay in contact with a student for suspensions of 4-5 days, and parents will be informed they can bring a support person or advocate to reconnection meetings.

The changes, which will take effect when school returns for 2024 at the end of this month, have been informed by the findings of the 2020 Graham independent inquiry into suspension, exclusion and expulsion processes in government schools.

Education Minister Blair Boyer said disadvantaged and disabled students were over-represented in suspension statistics. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Morgan Sette

Opposition education spokesman John Gardner said the government risked encouraging bad behaviour. Picture: Matt Loxton

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They come after The Advertiser revealed late last year that suspensions and exclusions at public schools soared to almost 5000 in a single term. Separate data showed more than 1000 students are being suspended each year for vaping or selling vaping devices.

Education Minister Blair Boyer said the procedure updates were “an important step forward in how we ensure students remain engaged in their learning”.

“We know that Aboriginal children and children with a disability are overrepresented in suspensions and exclusions and frankly, that is not acceptable,” he said.

“There needs to be clearer guidelines for schools about when suspensions are the right course of action, which I will always support schools to use when necessary, with the focus being on restorative practices that we know can be effective at cutting out the kind of behaviour that leads to suspensions.

“There is growing evidence around the world that helping a student stay engaged in school during suspension and feel a real sense of belonging to their school is one of the most important ways of preventing bad behaviour.”

Opposition education spokesman John Gardner said evidence in the Graham report demonstrated there was always a risk that the act of suspending a student will be as likely to exacerbate their poor behaviour in the long-term.

“In an ideal world we would love to minimise the use of suspensions,” he said.

“However it is necessary that schools retain the right to give suspensions in a range of circumstances – particularly when necessary to protect the rights and safety of other students and staff at the school.”

Mr Gardner said, on face value, the reforms appeared to include some positive features.

“But when introducing any new procedures in this area it is critical that schools be appropriately resourced and supported to make these changes,” he said.