Every child deserves to feel a sense of belonging at school. Yet for many students with disabilities or trauma histories, school becomes a place of stress rather than opportunity. Across the state of Oregon and other states, children with complex behavioral and emotional needs are being excluded from learning environments, not because they lack potential, but because our systems are not designed to support them well.
I am the Executive Director of BEAM, a Bend, Oregon-based nonprofit extended learning program that supports students who have struggled to access stability and full participation in traditional school settings. Many of the children we serve are referred after repeated suspensions, shortened school days, or informal removals that have left families exhausted and out of viable options.
These students are often described as disruptive, unsafe, or “not ready.” In reality, their behaviors are frequently signals of stress, unmet needs, or skills they have not yet been taught. When they are met with exclusion, the problem does not disappear. It intensifies. Students lose learning time, families are destabilized, and schools lose trust. Most importantly, children internalize the message that they do not belong.
What has become increasingly difficult to ignore is the role legislators play in perpetuating this disconnect. Parents are showing up to board meetings, growing louder on social media, hiring advocates, and filing formal complaints with state agencies. Yet, their concerns are too often sidelined by their elected representatives. While supporting public schools is essential, avoiding hard conversations about systemic failure does a disservice to students who are already marginalized.
Real solutions require more than district-level conversations. They require legislators to intentionally seek out and listen to parents, students, and community partners who are witnessing exclusion firsthand. Like many advocates and caregivers, I have reached out to elected officials at the local and state levels without receiving even an acknowledgment. When attempts to engage go unanswered, it reinforces the very disconnect these policies are meant to address.
Without these voices in the room, policies will continue to overlook the students they are meant to protect.
The data in my state of Oregon reflects what families already experience. In the 2023–24 school year, more than 10,000 Oregon students with disabilities were suspended or expelled, according to the Oregon Department of Education. Nationally, students with disabilities are disciplined at nearly twice the rate of their nondisabled peers.
Yet even these numbers underestimate the scope of exclusion. Less visible are informal removals, such as shortened school days, repeated early pick-ups, or send-homes. These practices are often not recorded as discipline at all, despite disproportionately affecting students with disabilities. As a result, students can be quietly removed from learning without triggering the oversight or protections that formal discipline requires.
The unspoken truth is that parents are navigating impossible choices.
They face repeated disruptions to employment, pressure to homeschool, or placements that do not meet their child’s educational needs. This is not because educators do not care. Teachers are often stretched thin within systems where funding decisions are often disconnected from direct student support. The issue is systemic, reflecting a lack of responsive, accountable options for students whose needs fall outside traditional models.
Too often, the existence of programs or frameworks is treated as evidence that student needs are being met, even when outcomes tell a different story. In practice, responsibility for unmet needs is shifted to families and community providers, who are increasingly carrying the weight of care without sustainable funding, formal recognition, or true partnership with their school districts.
When policymakers rely primarily on district-reported capacity to shape policy and funding priorities, they risk reinforcing systems that continue to exclude, underserve, and often harm students with complex needs. Sustainable solutions require legislators to bring families and community partners to the table—not as afterthoughts or service referrals, but as essential voices in designing accountability, investment, and support structures.
If Oregon and other states are serious about improving student mental health, increasing school connectedness, and reducing exclusion, we must address these gaps directly. That means prioritizing transparent discipline data, oversight, and guidance around informal removals and shortened school days, and sustained investment in preventative, relationship-based, and community-partnered models that prioritize belonging over exclusion.
Every child deserves access to a full school day and a learning environment designed to help them succeed, not one that responds to distress with removal.
When students are pushed out of school, the cost is shared by families, educators, and the broader community. With thoughtful policy, transparency, and investment, states across the country can build systems where all children belong—and where fewer families are left to navigate these challenges alone.
