Worcester K-12 Schools Eliminate Zero Tolerance to Cut Suspensions

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Thursday, August 14, 2014

Nicholas Handy, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Conforming to state laws and regulations, the Worcester Public School District will enact a newly drafted code of conduct for the upcoming school year, one that looks to alternative punishments to suspension and expulsion, especially for lesser offenses.

In drafting the new code of conduct, the Worcester Public School District has removed the words zero tolerance from their policy, opting for language that provides students with “fair and effective disciplinary practices,” ensuring that each disciplinary case will be looked at individually.

“Zero tolerance is the ultimate cliché of the 90s,” said John Monfredo, a member of the Worcester School Committee. “It is a process that doesn’t make sense because we need to look at each individual case rather than coming up with general punishments. I am supportive of trying to cut down suspensions and expulsions because we need to keep our children in school so that they can learn.”

The law – Chapter 222 – requires that students that are suspended or expelled are to continue learning with assistance from their schools. Additionally, the law encourages schools to come up with alternatives to suspension and expulsion.

Keeping Students Engaged

The concept behind this legislative change is to ensure that fewer students are suspended, and if they are to be suspended or expelled, then they are still to be engaged by the school so that they can learn.

Massachusetts - and furthermore urban communities like Worcester - have long been troubled by suspension and dropout rates; in 2012 the New England Center for Investigative Journalism had found that over 75,000 in and out of school suspensions were logged in Massachusetts during the 2010-2011 school year, with over 2,000 of those occurring in Worcester.

“This is clearly an effort to ensure that students are provided full due process rights, and to make sure that all efforts are made to provide students in an ongoing learning environment if suspended so that students aren’t placed unilaterally out of education,” said Brian O’Connell, a member of the Worcester School Committee. “The focus here is to try to ensure that students are engaged in their education even if they are facing disciplinary issues.”

Safety is a Priority

Worcester Public School Superintendent Melinda Boone says that while the wording “zero tolerance” may have been removed from this upcoming year’s discipline policy, there is still very much a zero tolerance policy toward violence, weapons, drugs, and other serious offenses.

The reasoning for this approach, according to Boone, is to ensure that all students remain in a safe environment. According to the disciplinary policy, administrators are able to look at a variety of relevant facts including: previous record, severity of disruption, degree of danger caused to oneself or others, the degree in which a student is willing to change their behavior, and whether alternative consequences are appropriate in re-engaging a student in learning.

“School safety is paramount to our district,” said Boone. “The removal of that language does not mean that our schools will be any less safe because in these more serious cases we will still act swiftly to ensure that proper action is taken. People may try to take this policy change as something that makes schools less safe, but it is more aimed toward making schools supportive and fair.”

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