School Discipline

The Pennsauken Board of Education has proposed a tough new discipline policy that would allow the board to expel middle school students after four suspensions. Under the proposal, middle school students - sixth through eighth graders - would be suspended after accumulating 25 penalty points. Points would range according to the severity of violations. Students would receive two penalty points, for example, for loitering or eating outside the food area and 20 points for truancy or leaving school during school hours.

Much press has been given to Superintendent Constance Clayton's innovations in the Philadelphia public schools. For the most part the details that have been revealed in newspaper articles and television interviews have been positive ones. As a teacher and parent I applaud these steps in the right direction. During the years I've been teaching in Philadelphia there have been many programs and services developed for the mentally gifted, the learning disabled and various other special student groups.

Back-to-school time in September often means new clothes, new teachers, new classes and new friends, but this year it could also mean a whole new set of rules for students. While students were away on summer vacation, administrators in several local districts were busy tinkering with the discipline codes. What was OK in June could well be out-of-bounds by the time students show up for classes this week. Tough new disciplinary codes will make their debuts this fall in the Cherry Hill, Lenape, Moorestown, Pennsauken and Washington Township districts, ending a flirtation with the more permissive educational experiments of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The Philadelphia School District has hired Ellen Green-Ceisler - who monitored the Police Department during her tenure as head of the city's Integrity and Accountability Office - to report on the handling of student discipline in the schools. Paul Vallas, the district's chief executive officer, said yesterday that discipline and violence remained a major challenge and that he hoped a thorough assessment of the system would lead to better practices. "My biggest headache is school discipline and student safety," Vallas said.

With her son Vincent sitting in the next room out of earshot, Donna Litrenta confided her hope for her 8-year-old autistic boy. "My short-term goal for him is to be happy and content enough to learn again," she said at her dining room table, with a pile of documents that chronicled some of what her son had been through. The last few years have been tough for Vincent, and they have not been much easier for Litrenta. In a matter of three school years, she pulled her son out of two schools that she said were abusing him or allowing Vincent to abuse himself.

In a federal lawsuit, a former Temple University athlete says she was kicked off the volleyball team and her full scholarship was revoked after she reported that her ex-boyfriend, a Temple football player, had assaulted her and threatened to kill her. Emily Frazer was a starting middle blocker and team server on Temple's 2011 volleyball team, according to the school's website. Her lawsuit says she was visiting a fellow student in a dorm on Jan. 21, 2011, when her former boyfriend, Andrew Cerett, forced his way in and begged to talk to her. She ran to her own dorm, where Cerett, a punter for the Owls, kicked the door open and threatened to kill her, the lawsuit, filed Friday, alleges.

Judith Browne Dianis is a civil rights litigator and codirector of the Advancement Project Anand Jahi is an organizer with the Philadelphia- based Youth United for Change The changes to the Philadelphia School District's zero-tolerance policy and some of the admirable recommendations in the recent blue-ribbon commission report on safe schools signal a widespread recognition that expulsions of city students is too high....

Officials of Conwell-Egan Catholic High School have meted out their own punishment to 28 students identified by police as having taken part in a recent destructive scavenger hunt. School president Bill Galante said yesterday that the students were ordered to perform community service for their antics during the Oct. 7 hunt, in which they collected mailboxes, stop signs, lawn chairs, pumpkins and other items from yards of homes throughout the community. There were no suspensions or expulsions, Galante added.

SUPERINTENDENT Arlene Ackerman and other school district officials should expect to have extra homework this school year. Education advocates in the city say they plan to keep a close eye on the schools chief and her team this year as they embark on a new year full of challenges and expectations. Certain key goals last year were realized - reduced class sizes and a more-intense focus on struggling schools - but the real work is keeping the momentum going, school observers say. Many are calling for greater transparency by not only the district, but also in the state-created School Reform Commission that oversees it. "They're dictators," said Gerald Wright, of Parents United for Public Education, referring to the SRC and a recent vote on a resolution approving a $1 million contract to install security turnstiles at district headquarters.

A new lateness policy has elicited concern from at least one child's parents, who asked Lower Moreland school board members to consider more lenient measures against tardy students. Calling the policy "somewhat counterproductive," Jackson Pennington asked board members during a brief meeting Tuesday night to re-evaluate the consequences of the district's penalties for lateness. Under the policy, students who are late for school for the first time without valid reason are given a detention, according to school Superintendent Robert W. Pellicone.

