Fresno leaders got a civics lesson Thursday morning from students, parents and community organizations about harsh student-discipline policies and why they need to be reformed.

Expulsions and suspension are costly, ineffective and inequitable, affecting black and Hispanic boys disproportionately, said Rubén Lizardo, deputy director of PolicyLink, a research and advocacy organization for the nonprofit sector.

The policies also are costly and "put the city's economic growth in peril," Lizardo told the 100 people gathered at The Grand in downtown Fresno.

The 827 Fresno Unified dropouts from the class of 2011 will cost the city, state and federal government about $324 million in lost tax revenue, increased dependency on safety-net programs and crime, Lizardo said, citing a report by Children Now, a national children's organization. In 2010-11, 32,180 days of school missed by Fresno Unified students cost the district about $1 million in attendance funds, he said.

Fresno Unified expelled more students -- 493 in 2010-11 -- than any of the 10 largest school districts in the state, and had the third most suspensions -- 14,653 in one year, according to Children Now. Black students are the most likely to be suspended at a rate of 53.2%, nearly three times that of Caucasian students at 18.4%, and black students are four times more likely to be expelled than Caucasians -- 2.2% compared to 0.5%.

About 40% of the suspensions were for nonviolent offenses, such as profanity and obscenities and "willful defiance," a broad, ill-defined discipline category, Children Now reported.

But about two-thirds of those expulsions two years ago were suspended expulsions, where students were not fully expelled but remained at Fresno Unified schools on a probationary status, spokeswoman Jamilah Fraser said. The programs implemented, such as Safe and Civil, anti-bullying, youth court and peer mediation, have resulted in a significant decline in expulsions in the current school year, she said.

Lizardo said the district's discipline policies need to be reformed, and he encouraged the city's leaders to become involved in efforts to reduce suspensions and expulsions. The leaders on hand Thursday morning included Kendra Rogers, executive director of First Five Fresno County and former Fresno Unified trustee Luisa Medina.

The Fresno Unified School Board needs to listen to students who have spent two years researching expulsions and suspensions, said MaryJane Skjellerup, senior director at the Youth Leadership Institute, a youth development organization. The meeting included a video produced by a sub-group of the Youth Engagement Team, which encouraged the community to get involved in reforming discipline policies.

"Our young people really want the Board of Education to show their commitment to this by adopting a resolution that really outlines their shift to restorative justice priorities," Skjellerup said after the meeting.

Restorative justice focuses on conflict resolution and other means for keeping students with behavior problems in school rather than removing them, she said.

Board President Valerie Davis, who attended the meeting, said afterward that she "appreciated the community voices. I appreciate the youth voices. In order for us to work with them, we have to listen to them."

Fresno Unified Superintendent Michael Hanson told the audience that board members would be addressing discipline issues at a workshop in a couple of months.

Fresno is among nine California school districts, including Clovis and Sanger, that have asked the federal government for a waiver from No Child Left Behind accountability rules, Hanson said. The waiver would allow the districts to assess the social-emotional and cultural climate in schools, in addition to measuring academic progress.

The new measures should help schools diminish the disparities experienced by minority boys, Hanson said. The nine district superintendents "recognize our black kids do worse than our white kids," he said.