The Winston-Salem Journal reports school suspensions are down, largely because of new state and local discipline guidelines crafted to keep students in school.

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools School officials cautioned against reading too much into statistics from just the first quarter of this school year, but the school system says is on pace to have 3,000 fewer suspensions this year, compared with last year.

That would mean an estimated 18,000 more school days for troubled students. The state did an extensive revision of discipline and suspension rules over the summer, but they boil down to teachers and administrators working with students and their parents more often, instead of turning to mandatory suspensions.

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Superintendent, Don Martin said although the the drop in suspensions is good news, long-term results will take more time, and "time is not something everybody's just loaded up with."

Several school board members have expressed similar concerns. Martin said he plans to talk with teachers about the issue during a January meeting.

Many of the state's changes were meant to roll back so-called zero-tolerance policies that lead to harsh punishments for innocent mistakes, such as the 2010 suspension of a Lee County girl who accidentally brought a paring knife to school with her lunch.

The state also changed its policy on truancy. Schools can no longer suspend students for more than two days over missed school.