In a federal lawsuit, a former Temple University athlete says she was kicked off the volleyball team and her full scholarship was revoked after she reported that her ex-boyfriend, a Temple football player, had assaulted her and threatened to kill her. Emily Frazer was a starting middle blocker and team server on Temple's 2011 volleyball team, according to the school's website. Her lawsuit says she was visiting a fellow student in a dorm on Jan. 21, 2011, when her former boyfriend, Andrew Cerett, forced his way in and begged to talk to her. She ran to her own dorm, where Cerett, a punter for the Owls, kicked the door open and threatened to kill her, the lawsuit, filed Friday, alleges.

Judith Browne Dianis is a civil rights litigator and codirector of the Advancement Project Anand Jahi is an organizer with the Philadelphia- based Youth United for Change The changes to the Philadelphia School District's zero-tolerance policy and some of the admirable recommendations in the recent blue-ribbon commission report on safe schools signal a widespread recognition that expulsions of city students is too high....

Two Pennsylvania teens cannot be disciplined at school for MySpace parodies of their principals created on home computers, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday in a high-profile case involving students and free speech. The postings, however lewd or offensive, were not likely to cause significant disruptions at school and are therefore protected under prior Supreme Court case law, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found. "Today's court decision states that you cannot punish students for off-campus speech simply because it offends or criticizes [school officials]

SUPERINTENDENT Arlene Ackerman and other school district officials should expect to have extra homework this school year. Education advocates in the city say they plan to keep a close eye on the schools chief and her team this year as they embark on a new year full of challenges and expectations. Certain key goals last year were realized - reduced class sizes and a more-intense focus on struggling schools - but the real work is keeping the momentum going, school observers say. Many are calling for greater transparency by not only the district, but also in the state-created School Reform Commission that oversees it. "They're dictators," said Gerald Wright, of Parents United for Public Education, referring to the SRC and a recent vote on a resolution approving a $1 million contract to install security turnstiles at district headquarters.

The 17-year-old Chester High School senior walked into the courtroom and listened as the charges against him were read. This was no ordinary legal proceeding. The venue was an out-of-the-way classroom, C-211, with few windows, institutional blue walls, dirty linoleum floors, and laminate cabinets. There was a judge's bench, complete with gavel, and a jury box. The senior would be tried for what might be called scholastic offenses - disrupting class, arguing with a girl, and refusing to provide his teacher with a good phone number for his parents.

The Philadelphia School District's student disciplinary system is plagued by inconsistencies, high turnover in personnel, and a lack of training, staff and resources - all leading to a breakdown in procedure and an insufficient transfer of problem pupils out of the schools, according to an independent consultant's report released yesterday. Some school personnel have become so frustrated that they have given up carrying out discipline in all but the most serious cases, said the 47-page report prepared by Ellen Green-Ceisler, who previously monitored the Police Department as head of the city's Integrity and Accountability Office.

WHY DOES Flavia Colgan (op-ed, Sept. 27, "Will Islam rise to pope's challenge?") claim that her perceived challenge from the Holy Father is unmet? Islamic leaders routinely counsel against violence and engage in a rationalist discourse with other faiths. Perhaps it is the media that chooses to ignore these entreaties, just as the media chose to ignore the context of the pope's words. As a non-Muslim expatriate living in the United Arab Emirates during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, I have been generously given numerous tracts on Islam and Muslim-Christian dialogue and politely engaged in very interesting conversations on these matters.

The Philadelphia School District has hired Ellen Green-Ceisler - who monitored the Police Department during her tenure as head of the city's Integrity and Accountability Office - to report on the handling of student discipline in the schools. Paul Vallas, the district's chief executive officer, said yesterday that discipline and violence remained a major challenge and that he hoped a thorough assessment of the system would lead to better practices. "My biggest headache is school discipline and student safety," Vallas said.

Principal Alana Walls had carefully planned her opening day for months. This was not it. Ten students missed the bus, and a staff member had to pick them up. A light rain derailed plans to line students up outside. A sick student had to be sent home. All of that before lunch. It was the first day of classes yesterday for about 80 fifth graders at the new Freedom Academy Charter School in Camden's Fairview section. "There are always the unexpected things that come up," Walls said.

During his first week as a new teacher this month, David Pitone was unable to handle the unruly students in his computer science class, so he sent them to the principal's office for discipline. But officials at Audenried High School in South Philadelphia sent the students right back and told Pitone he had not followed proper disciplinary procedures. Now, Pitone, 40, has taken the unusual step of turning to the courts for help. Pitone, who also happens to have a law degree, is a former computer engineer who is part of a special program that places professionals from other fields in teaching jobs while they get their teaching certificates.