OCR Text |
Show It I School Board Has Policy I On Discipline g By TOM BUSSELBERG !? - North County Editor FARMINGTON -- The Davis School Tt i ,'nci now has a formal discipline policy. ' s" w HILE THAT'S not to say there haven't r- ,en long-standing disciplinary guidelines IL& Are, it's the first time ever they" ve been 4j;:,; 'llen' in a separate document and formally ed by the board of education. The ac-v;; ac-v;; 'laj;en last week follows legislative in-;e',!- 'tl supt. Lawrence Welling indicates. 'jl joard members had a lot to say before ' ev passed the final version that had in-lid in-lid plenty of input from principals. jfs and supervisors from district head- il'Jl!; Biers. AMONG ITEMS included: "The purpose r; (a good discipline program is to assist ' tdents in the achievement of their educa-on educa-on goals, not as an end unto itself." eachers are asked to set up classroom ilts compatible with school and district Scy. If a student "displays inappropriate taviorfor a period of time and-or of se-ous se-ous intensity" teachers should meet with jrents and the principal for "possible re-m re-m to a counselor, administration" or , krs. I Each school is to establish basic rules that (I just be "clearly stated and written" in-J in-J Wing "procedures with clear expecta-tisand expecta-tisand consequences. The school will de- ise a method to inform parents of their n scipline procedures." i SUSPENSION may result when a stu-ill's stu-ill's behavior is harmful to others, he will-lyand will-lyand knowingly destroys school proper-ik proper-ik , is disruptive to normal school proceeding proceed-ing por is in violation of the state compul- ry school attendance laws, ffl At principal's discretion, a student may 53 1 suspended for up to three days, must ring his parents or guardian to school for a kkipal's conference followed by princi-175 princi-175 a's decision of the district pupil personnel 1 29': Bee should be involved. jjj STUDENTS facing suspension must be ten oral or written notice of charges y ainst them, with written notice provided A itiinone school day after oral notice. The ident will be asked to provide his version :g : ike incident in writing and parents will be mi mediately notified. P If a student's referred to pupil personnel Itrsuspension, he must appear at a hear-iwith hear-iwith his parents and then may be re-medtothe re-medtothe neighborhood school, referred in alternative school or exempted from to school attendance. THE BOARD agreed to review that policy in spring of next year with Board Pres. Sheryl Allen noting it should be "dynamic" in that it could be changed to meet needs. Board members raised some concerns about ab-out what they felt might be included in the policy, with Robert Mcintosh indicating "we heed to spell out suspension for stealing. steal-ing. I feel very strongly about respecting other student's property." "I'D LIKE 'harmful to other people' to include profanity," Ray Briscoe said. But as Supt. Welling said, although those are "worthwhile things to work on, you're laying quite a heavy burden on those people who have to carry it out. What is stealing?" He compared instances of "woefully taking someone's coat" vs. when a student might take another's pencil, noting it could be "hard to handle" if too many details were placed in the policy. ON LANGUAGE he readily admitted "I'm offended by that too," but it could develop teachers would have to spend "as much time as teaching" enforcing such regulations, reg-ulations, he told the board. "It could get to the point of ridiculousness," ridiculous-ness," Dr. Briscoe admitted, adding, "it becomes something we could use if we need to." BUT AS Bruce Parry said, "what if we discriminate, or don't use it then it's worse than not having it. To throw a kid out for taking a kid's marble" could be the consequences, con-sequences, in some instances, he said. "We have to live up to people's judgment." The student policy manual already covers such areas. Mrs. Allen indicated. "We need to be really careful. It's a shared problem with the home." DEE FORBES questioned requiring every ev-ery teacher to complete a discipline policy, but Supt. Welling responded, "I don't know of a teacher who doesn't have some expectations. expec-tations. This just says those they have are compatible with the school and district. Each school needs to decide what (areas) to work on. If a school group says it wants to cut down (on profanity, for example) I have no doubt they could make great inroads." Tle same detailed discipline policy may not apply to everyone, he continued, with more intensity needed, perhaps, for junior and senior high schools. "I THINK there has been some inequity in the past," Mr. Forbes said. "Students have been kicked out of one school but not another for the same thing." He used swearing as an example and said if students are treated differently, "where's the uniformity?" |