Education Committee Public Hearing Testimonies from YBP Members
March 4th, 2026. Hartford, CT.
Ivan Cadet
My name is Ivan Cadet and Im a member of Hearing Youth Voices. I am here today because school discipline policies directly impact students and families like mine.
Across Connecticut and under current law, students are being removed from the classroom for nonviolent behaviors like dress code violations, phone use, or "defiance" , broad
categories that are inconsistently applied and disproportionately impact Black and Brown students. When I was in middle school, my cousin got in trouble for something that wasn’t violent at all. He was going through a hard time at home, and one day in class he just put his head down and refused to do his work. He wasn’t yelling, threatening anyone, or disrupting the class — he just shut down. The teacher took it as “defiance,” and he was sent to the office and given a suspension for being disrespectful and noncompliant.
That suspension made things worse. Instead of getting help, he missed schoolwork, fell behind in his classes, and felt embarrassed when he came back. Some students assumed he did something serious because he was suspended. He started to feel like the school saw him as a problem instead of a student who needed support. Over time, he stopped asking for help and participated less because he didn’t trust that teachers would understand what he was going through.
If the school had used a more supportive approach, things could have been very different. A counselor could have talked with him privately to understand why he was shutting down. A teacher could have offered extra time or checked in after class instead of immediately sending him out. Even something simple like asking, “Are you okay?” would have made him feel seen instead of punished.
A supportive response would have helped him stay in class, keep up with his work, and feel connected to school. Instead of feeling labeled as “disrespectful,” he might have felt understood. Sometimes nonviolent behavior is a sign that a student is overwhelmed, stressed, or dealing with something outside of school. Punishment doesn’t fix that — support does. I am testifying in strong support of SECTION 2 of SB 311, which limits the use of out-of-school suspensions for nonviolent behavior and reduces reliance on exclusionary discipline in Connecticut schools. We know that educational experiences where students are treated with dignity and have supportive resources promote long-term success for students, educators, and school communities.
That is why I support the Reimaging School Safety Coalition's proposal to End out-of-school Suspensions for non-violent behavior, strengthen restorative practices past in 2023, and reduce excessive suspension time. I urge this committee to vote in favor of Raised Bill 311
SECTION 2 so that Connecticut schools prioritize support over exclusion and keep students in classrooms where they belong.
Thank you for your time.
Ivan S. Cadet and Hearing Youth Voices
KYMIYAH WILLIS
Good afternoon,
My name is Kymiyah, and I am a student athlete at New London High School. I am here in strong support of Section 2 of Raised Bill 311.
Although I know this bill is geared toward eliminating suspensions for nonviolent offenses, I still want to share a personal experience about how out of school suspension impacted me.
At one point, I got into a fight at school and was suspended for 10 days. At the time, I had a 4.9 GPA. I was doing extremely well academically and taking pride in my grades. But missing 10 full days of school had a huge impact on me. When I returned, I felt overwhelmed. I had missed lessons, assignments, and tests.
My GPA dropped to a 2.. It was incredibly difficult to relearn everything on my own and try to catch up after being gone for so long. Instead of feeling supported, I felt set back. The suspension didn’t teach me conflict solutions or give me tools to handle situations better, it just removed me from the classroom.
I take responsibility for my actions. But I also believe that discipline should help students grow, not push them so far behind they struggle to recover.
Research shows that out of school suspensions do not reduce future behavioral incidents. They increase disconnection, harm mental health, and damage trust between students and educators. We know that black and brown students, students with IEPs, and non binary students are disproportionately impacted by suspensions in Connecticut. This shows that the system needs improvement.
Section 2 of Raised Bill 311 is about keeping students learning while still holding them accountable. It is about support over isolation.
I urge this committee to vote in favor of Section 2 of Raised bill 311 and ensure that students are not pushed out of classrooms where they belong.
Thank you for your time.
STEPHANIE FORESTAL
My name is Stephanie Forestal and l am a student from New London High School as well as a member of Hearing Youth Voices. I am testifying in strong support of Section 2 of Raised Bill 311, which limits the use of out-of-school suspensions for nonviolent behavior and reduces reliance on exclusionary discipline in Connecticut schools.
