Administrative Support in Discipline Situations

When administrative support in disciplining a student becomes necessary, the contract provisions and the school board's policies should be enforced consistently.

• Using and Completing the Official Form
• MPS Policy Prescribes Discipline Actions
• Policy Mandates Administrative Support
• Dealing with a Student Who Constantly Disrupts a Class
• Schools with Continuous Discipline Problems

Using and Completing the Official Form

It is very important to use the official MPS student deportment forms - the "Incident Referral Form" in the middle, high and some elementary schools, and the "72" form in most elementary schools. The forms facilitate communication and provide written documentation.

For best results, you should:

• Always use the official form when the steps you have taken do not result in the appropriate change in student behavior. The form will provide the documentation which will enable the administrator to take appropriate action if a pattern of disruption develops.
• Under the "teacher intervention strategies" section, note the steps you have already taken if a student repeatedly disrupts the class. (Such information is not necessary in serious cases such as assaults.)
• State the facts clearly, objectively, and in complete detail.
• Retain the "Teacher's Copy" and send the other two copies to administration.

The student should not be returned to your class until you receive the "Administrative Disposition Copy."  The administrator should retain the "Administrator's/Counselor's Copy" for the office records.

Your recommendation for action on the form and the administrator's disposition should be consistent with the MPS discipline policy.

MPS Policy Prescribes Discipline Actions

The school board policy on discipline actions is contained in the "Parent/Student Handbook on Rights, Responsibilities, and Discipline." The policy spells out the range of discipline actions which administrators should take based on a student's misbehavior.

Example:  if a student commits a battery (defined as "unprovoked/ unanswered intentional physical contact causing bodily harm without consent") against students or staff, the appropriate discipline action is an expulsion recommendation. Likewise, for an assault , a sexual assault, or possession/ownership/use of a gun or other weapon (including a laser pointer or pepper spray), the discipline recommendation is expulsion.

Policy Mandates Administrative Support

Students Should Not Return to Class Without Disposition

The school board policy on returning students to class states:

"When a pupil is referred to the administrator by a teacher for disciplinary purposes, he/she shall not be returned to the area under that teacher's jurisdiction in which the infraction occurred until he/she has been seen by an administrator and that administrator has communicated the disposition of the case to the teacher on the Form 72. This will not be required in emergency situations. To the extent possible, teachers should supply necessary background information to assist the administrator in making the decision concerning the referral."

In an "emergency situation," where an administrator is not available to dispose of the student disciplinary matter, the teacher is to be notified that the breach of discipline has been noted by the office and will be attended to at the earliest possible opportunity.

However, students involved in serious breaches of discipline, such as physical assault, are not to be returned to the classroom until an administrator reviews the matter.

Administrators Must Communicate

The school board's policy provides:

"When the teacher recommends a particular disciplinary action and the administrator processing the referral does not concur, the administrator shall communicate with the teacher in writing on the 72 card why he/she did not follow the recom-mendation. It is understood that a conference elaborating on the remarks on the 72 card may often be helpful and appropriate."

Dealing With a Student Who Constantly Disrupts a Class

The contract provides a series of steps to be taken with a student who interferes with the education process by repeated refusal to follow rules.

First, the available, in-school measures for changing unacceptable behavior should be attempted. These options are listed at right. In-school alternatives should be used first in working with a disruptive student, unless a serious breach of discipline occurs.

Second, out-of-school suspension should be used to improve the student's behavior.

Third, if in-school measures and suspensions are not successful, more intensive corrective measures should be taken , including the use of support personnel. If space is available, remedial and/or behavior modification classes should be attempted - either at the school or at an appropriate alternative site.

Schools With Continuous Discipline Problems

For schools with continuous problems, the board policy states:

"When a school has continuous discipline problems, every effort will be made to provide released or compensated time for teachers. The principal and the teachers shall use such time to develop appropriate programs to reduce the causes of the problems."

 

In such cases, the school's MTEA Building Representative should ask for the assistance of an MTEA staff member .