Dylan Peers McCoy
dylanpmccoy.bsky.social
Dylan Peers McCoy
@dylanpmccoy.bsky.social
Education reporter at WFYI
If you are following along, this is the story @leevgaines.bsky.social and I were working on when we met Amy. (Amy and G are not in it.)

It focuses on how often students with disabilities are suspended.

www.wfyi.org/news/article...
'Why am I so bad?' Indiana schools suspend tens of thousands of students with disabilities
Children who receive special education services were suspended more than twice as often from school as compared to their peers during the last academic year.
www.wfyi.org
April 16, 2025 at 2:02 PM
This is Amy’s story. But it’s also the story of G, a 12-year-old girl who likes gym class, crafting and making slime.

A girl who is scared to be held in a seclusion room at her school.

I’m really glad we found a way to share G’s experience.
April 16, 2025 at 2:02 PM
I spent the next several weeks talking with Amy as she went through a roller coaster ride, waiting for the U.S. Ed Dept to open an investigation in her local district.

Amy joined a lawsuit last week to force the federal government to act on complaints like hers.
April 16, 2025 at 2:02 PM
We were reporting on another story at the time. G's experience in seclusion did not fit, and we weren’t sure how to share what she had told us.

Then, Amy told me cuts to the U.S. Education Department had stalled a federal complaint she filed over G’s seclusion at school.
April 16, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Read the first in our series on the increase in suspensions. www.wfyi.org/news/article...
Indiana schools suspended students over 30,000 times for fighting last year
Last school year about 72,700 public school students, or nearly 7% of those enrolled, experienced out-of-school suspensions.
www.wfyi.org
April 2, 2025 at 1:48 PM
But state education leaders have not prioritized the spike in exclusionary discipline. WFYI dug through years of minutes from Indiana State Board of Education meetings, and we found that they have not discussed the post-pandemic rise.
April 2, 2025 at 1:48 PM
At the same time, teachers are exhausted and many schools are short on crucial staff like special educators.
April 2, 2025 at 1:48 PM
30K Indiana students were suspended for fighting last year. That's a 20% increase from before the pandemic.
April 2, 2025 at 1:48 PM
They said that student behavior has gotten worse as kids struggle to manage conflict and handle hard moments. And data appears to back that up: The increase in suspensions was largely driven by a higher number of suspensions for *fighting.*
April 2, 2025 at 1:48 PM
In a months-long investigation, @leevgaines.bsky.social and I spoke to more than 50 students, teachers, parents, advocates, attorneys and experts about *why* suspensions are up.
April 2, 2025 at 1:48 PM