An Explanation of How SRHS Responds to Student Discipline
A recent incident involving two of our students has prompted some questions as to how Sanborn Regional High School addresses disciplinary issues, especially ones that involve violence and impact the overall safety of all of our students.
Discipline policies and procedures are based on several school board policies that are related to pupil safety in the Sanborn Regional School District. These policies can be found at the following link:
http://web.sau17.org/administration/school-board/174-policy-manual-index
Offenses are broken down into six “levels” of discipline that range from minor classroom issues (tardy to class, unauthorized use of a cell phone, etc.) up to major incidents (drugs, aggressive behavior, weapons, etc). A full description of these incidents as well as the consequences that are assigned to each can be found in the student handbook beginning on page 27. The link to the handbook is here:
http://web.sau17.org/images/stories/highschool/2010_2011%20student_handbook.pdf
The descriptions below summarize these disciplinary levels and the consequences that are tied to each:
Level I: Infractions include use of electronic devices, tardiness to class, dress code violations, and any other violation of classroom rules. Violations at this level are most frequently managed by classroom teachers. Consequences may include warnings, teacher detention, communication with a parent, mediation, or for chronic or persistent offenses, referral to the principal or assistant principals for intervention.
Level 2: Infractions include cutting teacher detentions, absence from class, misbehavior in the hallway/bus/cafeteria, loitering in bathrooms, etc. Violations at this level are managed by the principal or assistant principals. Consequences include, but are not limited to, student conferences, parent/guardian conferences, administrative detention, in-school suspension, and community service.
Level 3: Infractions include being outside the school building without permission, failure to report for office detentions, truancy, chronic level 1 and 2 disciplinary issues, insubordination or use of profanity towards a staff member, forgery/cheating/plagiarism, and theft. Violations at this level are managed by the principal or assistant principals. Consequences include, but are not limited to, student and parent conferences, community service, mediation, restitution, in-school suspension, and out of school suspension. If a suspension is administered, the length of the suspension is determined by the principal or assistant principal and is based upon the severity of the infraction. Suspensions at this level typically range from one day to five days, but may be extended if the behavior is deemed to be persistent. Offenses may also be reported to the safety officer and police department.
Level 4: Infractions include smoking/use of tobacco, fighting, vandalism, and acts which threaten the safety or well-being of staff or students. Violations at this level are managed by the principal or assistant principals. Consequences include, but are not limited to, a conference with the parent, student, principal/assistant principals, and superintendent of schools, restitution, and out of school suspension. The length of a suspension is determined by the principal or assistant principal and is based upon the type of violation and whether or not there have been prior violations. Suspensions typically range from two days to ten days, but may be extended if the behavior is deemed to be persistent. Offenses may also be reported to the safety officer and police department.
Level 5: Infractions include harassment/bullying/hazing, assaults against staff or students, and other similar aggressive behavior. Violations at this level are managed by the principal or assistant principals. Consequences at this level include, but are not limited to, meetings with the principal and/or superintendent of schools, mediation, restitution, and out of school suspension. The length of a suspension is determined by the principal or assistant principal and is based upon the type of violation and whether or not there have been prior violations. Suspensions typically range from five days to ten days, but may be extended if the behavior is deemed to be persistent. Offenses may also be reported to the safety officer and police department.
Level 6: Infractions include use/possession/sale of weapons/drugs/controlled substances/alcohol, and acts which cause endanger or potentially endanger the safety of groups of students by causing public alarms (bomb threats, false fire alarms, etc). Violations at this level are managed by the principal or assistant principals. Consequences at this level include, but are not limited to, suspension and expulsion. Each violation at this level is reviewed by the school board for possible expulsion (total exclusion from school). Offenses may also be reported to the safety officer and police department.
Sanborn Regional High School is committed to ensuring that the school environment is safe and best supports learning. Over the last five years, the school administration has taken several steps to reduce the number of student discipline incidents that disrupt the school day. These steps include the increase of staff assigned to monitor hallways and the cafeteria, the reassignment of administrative duties to better address student issues, the implementation of alternative learning plans to better meet individual student needs, and the implementation of a new Freshman Learning Community model and schedule.
