More than 53,000 suspensions were issued in the New York City public schools last year, almost the same number as in the previous school year.

Once again, black and Hispanic students students comprised a disproportionate share: 87 percent of the suspensions were to black and Hispanic pupils, even though the two groups combined make up 67 percent of all public school students. More than a third of the suspensions were given to students with disabilities, roughly double their representation in the public schools.

Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña acknowledged the discrepancy.

"While we have taken important steps in the right direction, we have more work to do — particularly for our black and Hispanic students and our students with special needs,” she said in a statement.

Fariña is in the process of revising the city's discipline code. The New York Civil Liberties Union and other groups have pressed her to require principals use more alternatives to suspensions such as mediation and other intervention techniques.

Although the vast majority of suspensions involve keeping students in-schools, about 11,000 removed students to suspension sites.

The chancellor has said she will release her discipline code revisions "relatively soon." In the meantime, "identifying alternatives that reduce the need for suspensions, while continuing to improve safety in our schools, remains one of my top priorities," she said.

In the 2011-12 school year, 69,643 students were suspended. The number started to decline the following year, after the discipline code was revised to give principals more flexibility and discretion around suspensions.