AMHERST — Black and Hispanic students at the Amherst Regional regional schools continue to be disciplined at higher rates than their white and Asian peers, according to statistics recently presented by Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman to the Amherst Regional School Committee.
“Our students of color, there is a disparity in terms of the ratios, not just in behavior, but also in academics,” Herman told the committee at its Oct. 20 meeting.
Data from the 2025-26 school year show that Black students at the middle and high schools received referrals at more than 2½ times their share of the student population, and Hispanic students at nearly 1½ times their share. The district defines a referral as administrative documentation of a student being sent from the classroom to the main office for behavioral support. Herman said the administration intends to take a closer look to learn what is happening.
But Herman said these statistics are not being used to evaluate how teachers or paraeducators are doing their work.
“We’re not targeting our educators with the referrals,” Herman said. “What we’re looking at is the cohorts and what do we need to do in terms of climates and structures and behaviors to shift and change.”
Herman said there needs to be a discussion of how the system educates students, how everyone being educated is made to have a true sense of belonging within the region and how students can see themselves in the educators and the content, and their progress and opportunity to grow.
This school year, with data only through mid-October, middle school referrals remain elevated, Herman said.
Still, the district is doing a lot of interventions and direct small group support to minimize issues, viewing classroom referrals as an intermediate step.
“Our goal is not to jump to suspension,” Herman said, observing that the code of conduct calls on the schools to do things in an alternate manner to suspension.
There are now 20-minute after-school conferences, with a late bus these students can take to get home. There are interventions with counselors having one-on-one conversations and small-group supports.
The district remains concerned that discipline is still falling too much on low-income students and those on individualized education programs, as well as English language learners, Herman said. In addition, boys make up 73% of referrals at the secondary level.
There are some positive trends, though, in high school, with the 814 referrals in school year 2023-2024 down to 289 in school year 2025-2026, a nearly 65% drop.
Herman said there have also been no expulsions in recent years and a low suspension rate, under 1.2%, over the past four academic years.
While the committee asked for discipline data, Herman also offered some details about absenteeism and overall academic success, observing how these are related.
Last school year, 176 students, or 21.8%, were chronically absent at the high school, while 68 students, or 18.6%, were chronically absent at the middle school. The high school attendance daily is 93% and the middle school is 94%.
Herman said one initiative this year is senior town hall, where seniors got to learn about responsibility and work to both gain privileges and keep privileges, such as being able to go off campus and come back.
Much of the work will be done under what Herman refers to as “Multi-Tiered Administrative Responses & Secondary Support Frameworks,” with a process known as PRISM, which stands for Prevention, Response, Intervention, Student Support and Monitoring.
