Baltimore City was one of 23 school districts around the nation chosen to participate in a White House conference on ensuring that girls of color do not face barriers in getting an education.
Responding to concerns about the harmful impact of sexual assault on girls of color and high school discipline rates, the conference on Monday was convened to help focus on providing services and support for a population that is often overlooked.
Girls of color, like boys, are often suspended from school at rates disproportionate to the suspension rates of white students. Black girls are 8 percent of students nationally but they represent 14 percent of those receiving out of school suspensions.
Even though the city schools have concentrated focused efforts on improving suspension rates for boys, girls in the city have also shown a decrease in recent years.
In Baltimore, girls were suspended 2,980 times in the 2012-2013 school year, but those numbers decreased 26 percent in three years, down to 2,194 suspensions in the 2015-2016 school year, according to city statistics. The school system has about 82,000 students.
The conference is intended to give school districts ways to improve discipline practices and to develop approaches to help students who have experienced trauma.
An estimated 8 percent of girls experience rape or attempted rape in their youth, according to statistics from the Center for Disease Control. Title IX requires school systems to respond to allegations of sexual assault. Girls who do not receive help after a sexual assault are more likely to struggle academically in school.
The school systems that were asked to take part in conference – "Trauma-Informed Approaches in School: Supporting Girls of Color and Rethinking Discipline" – are those that have shown a commitment to addressing the issue, according to a statement released by the White House and U.S. Department of Education.