Board approves new DPS discipline policy

Split vote marks apparent end to long, tangled fight

By Nancy Mitchell, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 22, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Denver Public Schools board members approved a new student discipline policy Thursday on a split vote, overriding concerns that it may put some teachers at risk and push some students into police custody.

Board member Arturo Jimenez argued to delay a vote on the policy until Sept. 2 to determine whether a change proposed by the activist group Padres y Jovenes Unidos might resolve outstanding questions.

But other board members said school is back in session and teachers need to know now how to respond to discipline problems.

"We've got to get something out," said board member Kevin Patterson. "If we agree it's 98 percent right . . . I don't want the perfect to get in the way of the good."

The 5-2 vote to approve the policy - with Jimenez and Jeanne Kaplan saying no - marks the apparent end of a long and tangled chapter in DPS history that saw a spike in student referrals to police and included the prosecution of a principal.

Even if Padres y Jovenes Unidos is not completely happy with the new plan, said the group's co-founder Ricardo Martinez, the difference between the old discipline policy and the new is "like night and day."

Schoolhouse to jailhouse

Martinez's group was credited by board members Thursday with much of the work behind the new policy, which focuses on educating kids about bad behavior rather than simply punishing them for it.

A key goal of the change, board members have repeatedly said, is to reduce the number of students being referred to police for actions inside city schools.

"We believe this will be one of the most progressive documents in the country," Padres member Julie Gonzales said Thursday.

It was Padres that documented in its 2005 report "Education on Lockdown: The Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track" the rise in out-of-school suspensions, expulsions and police referrals of DPS students.

In 2004-05, for example, Denver schools referred more than 1,200 incidents for legal action.

Hispanic and black students bore the brunt of the penalties, Padres found: "Black students in DPS were given tickets at twice the rate of white students, while Latino students were given tickets at seven times the rate of their white peers."

The report helped launch a change in how schools view discipline, and a growing number began trying alternative approaches, such as restorative justice. The spike in police referrals began to decline.

But for Padres, the final piece was a formal change in DPS policy.

The new policy calls for discipline to be age-appropriate, to be consistent across schools and to strive to keep students in school as much as possible.

It calls for staff to monitor the discipline of students by race and ethnicity and says "efforts shall be made to eliminate any racial disparities."

It also calls for "significant" parent and student participation in disciplinary practices, both of the student who perpetrated the action and of the victim.

And that's where some law enforcement officials, including Police Chief Gerry Whitman, first began to raise concerns in November. Whitman said he worried the policy focused more on educating the suspect than on helping the victim.

Then, in December, a middle school principal was arrested for failing to report to police a case of sexual contact between students. Included in the evidence in the case was a DPS PowerPoint presentation about restorative justice.

Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said the principal had an obligation to immediately call police. And though a judge later dismissed the case, it raised serious concerns about the proposed discipline policy.

So Whitman, Morrissey and DPS lawyer John Kechriotis, among others, huddled in the mayor's office to come up with acceptable amendments.

Some questions linger

Monday, Morrissey met with Denver school board members to say he was signing off on the latest policy.

It now includes a hot line to Morrissey's office for DPS employees to call if they have questions about their legal obligation to contact police.

Calls to the hot line will be monitored, Morrissey and Kechriotis promised, to ensure there's no big jump in police referrals.

Thursday, it was clear that was not enough for some.

Martinez said the policy now contains a definition of child abuse that is meant to apply to adult-on-child contact, not student-on-student problems.

"I haven't seen any other that has a discipline policy with child abuse in it," he told board members.

Jimenez said he fears the addition will result in police referrals going back up, not down.

mitchelln@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5245

Embattled charter gets new contract

* A charter that once appeared on the brink of shutdown by Denver Public Schools has a new one-year contract.

Challenges, Choices & Images charter school in far northeast Denver must abide by certain requirements in its probationary contract, including making reasonable progress in student achievement. Denver school board members approved the contract at Thursday's meeting. The school was under investigation by DPS for misuse of public funds and for hiring convicted felons, among other issues. Principal Oscar Joseph has launched reforms and said students, parents and staff are responding. He said enrollment is about "85 percent" of where he wants it to be.

DPS growth outshines rest of state

* New growth data released Thursday by the Colorado Department of Education shows DPS outperformed the state average in growth on recent exams.

The new data looks at how much progress individual students made from one year to the next. Exam results released in July compared how one group of students fared against a different group - fourth-graders in spring 2007 vs. fourth-graders in spring 2008, for example.

"It's great news for us," said Chief Academic Officer Jaime Aquino. "What we value the most is seeing the value we add. It shows parents that by sending their kids to us, they're getting better."

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Comments

August 22, 2008

2:44 a.m.

Suggest removal

angryman1n writes:

What the hell is "age appropriate discipline?"

"Don't worry Johnny. It's okay you broke Tim's jaw. You're 16. You just haven't learned to control your hormores yet" WTF

"Tina I'm sorry, but we'll have to send you to a new mothers' support school. We warned you about messing around in the Janitor closet, but you just didn't listen."

Come on people. What happened to the day of the principle's paddle? Corporal punishment for the little ones, and police action for the older. (how wussie have we become?)

I do agree that parents need to be more involved, but there is a reason why blacks and hispanics are ticketed more. THEY EARN IT! All stereotypes have roots in realitiy.
August 22, 2008

2:47 a.m.

Suggest removal

angryman1n writes:

To anybody that says I've taken it to the extreme,

Q: How do you get to the extreme?
A: Using tiny little steps.
August 22, 2008

5:19 a.m.

