The number of students suspended from public schools is continuing to decline, the Education Department says.

In the first half of this school year, suspensions decreased by 19.8%, compared to the same time period the year before. That’s part of a longer trend - suspensions have fallen by 50% since Mayor Bill de Blasio took office. 

The Education Department credits the decline in part to a new social-emotional learning curriculum and expanding restorative justice programs, which guide students to talk through conflicts. 

Still, while the department did not provide raw data on race, it said disparities in suspensions remain, with non-white students and those with disabilities more likely to be suspended.

In addition to the drop in suspensions, the number of students removed by emergency medical services from schools due to psychological or emotional issues also declined, by 13.1%.

The DOE also cited hiring new "school response clinicians," who help students in emotional distress, for the declines.

The department also recently revamped its disciplinary code, limiting the length of most suspensions.

The city also released statistics on interactions between students and police from January to March of this calendar year, and said NYPD interventions in schools were down by 8.3 percent compared to the same period a year before. Arrests dropped by 33 percent, they said.

“We made historic investments in the social and emotional well-being of our students, which is more important now than ever. Decreasing suspensions demonstrate our schools have laid the groundwork for maintaining supportive and safe environments for students remotely, and our young people have the tools they need to deal with the incredible hardship they may be experiencing," Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said.

As for discipline during remote learning, which began on March 23, the city says it stopped active suspensions and has encouraged administrators not to issue them, but to use alternatives that "take extra care to focus on the emotional trauma" students may be experiencing.