Washington likes to say it has some of the strongest student-discipline protections in the country. On paper, this is true. The law lays out clear expectations: transparency, annual reviews on disparities in discipline, alternatives to exclusion, re-engagement plans, parent notification, due process, and district improvement plans. So why do so many families across Spokane County feel like these safeguards don’t actually protect their kids? Because real accountability is scarce.
When districts violate discipline laws or repeatedly show racial disparities in suspensions and expulsions, there is no automatic consequence. OSPI (Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction) rarely intervenes unless families file formal complaints. And many families don’t know how to navigate that process, especially when the language districts use can feel intimidating.
Some districts quietly avoid formal documentation altogether, relying on unofficial removals that never appear in state reports. A student may be sent home for the day or placed in an isolated room under labels such as a “reset” or “cool-down.” According to parents, these practices are widespread in several local districts. Because they are not recorded as suspensions, they often escape public scrutiny and accountability.Other districts investigate themselves. When a parent reports concerning discipline patterns, the district’s own administrators review the case. Families often receive vague answers like, “We reviewed the situation and followed procedure,” with little to no explanation of what that procedure was, an internal oversight structure leaving many parents feeling powerless.
Accountability becomes even murkier for families of color. Black, Native, and Latino families in local school districts have long reported that their concerns are dismissed or reframed as misunderstandings. Some say they’re treated as “overreacting” while others claim they’re told the district “does not see race” in discipline despite clear racial disparities in public data.
So what does accountability look like now? Mostly: paperwork, meetings, and promises.
And what should accountability look like? It must start with public transparency, not just statewide reports, but school-level breakdowns that families can understand. Districts should be required to explain why disparities persist and what concrete steps they’re taking to reduce them. Families deserve to see whether those steps worked. Accountability also requires external oversight. Independent reviews and community panels as well as partnerships with organizations like the Spokane NAACP, local education advocates, and student groups. Not the same administrators monitoring their own practices.
Students deserve accountability too. Gen Z teens are clear about what we want: adults who take responsibility, not just hand out discipline slips. We want conflict resolution that doesn’t escalate small issues into major ones and safe spaces to explain our sides of the story without being labeled defiant.
Parents want something similar: consistency, clarity, fairness, and humanity.
Educators also want support. When a classroom is struggling, exclusion shouldn’t be the only tool available. Teachers need mental health support from specialists, culturally responsive training, and district policies that emphasize relationships over punishment.
Washington built a strong legal framework but laws don’t implement themselves. Districts do. And when districts fail to follow the law, students pay the price. Accountability shouldn’t depend on whether a parent knows how to file a complaint or whether a student has the courage to speak out. It should be built into the system. Because without real accountability, exclusion and racial disparities continue. But mostly, students continue to be pushed out of the very spaces meant to support them.
Washington doesn’t need more policies. It needs honesty and a commitment to every student, not just the ones who fit the system easily.
Accountability should protect children, not institutions.
This piece is Part 3 of a three-part series on accountability in discipline policies and exclusion laws in Washington State titled “Hidden Removals: Inside Washington’s Racial Discipline Crisis.”