Bills could reach House this week

Delaware State News

DOVER — The state’s School Discipline Task Force released its final report on Tuesday and will introduce various pieces of legislation to the state House of Representatives as early as this week for approval.

"Ultimately the task force looked at what is best for the kids and what the most appropriate interventions would be in order to maintain a safe and positive environment for students and employees," said task force co-chair Rep. Darryl M. Scott, D-Dover. "I’m very optimistic that these recommendations will have a positive impact for not only the kids, but those who serve them."

The task force and its recommendations were broken down into three subcommittees, including Legislative Initiatives, School Climate and Student Codes of Conduct, Policy and Procedure and Alternatives.

Led by Deputy Attorney General Patricia Dailey Lewis, the legislative subcommittee’s major recommendation, and the first one that will be introduced to the House for discussion, was to increase the minimum age of an alleged offender that requires a report from 9 years old to 12.

Under current law, school officials have to report to police and, in certain instances, initiate criminal prosecution of specific misdemeanor offenses, such as third-degree assault and offensive touching, committed by students over 9.

Under the draft legislation, school officials still would be required to file a written report of the incident with the superintendent, who in turn must file a written report with the Department of Education.

Other recommendations by this committee included:

• Mandatory reporting when the victim is a school employee;

• Rewriting the references to suspensions based on probable-cause findings to include — among other things — that the school must find that the safety of the students, faculty and staff are impaired by having the offender present in the school;

• Creating a new section of the Delaware Code to deal with implementing a three-step process prior to invoking criminal violation reporting, except for sex crimes and weapons offenses. The three steps would be a written warning, school mediation, and finally, arrest. This process would replace immediate arrest for misdemeanors, except any sex crime or weapons offenses.

"The subcommittee’s goal was to make sure that serious crimes are given their appropriate attention but those situations that should not enter the justice system don’t," Ms. Dailey Lewis said. "In many cases, by the time an unclassified misdemeanor reaches court, people don’t want to participate, the kids involved aren’t fighting any more, and we have used a lot of state and school resources.

"There are better ways to handle some situations than to require law enforcement involvement."

The School Climate and Student Codes of Conduct, Policy and Procedure subcommittee, chaired by state Deputy Secretary of Education Daniel E. Cruce, reviewed legal issues stemming from the school discipline system. The group recommended calling on the Department of Education to establish:

• Common legal definitions of student offenses that lead to alternative placement or expulsion;

• Common due-process procedures for alternative-placement meetings and expulsion hearings;

• Common procedures for how the Attorney General’s office handles reports;

• Requiring DOE and the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to draft a memorandum of understanding detailing minimum responsibility requirements of school resource officers.

"We want school districts and charter schools to be able to maintain local autonomy, but we also must guarantee consistency with policies and procedures," Mr. Cruce said. "The subcommittee worked to provide a framework for districts and charters to use to ensure a consistent process in all schools throughout the state."

The alternative subcommittee focused on developing options for suspending or expelling students. Red Clay School District Superintendent Dr. Merv Daugherty, who chaired the subcommittee, said that keeping students in school is a critical goal and offered the following recommendations for school districts:

• Develop a discipline plan for reducing discipline referrals and suspensions, as well as defining intermediate interventions for students;

• Implement professional development training for teachers and school staff concerning best practices in classroom management and instructional practices;

• Review alternative placement and in-school-suspension programs;

• Define student resource officer responsibilities and develop guidelines in their assigned schools.

"We developed a discipline plan in our school district, which has worked really well," Dr. Daugherty said. "It’s also important to have schools look at their alternative placement and suspension data and see how they are handed out and determine if they are really necessary.

"This report is the starting point to improving how we address discipline with students. I am looking forward to putting these recommendations into practice."

Rep. Scott said he was impressed with how well each participant, many coming from groups who historically disagree on issues, worked together.

"Stakeholders from across the state, including government officials, the community, schools districts and parents, came together to make this happen. I believe the recommendations are being made by people who are the experts, who live with these issues on a day-to-day basis," he said.

"Even those who traditionally have opposing views, such as the Attorney General’s Office, public defenders and the ACLU, put recommendations together that everyone believes will have a positive impact. Rep. (Michael A.) Barbieri (D-Newark) and I are extremely grateful to those who participated for their time and effort, and now it’s time to implement the changes that were recommended."

Created by House Resolution 22 in May, the task force was charged with reviewing a 17-year-old disciplinary system that mandated reporting of all in-school incidents and set uniform punishments for infractions, then issuing recommendations to more fairly dispense justice without negatively impacting the school environment.

