Over the past year over 1,000 Louisiana kindergarten students have been suspended from class. If that comes as a startling statistic to you, then you are not the only one. The Advisory Council on Student Behavior and Discipline  was taken aback by those numbers as well. They want to know why that's happening and if there is a better way to deal with students who need discipline rather than to pull them out of a structured learning environment.

We want to better understand how we can support them and to keep them in class, while also making sure that our schools are safe and other students feel safe.

Jennifer Coco is the chairwoman of the council and she told the Louisiana Radio Network that she and her group believes there should be better ways to handle the issue of classroom discipline with children of this age group.

Why is it that when a 6-year-old is doing something that’s considered disrespectful that the solution is to have them stay out of school for a day, and just wondering practically what’s gained by that.

The primary reasons students are getting suspended are being disrespectful or disobedient. Unfortunately the current system does not allow teachers many other options than the suspension.

The 24 member council will report their findings to the BESE Board and the education committees of the legislature.

Letting them know and summarizing our findings and recommendations for what we’ve discussed that year and what we think some solutions might be.

Exactly what those solutions might be are currently under study. The hope is that new ideas on discipline will better able teachers to educate their classes. This recommendations will hopefully benefit those students who are acting up in class and help create an environment where they too can learn the rules of societal behavior and continue their education as well.

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