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Pennsbury High leaders point to falling disciplinary hearings and wider climate efforts; security upgrades and PBIS cited
Summary
Pennsbury High School administrators reported March 20 that a combination of student advisory structures, a rebranded PBIS program, a dedicated security team and upgraded cameras are part of a climate-and-culture push; administrators said informal hearing counts have fallen substantially year‑over‑year while urging continued enforcement of serious-discipline rules.
Pennsbury High School administrators told the board March 20 that a sustained, multi-pronged effort to improve school climate and culture has coincided with a sharp drop in informal disciplinary hearings and growing staff and student engagement in positive-behavior incentives.
Campus principal Reggie Meadows, assistant principal Ryan Regensburg and climate-and-culture specialist Pat Bowser described a set of steps the high school has taken since the 2022–23 school year: regular round-table meetings with staff, a Principal-Superintendent Student Advisory Committee (PSAC) of roughly 30 students from grades 9–12, classroom visits by administrators to solicit direct student feedback, and a visible administrative presence in hallways and dining areas. Meadows said administrators set a goal of becoming “80% proactive, 20% reactive” and that a central aim was creating more structured channels for student voice.
Regensburg described changes to security staffing and behavior systems. "Our security team has undergone job specific training while prioritizing alignment with district initiatives like positive behavior intervention and support system, also known as PBIS," he said. The high school rebranded the campus-wide behavior program as "Keep the Peace," introduced digital recognition (peace points) for staff to acknowledge expected behaviors and expanded student leadership through a Keep the Peace student team that runs restorative circles and nominations.
Administrators highlighted data the school used to measure change. Meadows said informal hearing counts used as a proxy for serious incidents have declined: "If you look at the graph here, last year, we were at 56 in January. This year we were at 20," he said, and later comparing year-over-year counts told the board informal hearings fell from 77 a year earlier to 33 at the time of presentation. Meadows and Regensburg cautioned the trend was fragile: "We're on a razor's edge with this," Meadows said, emphasizing continued enforcement of discipline for serious offenses while promoting proactive recognition and supports.
School leaders also described operational changes: a transition from a school-aid model to a dedicated security team coordinated by the supervisor of safety and security with employee training, and upgrades to security cameras at PHS West and across campus. Participation in the digital recognition system grew from 13 faculty issuing roughly 1,400 peace points in the first marking period to 29 faculty issuing larger counts in the second marking period, administrators said.
The board's wellness committee had invited the high school team to present because the committee monitors wellness and culture work districtwide. Administrators said the work at the high school included restorative practices, attendance incentives (for example, Falcons Fridays and Keep the Peace Wednesday), and a multi-tiered approach to interventions via grade-level and advanced tiers teams.
Administrators asked the board and community to treat the improvements as evidence of a broader strategy, not as a signal that enforcement had been relaxed. Meadows repeated that the district still enforces discipline for non-negotiable behaviors such as fighting, weapons and drugs.
Board members thanked the high school team for the presentation but did not vote on any new policy or funding at the March 20 meeting.
