The Greene County board of education will at its regular meeting this Wednesday, Aug. 20, have the first reading of a revised eligibility policy – the good conduct policy – that is both good news and bad news for violating students.
The good news is that students will be given a fourth “strike,” amending the “three strikes, you’re out” policy that is now in place.
The bad news is that students who violate the policy, even just once, will be required to perform community service and to complete, along with their parents, counseling or classes related to the area of the violation.
The board discussed the eligibility policy at both the June and July meetings and did not arrive at a clear consensus. At the July meeting, all board members were asked to submit in writing their ideas on the matter and to give them to a subcommittee composed of board members Mark Peters, David Ohrt and Ashley Johnston. It was those three who drafted the revised policy now being considered.
The list of violations is unchanged: possession, use or purchase of alcohol or tobacco; possession, use, purchase or attempted sale/purchase of illegal drugs or look alike drugs, or the unauthorized possession or attempted sale/purchase of otherwise lawful drugs; engaging in any act that would be grounds for arrest or citation in the criminal or juvenile court system (except minor offenses such as traffic or hunting/fishing violations), regardless of whether the students was cited, arrested, convicted or adjudicated for the act; and exceedingly inappropriate or offensive conduct such as assaulting staff or students, gross insubordination, or serious hazing or harassment of others.
On a first violation, a student would be suspended from one-fourth of the scheduled contests or performances of every activity in which he or she is participating at the time of the violation. The student must practice during that suspension and must attend the events in which he can’t participate. That is unchanged.
The revised policy also requires the student and his or her parent to meet with the activities director to discuss the violation, sign a contract, and make arrangements to perform 25 hours of approved community service. The student and a parent or guardian must also take part in counseling/education classes related to the violation. The student would be ineligible until those requirements are met. The student or parents would be responsible for the cost of the counseling/class, and a written report would need to be provided to the activities director for review and verification.
For a second offense, the student would be ineligible for one-half of the scheduled contests or performances, as in the current policy. The current policy requires an alcohol/substance abuse evaluation and any required treatment on a second offense if the violation suggests a need. Under the revised policy, the community service requirement would 50 hours, and counseling/education is again required.
Under the current policy, a student who violates the policy a third time is ineligible for the remainder of his school year.
The revised policy would give the violator a chance to redeem himself. He would be ineligible to participate in any extra-curricular activities for a full year, but would be eligible after that time if he completed 150 hours of community service and counseling/education. If those requirements are met, the student would be able to appear in front of the school board in closed session and present his case for reinstatement.
The revised policy takes out language that lightens the penalty for students who self-report a first violation.
In discussion at previous meetings, board members Mark Peters and Ashley Johnston both favored the “three strike” policy. Sam Harding said that years ago he championed the three-strike policy, but that more recently, in talking with board members in other districts, he learned more districts allow four violations before taking away all future eligibility. All board members liked the idea of requiring community service and/or counseling earlier in the process, and they also agreed on requiring more parent involvement.
Teresa Hagen was on the board with Harding when the three-strike policy was implemented. She now favors an additional chance. “I don’t like there to be a ‘never’ for kids. I like the ability to, and I’m not saying be easy on them, but I like the ability to have them change and work hard and go for something, rather than just say, ‘you’re done’,” Hagen said at the July meeting. “I think it’s a great policy, and I think kids do look at it,” she said about the current policy, “but I don’t think I would ever say to my own kids that I’m going to give up on them.”
Peters said the current policy doesn’t give up on kids. “We’re redirecting them. Sports is extra-curricular, it’s a benefit, and it’s not just sports, it’s whatever. We’re refocusing their efforts on what they need to do. You’re not giving up on them. They’re getting three chances. I think if you leave it indefinite, you’re going to get kids that just keep pushing and pushing and pushing.”
High school principal Brian Phillips was not at the July meeting, but at the June meeting, he spoke in favor of the current policy. “If you put another layer in, there will be more kids with more issues coming up because there’s yet another chance,” he said in June. “The other part is that after you’ve been gone for a whole year from a team and then come back, it creates all kinds of other issues.”
Board member David Ohrt said in July the board would be setting limits, even with a four-strike policy. “What we’re saying is the school is setting limits and we care enough about you that we won’t let you go over the edge…. Losing extra-curricular activities, if that’s the worst thing that ever happens to you, God bless you. You’ve lived a blessed life. You live long enough, there are a lot worse things, and that’s what we’re trying to communicate.”
The board is in the process of reviewing all policies with the reorganization of the Jefferson-Scranton and East Greene districts. The eligibility policy, Policy 504.9A, is being considered now partly due to a hearing held at the end of the school year for an underclassman who had violated the policy a third time and had lost all future eligibility. The student was not named in a public forum, but a few references were made to the situation. Harding said he was “uncomfortable that night because we didn’t have any flexibility to deal with that particular student. But the more I’ve reflected, it’s one case. I’ve been on the board 20 years and I’ve had one case. Is that worth redoing the whole policy? I don’t know,” he said.
The eligibility policy applies to middle school and high school students. Both the current policy and the revised policy reset the count on the last day of eighth grade. Violations in middle school do not carry over to high school.
Also, both policies count a student as ineligible to speak at commencement or to be on the homecoming court if he or she has two good conduct violations. “We’re holding those kids to a higher standard. The ones who are going to speak at graduation, the ones who are going to be on the homecoming court, should be held to a higher standard than athletes. If it’s important to them that they do those things, they can abide by the policy,” Harding said in June.
The school board meets at 5:15 pm at the administration building, formerly south grade school.
