Board amends draft code of conduct after extended debate over suspensions and wording

The Greece Central School district Board of Education voted to change the draft 2025–26 code of conduct, approving a rewrite of the document’s first goal and, in a separate vote, narrowly removing a sentence that said out‑of‑school suspension “does not improve school climate or outcome for students.” The board took the votes during a regular meeting after a staff presentation and nearly two hours of discussion.

The board heard the code presentation from district leaders who said the committee that drafted the revisions included board members, administrators, safety staff, teachers, mental‑health staff and parents; students also contributed feedback during a student summit. “This code of conduct provides that balance between traditional consequences and interventions that have been shown to shift behavior,” Doctor Baker said, describing the district’s intent to pair consequences with restorative and instructional interventions.

Board members and staff said the committee reviewed post‑COVID discipline data and focused revisions on the district’s highest‑frequency behaviors. Director of Student Services Abby Toronto described specific changes: clearer definitions splitting tardies and skipping, a recommended progressive‑discipline triangle for first‑time skipping, clarified language distinguishing moderate versus dangerous disruption, adding personal electronic devices to the electronic‑use policy and requiring locked pouches for grades 6–12, a new 3A (non‑state‑reportable) weapons category so smaller implements can be addressed locally, a progressive model for substance‑use incidents (including vaping), and consistent use of the term “cannabis” to align with New York law. Toronto said the secondary committee meets three times per year and the full committee meets four times a year to review data and recommend changes.

The board considered three amendment proposals from Member Bonagorio. The first recommended removing the draft’s opening bullet that said the document should “reduce overuse and disproportionate use of in school and out of school suspensions and school discipline referrals” and replacing it with language emphasizing establishment of clear behavioral expectations and consequences for students and adults. After a short amendment process the board approved that change unanimously, 9–0.

Board debate on the second proposal — removing the sentence that reads “the use of out of school suspension as a response to challenging behavior does not improve school climate or outcome for students” — was longer and more divided. Supporters of removing the sentence said the line overstated a causal conclusion and that the code should focus on clear rules for behavior rather than a claim about outcomes. Bonagorio said the proposal was “really a verbiage change” aimed at keeping the document focused on conduct. Several members and staff cited research supporting restorative approaches and warned that suspensions can have harmful downstream effects; one board member read from a summary that showed negative effect sizes for suspension on student outcomes. Doctor Baker said the district’s reviews and external research were part of the committee’s work.

After discussion and a roll‑call explanation of votes, the board approved the second amendment by a 5–4 margin. The superintendent and staff reiterated that the board will vote on the full code at the August 19 meeting and that the committee will reconvene in 2025–26 to review data and implementation.

What changed in the draft: among the specific policy clarifications discussed at the meeting: - The code uses a three‑tier level system: Level 1 (classroom‑managed, green), Level 2 (administrative responses such as detention or in‑school suspension), Level 3A (short‑term suspension, 1–5 days) and Level 3B (longer suspensions, >5 days). Levels 2 and 3 are to be paired with interventions or learning activities when possible. - Skipping and tardies were separated and a progressive‑discipline recommendation was added so first‑time skipping would not automatically trigger long suspensions. - Disruption definitions were reworded to differentiate moderate incidents that require administrative resources from dangerous incidents that require broader school and community intervention. - Personal electronic devices were added under computer/electronic misuse; grades 6–12 would use locked pouches except with principal permission (noted as aligning with current practice). - A new non‑reportable weapons category (3A, not SSCC‑reportable) was created to address items such as letter openers that do not meet New York State’s SSCC weapon thresholds but nevertheless required a disciplinary response. - The committee added a progressive discipline model for use/possession/sale of drugs developed with the district’s substance‑abuse prevention team; examples included pairing ISS and intervention for vaping instead of automatically issuing OSS.

Board members asked staff to provide additional details on how expectations and consequences will be communicated to students and staff, and how data will be used to judge whether the progressive approaches reduce suspensions without jeopardizing safety. Superintendent Smalene and staff said the code changes will be presented to students and staff at the start of school and that the committee will re‑evaluate outcomes next year.

The board’s votes amended the draft code of conduct but did not yet adopt a final code; the district’s staff said the formal adoption vote remains scheduled for the board’s August 19 meeting.