The task force met four times to review existing laws, evaluate the impact the resulting school discipline policies had on the individuals and the schools, and identify alternatives.

Rep. Barbieri said the task force’s recommendations would help place discretion regarding school discipline back into the hands of local district officials while establishing basic procedures to follow while using their expertise.

"The task force believes that placing the trust back into these officials’ hands would better facilitate a more positive and productive school environment," the report said.

"We hire people because we respect and trust their decision-making and training. We should give them the tools they need to do their job," Rep. Barbieri added.

Task force hears ideas on reducing suspensions, changing age guidelines

Delaware State News

DOVER — In what will likely be one of their last meetings before the legislative session begins in January, the House School Discipline Task Force Committee spent Wednesday discussing and narrowing down recommendations from its three subcommittees, inching one step closer to coming up with a comprehensive plan to improve school discipline procedures.

"I think our time spent working on this committee has been wonderful," said task force chair and state Rep. Michael A. Barbieri, D-Newark. "We are taking issues out of the closet and providing a forum for people to talk about what is and what is not working."

The task force is charged with studying Delaware’s laws and school district policies relating to discipline and recommending changes to the existing system.

The committee and its three subcommittees have been meeting for several months with the intention of submitting a final report on Jan. 15 to the House Education Committee.

The alternatives subcommittee, chaired by Dr. Merv Daugherty, superintendent for the Red Clay School District, focused on how schools can reduce referrals and suspensions, and therefore reduce the amount of time kids spend in the court system.

Dr. Daugherty said because it is unlikely the behavior of students will change, his subcommittee looked at how districts can change how they handle discipline issues.

For instance, he said, eight out of 10 students who receive referrals get them for off-task behaviors, such as being inattentive in the classroom. Truancy is another common reason students receive referrals.

In order to reduce these type of referrals, his subcommittee recommends that schools become better in-house keepers and more proactive.

"I’m not saying be soft on problems, but perhaps we need to change our philosophy," Dr. Daugherty said. "If a student breaks the code of conduct, we’re going to punish you, but we’re going to be more proactive on the front end."

He said one way to remedy this is to provide more staff development on classroom management and instruction.

"The best discipline plan is to stick to the lesson plan and keep kids engaged," he said.

Several recommendations were made by the legal subcommittee, chaired by Patricia Dailey Lewis, deputy attorney general.

One recommendation made by the subcommittee in an effort to cut down on court referrals is to change the age of a child who can be arrested for misdemeanor offenses in school from 9 to 12 years old, excluding those charged with weapons and some sexual offenses.

She said children 9 and under who commit misdemeanors "don’t belong" in the court system and "don’t get what they need" from it.

Ms. Lewis added that those under 9 who commit felonies, however, "will be looked at very carefully."

The subcommittee also suggested that a three-step process be put in place before children are arrested for misdemeanors — with the exception of any sex crime or weapons offenses — including a written warning, school mediation and finally arrest.

Another suggestion made would be for school districts to do their own investigation when a student is arrested outside of school before it decides on a suspension.

"There is concern that kids are getting kicked out of school based on purely probable-cause charges," Ms. Lewis said. "We’re not saying you should always let a child back in the classroom after they’ve been arrested, but we want school districts to be mindful that charges are not lodged beyond reasonable doubt."

She said the schools should conclude before they suspend the child that the safety of the students, faculty and staff would be impaired by having the offender present in the school. Additionally, Ms. Lewis said specific plans should be submitted to meet the needs of the child in cases of suspension.

This committee, chaired by Dan Cruce, associate secretary of education, recommended that any legislation resulting from the School Discipline Task Force should require each school district to follow common procedures when dealing with specific discipline issues.

For instance, it recommends that the Department of Education create common legal definitions of student offenses that lead to alternative placement or expulsion and that they be included in the Student Code of Conduct, as well as common due-process procedures for alternative-placement meetings and expulsion hearings.

Additionally, the subcommittee suggested that the DOE work with the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to draft a document detailing minimum responsibility requirements of school resource officers.

"We don’t want to restrict local authority, but we want to create some consistency across the board for districts and charter schools," Ms. Cruce said.

Rep. Barbieri said the next step for the task force is to create a final report listing all recommendations and distribute it to those involved so everyone can provide feedback.

He said another meeting in January is likely in order for the committee to look at the final report and then come up with some kind of legislation it can take to the House Education Committee.