St. Mary Parish committee revises student discipline matrix to expand detention options and clarify hearings

The St. Mary Parish discipline committee voted Thursday to revise multiple parts of the student discipline matrix, replacing some in-school suspensions with shorter detention options, clarifying language about out-of-school suspensions and hearings, and reclassifying several offense codes by grade and severity.

Mister Holmes, who presented the packet of proposed changes, told the committee the intent was to "assign more detention for level 1 infractions before they get to in-school suspension," and to replace the word "level" with "offense" throughout the matrix for clarity. The committee approved changing the Level 1 third-offense consequence from an automatic one-day in-school suspension to allow either a one-day ISS or a four-hour detention, after members said a four-hour session can be difficult for younger elementary students to complete in a single sitting.

Why it matters: committee members said the changes are designed to reduce the number of suspensions that can trigger a mandatory hearing under state law after a student accumulates three suspensions. Staff emphasized the district already maintains separate matrices for K–5 and 6–12 and recommended keeping grade-specific distinctions where appropriate.

Key decisions and changes

- Level 1 third offense: committee approved language allowing either a…