Page 3 - BPS News 2107

Consistent, Fair Discipline Creates Posi vity
A new district-wide discipline plan is set to start the school year o with consistent and posi ve behavior management.
Brevard Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Desmond Blackburn’s 2015 listening and learning tour set the stage for the plan’s development. Based on community input and suspension data, he recognized a vital need for a fair and consistent district-wide discipline plan.
An integral part of the plan is that it gives principals a range of clearly de ned op ons for nearly every situa on. It has ve levels of behaviors with corresponding correc ve strategies for administrators to choose from. It is not a zero-tolerance policy nor a relaxing of standards. Teachers will s ll control their classroom management policies, however. The plan applies to situa ons when a student’s ac ons require administra ve interven on.
“The plan is not about elimina ng
discipline referrals or suspensions,
but is about being though ul and consistent with our responses to student behaviors,” said Jeane e Ransom, Students at Risk coordinator.
The plan u lizes correc ve strategies that deal with the root cause of behaviors and meet students’ social-emo onal needs. Some of the strategies administrators will use are home visits, peer media on and service work. If other consequences are necessary, they will s ll assign ac ons such as deten on and suspension.
To create the most e ec ve plan, BPS conducted extensive research, examined successful plans across the country and worked with many community groups.
“The new discipline plan is the result of a tremendous amount of collabora on with school administrators, teachers, students, parents and community members. The roll-out of the plan in July to all school administrators was well-received,” said Melissa Catechis,
reviewed the plan. Representa ves from various groups including Excep onal Student Educa on, LBGTQ, law enforcement, NAACP, and Hispanic organiza ons o ered feedback, as well.
Administrators presented the plan to their faculty during pre-planning for the school year.
Titusville High Principal Annetha Jones said, “I
sincerely
appreciate that Brevard Public Schools took the ini a ve to implement a district-wide discipline plan. I believe that this plan is going to provide more consistency across the board when correc ve strategies are implemented. U lizing this plan, should help
to eliminate any discrepancies of correc ve strategies that may have occurred in the past. The plan is s ll a work in progress, but thus far it appears that we are going in the right direc on.”
BPS will con nuously monitor discipline data to ensure the correc ve strategies used match the level of misbehavior.
Students at Risk director. “We know the plan is not perfect and that we will need
to tweak and re ne it along the way,
but it does provide a framework to build consistency for discipline across the district.
Administrators played a key part in the plan’s development which also involved de ning student behaviors and correc ve strategies. Student Government Associa on members from all high schools provided their input, and more than 80 teachers
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To have your story featured or for adver sing informa on, contact Debra Foley, editor at 321-633-1000 x529 or Foley.Debra@brevardschools.org
August 2017 BPSNews 3