Powell School District 1 will be ending the school year with three expulsions, the most in Superintendent Jay Curtis’s tenure in the district, he said.

“It’s the worst thing that we can do,” Curtis said. “I can speak on behalf of myself and the board, it’s the worst thing we do.”

But, the increase is not cause for concern and there have not been abnormal events this year outside of the larger number of expulsions, he said.

Powell normally sees one to two expulsion hearings per year and while three expulsions  is a high water mark for the district since at least 2017, it is still small compared to similarly sized districts in the state, Curtis said. Under state statute, a student may be expelled for up to one year. This can mean losing three semesters of school which Curtis said is an “insurmountable amount.”

While expulsions are a last resort they are oftentimes not a complete removal of the student in order to avoid learning loss. PCSD1 opts for modified expulsions — as all three were this year — which allow students to return to school after some time away provided that they meet the conditions of their modified expulsion — this usually includes restriction from extracurricular school events during the duration of the expulsion term. Curtis noted that all expulsions are different depending on what is best for both the student and the school. The district tries to reintegrate students from expulsions at natural semester breaks and all students subject to expulsion are also required to receive mental health services by the board. When a student is allowed back into school staff hope learning loss can be prevented while the cause of the student’s behavior is also being treated. Traditional expulsion, which is complete removal, often leads to a high school dropout, Curtis said. He added that data also shows traditional expulsion limits learning potential, increases chance of incarceration and increases the need for the individual to have public support.

While the method is not always successful, Curtis said that expulsions should be a support, not a hammer. Some instances do require a traditional expulsion, he noted, including if students present a danger to the school.