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Discipline referrals fall in several categories; middle-school fighting increases, district says
Summary
Staff reported declines in several serious incident categories—attack on adult, attack on student and fighting at many levels—but said middle-school fighting rose 20 percent; class cutting referrals fell 59 percent and disruption referrals fell slightly as district ties improvements to attendance, mentoring and interventions.
District staff provided a quarterly student-discipline update to the board on Feb. 26, reporting decreases in many serious-referral categories while flagging a 20 percent increase in middle-school fighting.
Key figures Staff presented comparative figures (same period year-to-year): attack on adult decreased by 19.4 percent at the elementary level, 60 percent at the middle level and 25 percent at the high-school level; attack on student showed decreases of 47.5 percent (elementary), 20 percent (middle) and 45 percent (high). Fighting decreased 32 percent at elementary and 11.3 percent at high school but rose about 20 percent at middle school. Class cutting referrals fell 59.4 percent districtwide, and disruption referrals fell 2.1 percent.
District interpretation Presenters said the declines reflect a combination of factors: improved attendance, expanded mentoring, re-teaching expectations and additional interventions and staff supports. They emphasized that behind every data point is an individual student needing support and that the district will continue targeted interventions for students who repeat behaviors.
Concerns and questions Board members raised concerns about elementary incidents that they said can represent repeated behavior by a small number of students and requested more information about staff time lost to assaults. Human resources staff said two assault-leave requests had been filed this school year (assault leave is provided through the negotiated contract); presenters said human-resources and workers’ compensation records would be used to verify time-loss data.
Programs and next steps District staff credited mentoring, attendance work and targeted interventions with producing improvements and said they will continue to provide professional development, classroom supports and individualized student plans. Staff also acknowledged unevenness across schools and said they will continue to monitor and provide school-level supports.
Ending District leaders asked for continued board and community support for interventions and noted they will report further data in upcoming updates.