Suggest removal

Domino writes:

To Whitman, butt out. Police should not have a say in internal discipline. Nor do police have the right to patrol the halls. For many students, school is a refuge from the Denver police's harassment.

To Morrissey, also butt out. It is the school's choice on how to discipline and prosecution should always be the last choice.
August 22, 2008

5:49 a.m.

Suggest removal

roger44 writes:

Domino, when you let the kids get away with crap, they will progress right into prison. And the numbers of Hispanics and blacks shows the truth, they are more prone to get in trouble, they fall back on the excuse their ancestors were slaves, and people don't like illegals. if they are a discipline problem, kick them out and get on with educating the ones who want it. Schools can't be the parents.
August 22, 2008

6:52 a.m.

Suggest removal

vudumom writes:

Since when do we allow an "activst group" to dictate school policy?
August 22, 2008

7:21 a.m.

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LingLingfor_prez writes:

Just throw up a lawsuit and you control the whole situation just like this activist group. Just another example of the state thinking they know how to riase kids better than parents do.
August 22, 2008

7:25 a.m.

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Hambone writes:

Oh you're not familiar with Padres Unidos? They want you to raise their children. Little Jose sets fire to the bathroom and repeatedly tags the walls with gang signs showing no respect for the school, the teachers or his fellow students. How dare you suspend him? You need to have "restorative justice." Don't even want to know how ridiculous that is. DPS has become overrun. Hey Padres, how about teaching the kids the value of an education and how it is EXPECTED here in the United States.
August 22, 2008

7:46 a.m.

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Buckwheat writes:

Padres Unidos??? What the hell do the French have to do with this. lol..
August 22, 2008

8:45 a.m.

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toocool writes:

Who pointed out the racial discipline disparity in the 1st place, so contirubters don't worry about "sounding" racist, it was the "racist" using the excuse of race for the bad behavior of a few giving the impression that during all this concern, the whites were away attending church.
August 22, 2008

9:28 a.m.

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vudumom writes:

So what happens if a school is 70% hispanic, 20%white and 10% black and the majority of disciplinary actions are against hispanics? Are they going to downplay or ignore discipline problems because they will surpass the quota allowed for that particular group?
August 22, 2008

10:40 a.m.

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mytwosense writes:

I'm really not that familiar with the situation at DPS, i.e., the kinds of incidents they've typically been calling the cops to handle.

I do feel that there can be over-reactions to a situation, though. Remember the story a few weeks ago about a preschool that called the police because a little four year old was having a tantrum and said he was going to shoot all his friends?

Now, I know that wasn't a DPS incident. But, it's indicative of how quickly people get freaked out these days, for lack of a better term.
August 22, 2008

11:21 a.m.

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chard writes:

I taught in DPS for 12 years. This is a continuation of the current general DPS policy of letting unruly kids ruin the school learning environment. The "bad" kids will think the discipline policies are even more of a joke than they do now. Now it will be even harder to get rid of young thugs that are derailing learning and endangering our kids who are willing to learn. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RACE! We send kids to the office because they disrupt learning or assault others, NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE BROWN!

DPS keeps getting worse as it gets away from basics...books, classroom order, and supporting teachers instead of constantly making their jobs more difficult. I'm not at all surprised that DPS is loosing both new and old teachers. Its becoming intolerable to work in many Denver schools. This is just part of the reason that teachers are so angry and ready to risk their jobs and income on a strike.

The strike threat is not just about pay. DPS is hemorrhaging new teachers because the job has become intolerable, and now the admin, wants to reduce older teachers pay increases to pay new teachers more in bonuses. It won't work to keep new people, but it will help drive out veteran teachers that our city desperately needs.
August 22, 2008

11:26 a.m.

Suggest removal

bookworm writes:

Society has been *****whipped these days. Now instead of 1 winner we give everyone a ribbon because of the "everyone's a winner" mentality. In the past we sent our kids to school to learn the tools that would help carry them out into the world. Now they go to school to get euducated in gangs, drugs and sex. In the past our parents taught us the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, manners and things like how to make good choices and the consequences of choosing wrong. Now we expect that teachers and administrators are going to do this for us.

Bottom line - If kids were taught respect, discipline and manners before they go to school maybe DPS would not have to resort to calling the cops for kids who break the rules.
August 22, 2008

12:05 p.m.

Suggest removal

LingLingfor_prez writes:

Aliverer,
Although I see your point, I probably would not be too enthusiastic about teaching in a prison. I will pass on that.
August 22, 2008

1:49 p.m.

Suggest removal

MarineWing writes:

Two things have to happen for a school to be successful : Students need to learn and teachers need to teach. Unfortunately, neither of these is happening. Kids are less disciplined (defined as orderly learning) and teachers are more concerned over wages. The sooner we reimplement corporal punishment and banish tenure and teachers' unions, the quicker we get back on track. I demand the very best from my kids as well as my kids' teachers. Accountability people!
August 22, 2008

2:06 p.m.

Suggest removal

Cowboy63 writes:

Great. Now the ever-dwindling numbers of students who actually want to be there and learn something will have to put up with more trouble from punks the the administration can't expel. And we wonder why the public school system is a disaster! A tough weekend in Dahlia Youth Correctional Facility is exactly what these disruptive students need.

Lunatics running the asylum.
August 24, 2008

2:08 a.m.

Suggest removal

SL10 writes:

Time to build new prisons. :-/

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Home › News › Education

Board approves new DPS discipline policy

Split vote marks apparent end to long, tangled fight

By Nancy Mitchell, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 22, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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