FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, July 22, 2015    

CONTACT: Daisy Gonzalez-Diego
Miami-Dade County Public Schools
305-995-2060

M-DCPS BEST IN STATE FOR CIVIL CITATIONS

Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) was named best in the state for its civil citation efforts. According to the new study Stepping Up: Florida’s Top Civil Citation Efforts, M-DCPS ranks in the top 20 percent in terms of efforts based on using civil citations, which is the percentage of eligible students who received a civil citation. The study indicates that the increased use of civil citations result in significant benefits to the youth’s futures, taxpayers, and public safety.

“This achievement is a combination of effective policies and the desire to provide students with a disciplinary alternative to arrests and suspensions. By suspending a student who is already at risk of not graduating due to their behavior, we are actually compounding the problem. The school district has found a better solution,” said Superintendent of Schools Alberto M. Carvalho.

The school district ranks as the top-performing county directly above Pinellas, Broward and Marion Counties respectively. The school district used civil citations 91 percent of the time when possible. The results were supported by state and national juvenile justice advocates and organizations.

“Miami-Dade Schools Police has been the pioneer of the civil citation program. Our professional Police Officers, combined with District Administrators, Public Defenders Office, State Attorney's Office and the Judicial System are all responsible for the success of this program. We have been able to reduce the overall arrest of juveniles in the past five years by 41 percent and Schools Police has been responsible for 18 percent of the civil citations issued this year. We encourage our partnering law enforcement agencies to utilize this alternative to give our youth a second chance," said Schools Police Chief Ian A. Moffett.

Step Up will become an annual report and, supported by The Children’s Campaign. This year’s sponsors are the Florida State University Project on Accountable Justice, the Southern Poverty Law Center, James Madison Institute and Joseph W. & Terrell S. Clark.

For more information, visit http://iamforkids.org/civilcitationreport/

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15-DGD/012/DF

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