Pubdate: Fri, 22 Mar 2013
Source: Washington Examiner (DC)
Copyright: 2013 Washington Examiner
Contact:  http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3788

TIME TO CANCEL 'ZERO TOLERANCE'

On Wednesday, after months of deliberation, the Ad Hoc Community
Committee on Student Rights and Responsibilities presented 52
substantive changes in student disciplinary policy to a special
session of the Fairfax County School Board. If approved in their
entirety, these long-overdue recommendations will replace a rigid
"zero tolerance" policy with one based on common sense and educational
principles.

The 40-member ad hoc committee was chaired by Steve Stuban, whose
15-year-old son, Nick, a football player at W.T. Woodson High School,
committed suicide in 2011, after being suspended from school for 11
weeks for possession of synthetic marijuana. This was two years after
17-year-old Josh Anderson, another suspended football player from
South Lakes High School, killed himself the day before his
disciplinary hearing.

The two teen suicides galvanized parents in Fairfax County, who
demanded an end to the school system's excessively harsh and
contradictory "zero tolerance" policies, which punished Nick Stuban
more for purchasing a legal substance than if he had arrived at school
drunk or high on cocaine. Such policies might be appropriate in a
penal institution, but they are out of place and harmful in an
educational setting.

The committee's excellent recommendations include a requirement that
school administrators notify parents before their children are
questioned about possible violations that could trigger a suspension.
Many parents reported they had no idea their children were being
interrogated by school officials over allegations that could result in
suspension, expulsion or even criminal charges being filed. That
clearly must end.

Other recommendations include a "second chance" for first-time drug or
alcohol violations, more discretion for principals in referring
students to the School Board's hearings office, and a standing
committee on student discipline with the goal of re-engineering the
school environment to prevent violations in the first place and making
sure that certain groups - such as special-ed or minority students -
are not being punished disproportionately. They also call for better
academic support for those students who are suspended in school or out
of school to help get them back on track as quickly as possible.

The abolition of "zero tolerance" does not mean allowing students to
misbehave or escape consequences when they do. But it does require
educators and school administrators to be mindful that too-severe
punishments that don't fit the crime - or the child - only undermine
the school system's ultimate goal.
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MAP posted-by: Matt