Education officials say a greater emphasis on diet and exercise and a growing emphasis on intervention over punishment may help explain the steep drop in student expulsions and suspensions across the state.
The number of expulsions reported to the state Department of Education fell to 527 last year from 766 in 2005-06. The number of suspensions dropped to 50,978 last year from 78,920 in 2005-06, according to department.
Shane McNeill, director of the state Office of Healthy Schools, credits a combination of factors.
