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Fairfax County Public Schools to reduce suspension days

By Dick Uliano

WASHINGTON– The Obama administration is urging school systems nationwide to move away from tough discipline that includes lengthy suspensions. At least one school system in the area has ordered changes to soften the way it punishes students.

Fairfax County Public Schools’ so-called zero tolerance rules have been criticized as harsh, and The Washington Post has even ascribed the tough measures to at least once case of a student suicide back in 2011.

Now the disciplinary rules are changing. The Fairfax County Public Schools system is reducing the number of offenses that call for suspension, and reducing the length of some suspensions from 10 days to five — the goal is to keep kids in class by promoting alternative forms of discipline.

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