UPDATE: The school board voted to postpone voting on the amendments and voted to create a committee to suggest recommendations to modify the student manual that includes the discipline policy. Committee recommendations are due by March 2013
The region’s largest school district has been under fire over its student discipline policy, but Thursday night the Fairfax County School Board will vote on a new plan to get parents involved in the process.
The death of 15-year-old Nick Stuban last year put a spotlight on the county's student discipline. The Woodson High School student killed himself after a disciplinary action forced the athlete to leave his school, which his parents believe left him despondent.
The school board will vote on several amendments that would require school administration to notify parents right away when a student faces possible serious disciplinary action like suspension, expulsion or referral to police. Currently, students can be questioned or compelled to make written statements about an incident before parents are contacted.
“The danger is that we’ve had countless cases where parents have come and said, ‘My student was questioned for hours on end,’ or questioned repeatedly day after day at school,” said Fairfax County School Board member Elizabeth Schultz, who is one of several board members who proposed the amendments.
“My amendments say you will get a hold of those parents,” she said.
In cases in which there is an emergency or immediate danger posed, the notification could come later, after the threat has passed.
Some parents said they've been surprised to find parental notification is not already a requirement. Others said sometimes administrators need to act more quickly.
Principals opposed to the changes say they are unduly burdensome and tie their hands when it comes to disciplining students.
