Dive Brief:

• Instead of just expelling students, Colorado's Center Consolidated School District gives parents the option of an on-campus isolation room where students continue to receive classwork.  
• The option was created to stop the district from losing state accreditation over its dropout rate, since students who are expelled are more likely to drop out. According to Superintendent George Welsh, the dropout rate has decreased from 13% to 2% over the past 10 years.  
• After complaints from parents this year, the doors on the 4-by-6-foot rooms were removed and additional thought was given to the punishment. For example, students in isolation will now be supervised more closely, get exercise twice a day, and eat lunch with other students.

Dive Insight:

While any reduction in a school's dropout rate is excellent, we did pause over the infractions that landed a student in an isolation room. According to the Huffington Post, those actions vary drastically — anything from drug distribution and knife possession to passing notes and talking in class could land a student time in the glorified closet. With that considered, it does make one question if appropriate measures are being taken. Passing notes and talking in class may be a frustration for a teacher, but do they really warrant expulsion or isolation? In fact, wouldn't the student just be craving social interaction more when they get out of the room?

Creating appropriate punishments that match the "crime" is key in creating a balanced school environment that feels more conducive to learning and less like a prison. This is especially the case since Welsh's reasoning for the isolation room was to stop further class disruptions. Is note passing really that disruptive, and aren't there better punishments to curb that behavior?  

According to Welsh, about 40 students have landed in isolation over the past 10 years. Rules are in place so high school students can only be there for a maximum of two months, middle school students for six weeks, and elementary school students for a month.