Virtual learning is one tool for reducing violence in Des Moines Public Schools

Students involved in fights in Des Moines Public Schools are getting pulled from classrooms and shifted to virtual learning under a new policy that launched this school year.

Yes, but: The rules are likely to take more students out of classrooms and increase disciplinary disparities among students of color, says Cheryl Hayes, a juvenile justice reform advocate with A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy (AMOS), a network of metro churches and community groups that runs a mediation program in the district.

Catch up quick: The fight policy was implemented in December due in part to “a steady decline in civil discourse” that has influenced student behavior, superintendent Thomas Ahart wrote in his announcement.

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