York City to revamp discipline policy; teachers ‘overwhelmed’

(York) — The York City School District is overhauling its discipline policy – work that could eventually address the concerns of teachers who say they’re overwhelmed with behavior issues in the classroom.

Student discipline was the topic at a recent school board meeting, where Ira Schneider, the York City Education Association president, read a letter on behalf of teachers.

“Our students, teachers and administrators are overwhelmed with behaviors that interrupt the learning environment,” the letter states.

It says suspensions should not be an administrator’s only option, because students need to be in the classroom. Disorderly students need to be dealt with firmly and quickly, and some highly disruptive students need help beyond the classroom teacher.

“We feel that class size, inconsistent consequences, and a lack of urgency, are impacting the daily education of our children,” the letter states. “As we look towards next school year, we feel it would be helpful to implement smaller class size, in school suspension rooms in every building, and a consistent discipline policy which is not left to interpretation by parents or administrators.”

Supt. Eric Holmes said there is work underway to try to address the issues teachers raised.

A committee is working to overhaul the district’s discipline policy, which emphasizes punishment and doesn’t do enough to help a child improve his or her behavior, according to Holmes. The committee is working to create a new policy that both holds students accountable and helps them improve their behavior.

A team of 20 teachers and administrators recently visited the Woodland Hills district near Pittsburgh to get a first-hand view of discipline systems there. That district is similar to York City and has incorporated some elements York City is interested in, such as restorative justice practices that emphasize helping students work through issues. They might try to figure out what led to the problem and work on that, or apologize and make amends, if that’s what’s necessary.

The district’s 2016-17 budget proposal includes creating a room at each school to serve as an outlet for students having discipline issues. Each room would have a staff member and might incorporate concepts like restorative justice or character education. The district already has a restorative justice room at the William Goodridge Academy, the alternative program in the district.

“We’re not looking to bring back traditional internal suspension rooms. … We’re not looking to warehouse kids,” Holmes said. “We’re looking to find a way to have kids work through the issues that they have and … improve themselves so that the problems don’t continue.”

There will always be some offenses that require external suspension, but that can’t be the only option, he said.

In addition to the Goodridge alternative program, the district also operates Cornerstone, a program for students in grades one through nine with academic or behavior issues. But teachers have long aired concern about the process of placing a student there. The process is time consuming and cumbersome for teachers, Schneider said, and it can take eight to 10 weeks.

But Holmes said it’s the nature of the program. Cornerstone is a “tier three” intervention for students. Before a student gets there, interventions are tried at the classroom level and school level. Plans are created and given time to see if they work, before a student would be sent outside the school to a program like Cornerstone.

In the letter read to school board, Schneider said the teachers’ concern is for students — those who need to learn in an environment without disruption and those who are struggling and need support.

Schneider said he’s spoken with some board members since the meeting and feels there is recognition of the issues.

“We recognize success is going to require collaboration,” he said.

Charters still an option?

York City School Board president Margie Orr took issue with teachers attending a recent meeting to raise concern about discipline in the classroom, and so she “reminded” them that turning district schools into charters was not totally off the table.

“It’s never been completely out of the recovery plan. I just wanted them to be reminded,” Orr said later. She said she didn’t appreciate teachers going to the board meeting, all wearing black. “We fought for them when the charter issue was out there, helping them hold on to their jobs.”

The revised recovery plan does not specifically mention any plans for turning schools into charters. It says that schools that do not achieve or show progress towards goals could be subject to more intensive interventions. The state financial recovery law does allow for recovery districts to turn schools into charters if it saves money.

Ira Schneider, York City Education Association president, said he wouldn’t speak to Orr’s thoughts, but that he left the school board meeting feeling positive and spoke to other school board members who seemed to acknowledge there are issues to address. 

This article is part of a content-sharing partnership between York Daily Record and WITF.