RACIAL

EQUITY

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools

REPORT CARD




2017 • PRODUCED BY YOUTH JUSTICE PROJECT

What are the Racial Equity Report Cards (RERCs)? The RERCs use publically
available data to provide a snapshot of a community’s school-to-prison pipeline,
A A
CADEMIC CHIEVEMENT
including any racial disproportionalities that exist in the pipeline.
What is the school-to-prison pipeline (STPP)? The STPP is the system of policies School District
and practices that push students out of school and into the juvenile and adult criminal
systems. The STPP has many entry points. Once students are caught in the STPP, it can
Demographics
be very difficult for them to reengage and be successful at school. In almost every NC 2016-17
community, students of color are overrepresented at each entry point to the pipeline.

What is the purpose of the RERCs? The RERCs are intended to be a starting point
for community education and discussion. There are many causes of racial
disproportionality including, but not limited to, implicit racial bias of decision-makers,
institutional and structural racism, and explicit discrimination against people of color.
Together, these forces perpetuate racial disproportionality in a community’s STPP. The
RERCs are not meant as an attack on the critically important public institutions that
serve our youth, but rather, as a call-to-action for students, parents, advocates, policy

makers, and institutional stakeholders to collectively examine the causes of racial
inequity in their community and develop solutions that will help young people,
especially youth of color, avoid and escape the school-to-prison pipeline.

American Indian (.2%)
ACADEMIC A CHIEVEMENT Asian (2.6%)
Students who are behind or failing academically are more likely to be truant, act
out, and ultimately drop out of school. Statewide, in 2016-17, only 29.7% of Black Hispanic (25.4%)
students in grades 3-8 scored “College and Career Ready” on their final exams, Black (28.4%)
compared to 61.7% of White students. While standardized test scores are not
necessarily an accurate measure of true ability, they serve as the basis for many White (39.2%)
important decisions (e.g. course placement, grade promotion). Thus, low scores Multi-Racial (4.1%)
negatively impact a student’s academic opportunities and outcomes.
Pacific Islander (0.1%)

Total District Population:
% of Students Grade 3-8 "College and Career Ready" on
* 54,507
End-of-Grade Exams by Race

65.8
66.2
70
60
50 44.2 43.6 In the 2016-17 school year in
40 this district, White students in
30 28.2 26.4 27.9 25.3 grades 3-8 were 2.6 times

20 more likely to score “Career
10 and College Ready” on end-of-
0 grade exams than Black
2015-16 School Year 2016-17 School Year students in the same grades.
Overall White Hispanic Black

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% of High School Students "College and Career Ready" on End-of-Course Exams by Race*
Overall White Hispanic Black

80 66.4 69.2

60 46.2 49.9
35
40 28.3 25.9 28.6

20

0
2015-16 School Year 2016-17 School Year

% of Students Who Graduate High School Within 4 Years of Entering by Race*

Overall White Hispanic Black

95 89.9
90 85.7 85.4
85 80.7 81.8 81.6
80 77.6
75.3
75
70
65
2015-16 School Year 2016-17 School Year

SCHOOL D ISCIPLINE
Any time spent out of the classroom for disciplinary reasons is time a student
is not learning. Research shows that out-of-school suspension is ineffective at
correcting misbehavior. Instead, suspension is linked to academic failure and 2015-16 DISTRICT OVERVIEW
court involvement, with no measurable positive impact on overall school
safety. Statewide, in 2015-16, Black students received 57% of all short-term Short-Term Suspensions
8,952
suspensions, even though they make up only 26% of the student population. (STS) (1-10 school days)
While many school districts have decreased out-of-school suspensions in High School STS Rate
recent years, there has been a corresponding increase in other discipline 19.87
(Per 100 Students)
measures that take students out of their normal classroom or school, such as
in-school suspension or transfer to an alternative school. These measures are Long-Term Suspensions
also disruptive to learning and are often ineffective unless individualized and 4
(more than 10 days)
research-based support is provided in the alternative environment.
Expulsions (indefinite) 0

% of Suspensions by Race (2015-16) †

80
58.8 In the 2015-16 school year in this
60 district, Black students were 6.1 times
40 more likely than White students to
23.1 receive a short-term suspension.
20 13.2

0
Short-Term Suspensions Long-Term Suspensions
White Hispanic Black

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 SCHOOL
COURT INVOLVEMENT DISCIPLINE

Criminalization of youthful misbehavior has immediate and long-term consequences.
Studies show youth who are court involved are more likely to reoffend and be
entangled in the criminal system as adults. Furthermore, court involvement can
impact a youth’s access to public education, employment, public housing, public % of Juvenile Complaints that
benefits, voting rights, and other sources of opportunity and support. In 2016-17, were School Based
over 40% of juvenile court referrals statewide came from schools. Over half of all
July 2016-June 2017
juvenile complaints were filed against Black youth even though they make up less
than a quarter of the population.

The data in this section only includes youth under 16 years old. In North Carolina, all

16 and 17 year olds are automatically sent to the adult criminal system regardless of
the offense. This will change in December 2019 when all youth under the age of 18
will be sent to the juvenile system, with some youth sent to adult court for serious 41%
offenses. However, until this change takes effect, data on arrests and detention for


youth who are 16 and older is not available.

59%

2016 COUNTY OVERVIEW

Total # of Juvenile Court Complaints 1,260
School Based Complaints
Total # of Juvenile Detention Admissions 119
Non-School Based Complaints

% of Juvenile Court Complaints and Detention

Admissions in County by Race (CY 2016) ** % of School Based Juvenile
Complaints against
70 63.2
58.8
Black Students**
60

50 July 2016-June 2017

40
23.9
27.7
30

20 10.1 11.8
34%
10 2.9 1.7

0

Complaints Detention Admissions
White Hispanic Black Other 66%

Data Notes:
*Lack of data in a category indicates the district did not have sufficient data for
reporting in that category. Percentages greater than 95 or less than 5 are reported by the
state as >95 and <5 respectively. Here, they are displayed as 95 and 5 respectively.
School Based Complaints
† In some instances, it is impossible to know the exact number of suspensions
Against Black Students
for a racial group because of the way suspension data is publically reported. If there is
enough data to approximate percentages by race, the RERCs display those approximations. School Based Complaints
All approximations are equal to or slightly lower than the actual percentages. Against Non-Black Students
**Racial breakdowns are not publically available for categories in which the county had

fewer than 50 overall occurrences in that category.

Youth Justice Project of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice works to ensure equity, fairness, and
justice for youth in high-quality education, juvenile, and criminal systems.
For more information, visit us at youthjusticenc.org.

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