School district tightens discipline rules

The Grand Coulee Dam School District board took steps Monday night to improve conduct on school buses and in the classrooms.

After a debate about priorities, the board voted to add four temporary positions to provide better discipline in selected elementary classrooms, and adopted a tougher set of rules for students riding on school buses.

The temporary positions will last through this school year.

Superintendent Dennis Carlson said class disruptions and behavior on buses involved just a few kids, but they had become problems for the district.

In developing tougher rules for riding buses, all agreed that it was an education problem and the district would have to find ways to communicate these rules to parents.

It was suggested that drivers go over the rules with those riding their buses and for parents to be informed during open houses at the beginning of the school year. The rules will be posted on the district’s website.

Board member Ted Piccolo said the district should communicate with parents about the rules and the district’s plan to enforce them. He was assured this would occur.

A bus representative said that riding the bus was a privilege extended to those who behave.

The rules state that offenders can be suspended.

The riding rule said that the driver is the authority on the bus and he or she must be obeyed. Any disrespect, defiant conduct or obscene language or gestures toward the driver may result in the student’s suspension or expulsion from the bus.

It was explained that discipline rules are designed to assure every student’s safe transportation to and from school and school-sponsored activities.

The same is true in the classroom, where the actions of a few can disrupt the learning experience for others.

Those filling the four new positions will help with disruptive occurrences in the classroom.

Carlson emphasized that most conduct problems involve a handful of students. He stated that it isn’t likely that the district will expel a student in the lower grades, but that when disruptive they needed to be dealt with.

Piccolo had a hard time with the hiring of additional staff, but said he would go along with it only if he had assurances that parents would be called and behavior problems dealt with.

He had stated a few weeks ago that he didn’t like student behavior to interfere with the learning of the rest of the class.

It was cited that getting students in the lower grades to buy in to good behavior would improve things for the district throughout the years ahead.