Suspendable and Expendable, Kicking Out and Throwing Away Black Girls: An Analysis of a School District’s Policies and Practices

In United States school districts, Black girls experience exclusionary punishments at disproportionate rates, mainly because of discriminatory school policies enacted by educators who hold implicit bias. Although in recent years there has been a proliferation of scholarship investigating Black girls’ schooling experiences, there is a dearth of literature directly analyzing district policies and practices that contribute to the over-suspension of Black girls. This manuscript examines ways Black girls are impacted by discriminatory policies and practices of a school district in Texas. Specifically, I conducted document analyses of Fort Worth Independent School District’s Racial and Ethnic Equity Policy, Student Code of Conduct, and Standards of Dress to reveal their impact on Black girls. Then, I reviewed district practices aimed to reduce suspensions to determine their potential for improving academic outcomes for Black girls. The manuscript contains a list of seven recommendations derived from my analyses and a list of eight important reports from scholars who center Black girls’ lived experiences, both of which could greatly impact the way school districts address the unique needs of Black girls