I have a friend who was suspended for a non-violent offense. It was just one day but that one day made her fall behind in school. She missed out on vital instruction time all due to a simple mistake. Yes, what she did was wrong but her learning time shouldn’t have been taken away from her.
Right now in our school students are being suspended for smoking or skipping class. These things disrupt their learning, if a kid already doesn’t want to be in class, why remove them from school? You’re essentially “rewarding” the bad behavior. Kids often skip class due to not understanding the material, anxiety, bullying or harassment from other students. This shows that sometimes these behaviors are a cry for help. Instead of pushing them out of school they should offer in school support to get to the cause of why the students are doing these things. By not doing so they are basically telling students that their education comes second. Passing section 2 would show that these students aren’t “problems “ that need to be removed but instead students who need support.
MCKAYLIE FRANCIS
My name is Mckaylie and l am a student member of Hearing Youth Voices from New London, CT. I am testifying in support of SECTION 2 of SB 311, which limits the use of out-of-school suspensions for nonviolent behavior and reduces reliance on exclusionary discipline in Connecticut schools.
I have seen how school suspensions affect students. Recently, my school has incorporated what they call “hallway sweeps” where they take whoever they find in the hallway after the bell rings and send them to in-school suspension. These students are forced to be sat in a monitored room doing nothing, when they could be in a classroom with their peers learning and setting themselves up for success. There are many other ways you can handle students lingering in the hallway, but taking away their opportunity to learn for the day should never be one.
I urge this committee to vote in favor of Raised Bill 311 SECTION 2 so that Connecticut schools prioritize support over exclusion and keep students in classrooms where they belong.
BIANKA CAREMISE
Dear Education Committee,
My name is Bianka and I’m a sophomore at New London High School. I’m here this morning to speak on behalf of Hearing Youth Voices and in support of section 2 of Raised Bill 311.
I believe students should not be suspended for non-violent behavior because it does more harm than good. At my school, hall sweeps send students straight to ISS if they are in the hallway without a pass, even if they are just a minute late or coming straight from their last class. Students also get ISS or out of school suspension for skipping or smoking, and sometimes skipping twice leads to both in-school and out of school suspensions. Instead of helping, this just takes students out of class and makes them fall behind.
I know this from experience. I was suspended before, and I started falling behind in my classes. Missing lessons made it hard to catch up, and I slowly lost motivation to do my work because I felt overwhelmed. Suspension didn’t fix anything. It made me feel disconnected from school. Schools should focus more on support and solutions that keep students learning, not punishments that push them further away.
Instead of automatic suspensions for nonviolent behavior, schools should focus on restorative practices, counseling, and academic support.
If a student is struggling they need guidance or accountability while still being in class. Keeping students in school while addressing the root of the problem is more effective than sending them home with no work and no support at all. When students get support it can make them actually care and want to show up better.
ELIN LITA
Hello! My name is Elin, l am a student and member of hearing youth voices from New London. I am testifying in strong support of Section 2 of Raised Bill 311, which limits the use of out-of-school suspensions for nonviolent behavior and reduces reliance on exclusionary discipline in Connecticut schools.
I believe that there are much more effective disciplinary acts for nonviolent behavior.
In school the main goal is for students to learn, but that won’t happen if they keep getting suspending for unnecessary stuff.
Smoking on campus, being defiant, ect. These are the few of many things that get students suspended. leaving them behind, isolated, and out of school. Not only are they missing out on learning over these suspension, they’re not getting support. When kids are skipping class, being disrespectful, we have to understand where this is coming from. Are they getting bullied? Work is too much for them, or they just don’t want to be there. Instead of taking the youth away, bring them back in, give them a place to be open and talk about challenges they’re facing. We can have counseling, mentoring, or behavior contracts to have students wanting to go to school.
This is why I support Section 2 of Raised Bill 311 to keep students in school while giving them support systems.