For Antonio, being suspended from school used to mean a free day to stay home away from the classroom.
"I remember that I used to get into a lot of trouble just to get sent home because I really didn't like being in school," he says.
The Davenport School District credits an alternative system put in place last year called the Diversion program. The overall purpose is to reduce the total number of school suspensions and offer students a chance to learn the tools needed to better handle tough situations.
So far, the schools in Davenport say it's working.
"I know at one point we were down half of the total suspension days from last year, so I would say 50 percent at this point is successful and it's showing us what we're doing is working," says Guy Heller, the associate principal at Davenport West High School.
Now when there's a problem students are placed in a room away from the situation and are encouraged to talk to a Diversion teacher. At the end of the school year the Davenport School District is going to review the program to see how successful it has been overall.