Madison County Schools proposes bus-discipline, cell-phone and handbook changes under state guidance

Griffin McCants, director of Equity and Innovation for Madison County Schools, outlined proposed revisions to the district's code of conduct and student handbook during the July 1 special session, saying the changes respond to consultant recommendations and new state requirements.

McCants said several terminology changes were recommended by the district's discipline equity consultant and the LDF/DOJ review, including replacing the word "criminal" with "severe" throughout the code and replacing the term "offense" with "behavior" in several provisions. She said the district will add a definition of expulsion to match House Bill 188 and related state language and that written decisions from disciplinary hearings will be delivered to parents within five school days after a hearing, consistent with the cited statute.

On lower-level discipline, McCants proposed adding a reflective essay as a progressive, local-level consequence for…