All across the country, girls of color, (like Grace,, a 15 year-old Black girl imprisoned in Michigan for 78 days for not completing her homework during the pandemic) are excluded from school for subjective offenses like these, missing out on critical class time and opportunities to learn. And Black girls face some of the greatest barriers to educational opportunities because of racial and gender biases embedded within school discipline policies, dress codes, and codes of conduct that target their cultural identity.

These biases manifest as punishments that have more to do with who these girls are rather than what they do. During the current uncertainty of a global pandemic and the beginning of a historic public reckoning on racism in the United States, school districts are at a turning point in which they must make intentional and specific policy and financial decisions to address the systemic anti-Blackness that is folded in our nation’s fabric.

To help districts and schools do this critical work, this Thursday, August 20th, Ed Trust and the National Women’s Law Center will release a new guide to respond to this moment and provide decision-makers with a common language and practices that can be used to reform exclusionary discipline policies and improve school climate to help address the needs of girls of color.