One of the best ways to see if these steps are working is to look at the trend in discipline statistics over the last five years. The following chart displays the number of discipline referrals made to the administration for the first semester only. Five years of data are reported.
*Please note. This report was generated before the end of semester 1 for the current school year, so the current year numbers are reported as a projection of what those numbers would be at the end of semester 1 on January 13, 2012 based on when the data was collected on December 6, 2011.
The “other” categories includes minor infractions such as: disruptions in the classroom, hallways, cafeteria, or bus, insubordination, wandering, violation of tech policy, cheating/forgery, vandalism, insufficient ISS points, gross misconduct, truancy, food & drink out of the cafeteria, etc.
As you can see, we still have a lot of work to do. We are pleased to see that our overall referrals have declined by as much as 50% over the last five years, but we know we can do better. To do this, we need the help of all of our stakeholders.
At the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year, the school administration committed to conducting a school culture and climate survey. Partnering with community groups such as S.A.F.E. Sanborn and the Sanborn/Timberlane Coalition for Youth, the school administered a comprehensive culture survey to all staff and students in November of 2011. Topics addressed in this survey ranged from bullying and school safety to bathroom cleanliness and the willingness of staff to personalize education.
In January of 2012, teams of staff, students, and parents will meet to analyze the data from the survey results. They will make recommendations to the school administration of things that can be done to improve the overall school climate and culture for all. Some of these recommendations will become changes right away, and some will be implemented over a period of time. The administration hopes that this will be the best long term solution to improving our culture and continuing to reduce the number of student discipline issues that our school faces. If you have any questions about disciplinary procedures or how they impact your child’s safety, you are urged to contact your child’s administrator:
Ann Hadwen, ahadwen@sau17.org, Asst. Principal – Grade 9
Michael Turmelle, mturmelle@sau17.org, Asst. Principal – Grades 10 & 11
Brian M. Stack, bstack@sau17.org, Principal – Grade 12
Discipline policies and procedures are based on several school board policies that are related to pupil safety in the Sanborn Regional School District. These policies can be found at the following link:
http://web.sau17.org/administration/school-board/174-policy-manual-index
Offenses are broken down into six “levels” of discipline that range from minor classroom issues (tardy to class, unauthorized use of a cell phone, etc.) up to major incidents (drugs, aggressive behavior, weapons, etc). A full description of these incidents as well as the consequences that are assigned to each can be found in the student handbook beginning on page 27. The link to the handbook is here:
http://web.sau17.org/images/stories/highschool/2010_2011%20student_handbook.pdf
The descriptions below summarize these disciplinary levels and the consequences that are tied to each:
Level I: Infractions include use of electronic devices, tardiness to class, dress code violations, and any other violation of classroom rules. Violations at this level are most frequently managed by classroom teachers. Consequences may include warnings, teacher detention, communication with a parent, mediation, or for chronic or persistent offenses, referral to the principal or assistant principals for intervention.
Level 2: Infractions include cutting teacher detentions, absence from class, misbehavior in the hallway/bus/cafeteria, loitering in bathrooms, etc. Violations at this level are managed by the principal or assistant principals. Consequences include, but are not limited to, student conferences, parent/guardian conferences, administrative detention, in-school suspension, and community service.
Level 3: Infractions include being outside the school building without permission, failure to report for office detentions, truancy, chronic level 1 and 2 disciplinary issues, insubordination or use of profanity towards a staff member, forgery/cheating/plagiarism, and theft. Violations at this level are managed by the principal or assistant principals. Consequences include, but are not limited to, student and parent conferences, community service, mediation, restitution, in-school suspension, and out of school suspension. If a suspension is administered, the length of the suspension is determined by the principal or assistant principal and is based upon the severity of the infraction. Suspensions at this level typically range from one day to five days, but may be extended if the behavior is deemed to be persistent. Offenses may also be reported to the safety officer and police department.
