In order to complete this activity, I met with AH, our Head of School, to discuss what procedures exist at our school to guarantee due process rights for students and how those procedures operate. I also sat in with JM, an assistant principal, as he conducted random drug testing and met with students about disciplinary issues and served as a member of a discipline hearing.
Our discipline plan is both formal and comprehensive and, at its heart, is most concerned with guaranteeing the rights of students. The process begins with the discipline refereral form which staff members use to report disciplinary issues to the principal’s office. When a referral is filled out, it reports the specifics of the incident, identifies the specific infraction on a checklist and recommends a number of disciplinary points. It also outlines what action, if any, the reporting teacher took vis a vis the student.
Once the referral reaches the principal’s office, he or she schedules an immediate meeting with the student to discuss the incident. If a resolution is reached, then the details are recorded on the form and a copy is sent home, a copy is given to the student, a copy is returned to the teacher and a copy if placed in the student’s file. If resolution is not reached, or if the incident triggers further action -if, for example, it is an infraction which carries more than one discipline point or brings the student’s total points above a specified minimum, then a hearing is scheduled.
It is important to note that in almost every case, a student’s parents are invited to participate, to speak on the student’s behalf. Once a hearing is scheduled, the parents are invited and the student is asked to select one or more faculty members and/or students to speak on his or her behalf. The hearing committee comprises a board member, a teacher and administrator from a division other than the student’s, a member of the student government, a counselor and a senior administrator. Once the principal presents the case as it was reported to him, he is excused and the student is asked to speak. His advocate students and teachers speak as well as do his parents. They all then depart, leaving the committee to deliberate the issue and, under the director of the senior administrator, make a recommendation. I was overwhelmed at how much care is taken to protect the student during this process.
I have said in other activity summaries that we don’t have many serious behavior issues at our school and I think this process is one reason why. When serious incidents do occur, they are taken care of discreetly and fairly, taking great care to protect the students involved. Once issues are resolved in this way, they rarely return..