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RALEIGH – The Wake County School Board is making changes to the long-term suspension policy for students.

Zero tolerance discipline is now out and case-by-case reviews are in.

In the past, a long term suspension automatically kept a student out of school through the end of the school year.

However, starting next semester, a long term suspension could be as few as eleven days, ranging up to the remainder of the school year, depending on the severity of the offense.

“We had a blanket policy that put a lot of kids on the streets for a year,” said School Board Member John Tedesco. “When you put a kid on the street for a year, they're going to join gangs. They're going to do drugs. They're not going to come back to school. There should have been room for flexibility.”

That's what the school board is now trying to provide.

The school board says it needs time to analyze the current zero tolerance discipline policies, make changes as necessary and educate everyone about any new policies before they go into effect.

In the meantime, principals can recommend shorter suspensions for students to the superintendent and the Discipline Review Committee.

The superintendent now has the authority to review all long-term suspensions and reduce punishments in cases with mitigating factors.

But some people are concerned about the changes.

“I ask that before a suspension is reduced, the victim's rights be thoroughly examined,” Raleigh resident Anne Sherron told the school board. “Suspensions that have victims should be treated differently as there are implications to the victim.”

“My concern is process,” said Board Vice Chair Debra Goldman. “My concern is making sure we have the opportunities to review all the policies involved and making sure we're not overlooking anything.”

But the one thing the entire school board agrees on is that students should be given every opportunity to stay in school, reserving the longest suspensions for the worst offenses.