Committee meets with South Bend Schools to address academic issues for students

SOUTH BEND, Ind - The South Bend Community Schools Corporation got together with members of the African American Academic Suspension and Expulsion Committee on Friday to discuss ways in which they can help students succeed inside and outside the classroom.

The committee will focus on African American students who do not have access to classroom resources at home. The goal is to provide solutions that will deal with the economic disparities that negatively affect African American communities.

"We're very excited because this is a committee that has been a long time coming," Leslie Wesley, Vice President of the School Board Trustees. "It's very important that, as we look at our test scores and our student achievement, suspension rate, expulsion rate — that this committee will dig deep into that data and work with community stakeholders throughout the City of South Bend."

The committee will analyze data from different school districts and examine how grades, test scores, attendance and after school activities all correlate.

The committee has already began work on solving academic issues in South Bend.