CPS reports increased rate of behavior incidents during 2024 school year
Marie Moyer
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Columbia Public Schools is falling short of its goal to reduce suspension and discipline referrals, according to Columbia Board of Education documents.
The district set a goal to decrease out-of-school suspension by 50% and office referrals by 10% between 2022 and 2027.
During the 2022-2023 school year, the district reported 3,684 out-of-school suspensions with a plan to decrease that number by 10% each year starting in the 2023-2024 school year. An updated report from CPS found that out-of-school suspensions decreased by 13% with a little more than 3,200 suspensions in the first year, but slowed down during the 2024-2025 year, decreasing by 1%, with 3,173 suspensions.
While rates of out-of-school suspensions have not followed the 10% per year decrease, CPS teacher and Columbia Missouri National Education Association President Noelle Gilzow said the application of out-of-school suspensions has been improved after CPS began following a behavior matrix.
“It was only rolled out a couple of years ago, and I think there was a learning curve in applying it and applying it fairly and I think we’re now seeing the fruits of that kind of being settled,” Gilzow said.
The report does not measure the total number of office referrals. However, it does show a 6% increase in overall behavioural incidents during the 2023 school year and 16% during the 2024 school year, with 31,154 incidents.
Both Gilzow and CPS spokesperson Michelle Baumstark said the school’s addition of tighter cellphone rules has increased the rate of incidents. The school also reports that the overall rate of behavioral incidents is lower than pre-pandemic numbers.
“We have taken a harder line against cell phones in schools,” Gilzow said. “While they disrupt the learning environment, they are not severe or super disruptive like a fight or something like that would be.”
In assessment scores, the district has seen growth across the board with the rate of students with proficient MAP scores increasing steadily for English, math, science and government. The most significant change was in math and science, with rates increasing by over 3% for math and over 4% for science between the 2024 and 2025 school years.
CPS will discuss the report today during its summer session Board of Education meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday.
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