Rice Lake board hears annual report on student conduct; district targets small group driving most referrals

At its July 14 meeting the Rice Lake Area School District board received the district administrator's annual report on student conduct and discipline, during which building leaders described how a small number of students account for a large share of office-discipline referrals and reviewed interventions the district is using to reduce incidents.

The district administrator introduced the report and said each building would present its own data and next steps. Elementary presenters told the board that the top major behaviors were physical aggression and failure to follow instructions, while common minor behaviors included failure to follow instructions and failure to complete work. The presenters noted that reporting practices vary and that some counts represent repeated incidents for the same pupil rather than unique students.

"We want staff to report things accurately," one administrator said, describing district use of EduCLIMBER to collect and analyze incidents. A slide shown to the board identified the district's top 20 students as generating roughly half of all office-discipline referrals, and leaders said the majority of students have zero or one major referral. The district's stated goal is that 80% of students will have zero or one major referral; elementary schools reported meeting that goal this year with about 85% in that category.

Administrators described tiered responses used when students accumulate referrals: monthly tier-1 meetings to review schoolwide trends; tier-2 meetings that develop individualized supports such as daily check-in/check-out sheets, small-group "SEG" academic and social interventions led by counselors or special-education staff, mentoring, and behavior plans. The district also said it is implementing behavior academies and other professional-development supports for staff.

High-school leaders reported 977 recorded referrals for the year in classroom settings after excluding unexcused absences and truancy data. They identified cell-phone use during class time and sleeping in class among the highest-referral issues and said they will focus interventions on freshmen and other grade levels showing heavier referral rates. The high school will send a back-to-school letter to parents emphasizing two priorities: address student fatigue and limit technology before bedtime, and reinforce the ban on phones during classroom instruction.

The board asked several clarifying questions about how the district distinguishes minors from majors, how repeat incidents are counted, and how families are engaged. Administrators said minors are largely teacher-managed and majors require office involvement; repeated minor incidents can escalate to majors when they persist. They emphasized that involving families at the tier-2 stage often improves outcomes.

Leaders also described restorative practices used to repair relationships after incidents rather than relying solely on punitive measures, and said they continue to offer in-school supports such as the "Warrior Room" for students who need a supervised break. The district noted that some students with special-education needs account for a disproportionate share of referrals and that individualized plans and county support teams sometimes become part of interventions.

The board received the report for discussion; no new policy was adopted at the meeting, though committee members were asked to continue refining related policies (including cell-phone rules) and to return with recommendations.

The presentation materials and links to the standards and behavior dashboards were provided in the meeting packet.