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North Penn presents first‑marking‑period discipline report after districtwide switch to Infinite Campus
Summary
North Penn administrators told the Safe Schools Committee that detentions fell and overall suspensions held roughly steady in the first marking period; officials attributed some shifts to a districtwide move to Infinite Campus coding and said a Youth Aid Panel diversion program is operating for first‑time offenders. Public comment raised a discrepancy with state reporting.
Dr. Nicholson, North Penn's discipline lead, told the Safe Schools Committee on the evening of the committee's November meeting that detentions for the first marking period fell to 1,018 from 1,227 the prior year and that the percentage of students receiving detentions declined from 3.9% to 3.6%. He said in‑school and out‑of‑school suspensions were largely flat in the same time frame and that some apparent increases reflect changes in how incidents are coded districtwide.
The report covers the first marking period through Nov. 5 and, Dr. Nicholson said, uses three metrics he described at the start of the presentation: unique students (unduplicated count), percentage of the enrollment affected, and the total number of suspensions (which counts repeat incidents). "I'm happy to report that so far this school year, the 2526 school year, our detentions are much lower than they were last school year," he said.
The district moved all 18 buildings onto Infinite Campus this year and aligned codes that had previously been split between SWIS (used by many elementary PBIS sites) and Infinite Campus at secondary schools. Dr. Nicholson and other administrators said that consistent coding produced more comparable, granular reporting and accounted for some upward shifts in categories labeled "physical aggression" and similar entries. "What constitutes a fight at one school is also a fight at another school," Dr. Nicholson said, describing the goal of consistent entries.
Committee members sought assurance that the comparisons were "apples to apples." Dr. Nicholson confirmed the data cover the same time window (roughly the first 45 days of school) and said the district will continue quarterly reporting so the board and the public can track trends with more granularity than state‑level buckets.
Dr. Nicholson also described the Youth Aid Panel, a diversionary program for first‑time offenders that the district expanded to middle schools this year. He said 12 students (grades 7–12) have been referred to date, with 12 hearings completed, 4 programs successfully finished, 6 in progress and 2 students who did not complete the program. The panel is intended to reduce police referrals and shorten suspensions when students complete the restorative process.
Public comment flagged an apparent mismatch with state data. Jason Lanier, a Lansdale resident, read figures from safeschools.pa.gov showing 16.04 incidents per 100 students at some middle schools and asked why the district's figures do not match. Dr. Bauer offered to meet and review the district's uploads and said discrepancies have occurred in state reporting in prior years. "Just shoot me an email or I can send you one if I don't hear from you and we can sit down and let's dig into it together," he said.
The committee chair opened the floor for follow‑up and thanked administration for the detailed work. The committee recorded that the minutes from Oct. 27, 2025 were approved by voice vote at the start of the meeting.