Level 4: Infractions include smoking/use of tobacco, fighting, vandalism, and acts which threaten the safety or well-being of staff or students. Violations at this level are managed by the principal or assistant principals. Consequences include, but are not limited to, a conference with the parent, student, principal/assistant principals, and superintendent of schools, restitution, and out of school suspension. The length of a suspension is determined by the principal or assistant principal and is based upon the type of violation and whether or not there have been prior violations. Suspensions typically range from two days to ten days, but may be extended if the behavior is deemed to be persistent. Offenses may also be reported to the safety officer and police department.
Level 5: Infractions include harassment/bullying/hazing, assaults against staff or students, and other similar aggressive behavior. Violations at this level are managed by the principal or assistant principals. Consequences at this level include, but are not limited to, meetings with the principal and/or superintendent of schools, mediation, restitution, and out of school suspension. The length of a suspension is determined by the principal or assistant principal and is based upon the type of violation and whether or not there have been prior violations. Suspensions typically range from five days to ten days, but may be extended if the behavior is deemed to be persistent. Offenses may also be reported to the safety officer and police department.
Level 6: Infractions include use/possession/sale of weapons/drugs/controlled substances/alcohol, and acts which cause endanger or potentially endanger the safety of groups of students by causing public alarms (bomb threats, false fire alarms, etc). Violations at this level are managed by the principal or assistant principals. Consequences at this level include, but are not limited to, suspension and expulsion. Each violation at this level is reviewed by the school board for possible expulsion (total exclusion from school). Offenses may also be reported to the safety officer and police department.
Sanborn Regional High School is committed to ensuring that the school environment is safe and best supports learning. Over the last five years, the school administration has taken several steps to reduce the number of student discipline incidents that disrupt the school day. These steps include the increase of staff assigned to monitor hallways and the cafeteria, the reassignment of administrative duties to better address student issues, the implementation of alternative learning plans to better meet individual student needs, and the implementation of a new Freshman Learning Community model and schedule.
One of the best ways to see if these steps are working is to look at the trend in discipline statistics over the last five years. The following chart displays the number of discipline referrals made to the administration for the first semester only. Five years of data are reported.
*Please note. This report was generated before the end of semester 1 for the current school year, so the current year numbers are reported as a projection of what those numbers would be at the end of semester 1 on January 13, 2012 based on when the data was collected on December 6, 2011.
The “other” categories includes minor infractions such as: disruptions in the classroom, hallways, cafeteria, or bus, insubordination, wandering, violation of tech policy, cheating/forgery, vandalism, insufficient ISS points, gross misconduct, truancy, food & drink out of the cafeteria, etc.
As you can see, we still have a lot of work to do. We are pleased to see that our overall referrals have declined by as much as 50% over the last five years, but we know we can do better. To do this, we need the help of all of our stakeholders.
At the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year, the school administration committed to conducting a school culture and climate survey. Partnering with community groups such as S.A.F.E. Sanborn and the Sanborn/Timberlane Coalition for Youth, the school administered a comprehensive culture survey to all staff and students in November of 2011. Topics addressed in this survey ranged from bullying and school safety to bathroom cleanliness and the willingness of staff to personalize education.
In January of 2012, teams of staff, students, and parents will meet to analyze the data from the survey results. They will make recommendations to the school administration of things that can be done to improve the overall school climate and culture for all. Some of these recommendations will become changes right away, and some will be implemented over a period of time. The administration hopes that this will be the best long term solution to improving our culture and continuing to reduce the number of student discipline issues that our school faces. If you have any questions about disciplinary procedures or how they impact your child’s safety, you are urged to contact your child’s administrator:
Ann Hadwen, ahadwen@sau17.org, Asst. Principal – Grade 9
Michael Turmelle, mturmelle@sau17.org, Asst. Principal – Grades 10 & 11
Brian M. Stack, bstack@sau17.org, Principal – Grade 12
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