The facts on school discipline

This is the last of three letters intending to bring clarity and facts to the community about the Grand Coulee Dam School District. This installment will address the complicated and challenging issue of school discipline.

ISSUE: School Discipline

This issue may be the most complex problem to quantify and eventually resolve in large part because it requires an all-hands effort to succeed. In short, there are no easy answers here. It is accurate to note that public school discipline is a wide-ranging challenge covering nearly every school district nationwide. What makes discipline so hard to address is the variety of opinions on just what constitutes appropriate, focused discipline and how to fairly administer corrective actions within the parameters of a public education system.

A number of factors have further complicated what is an already difficult set of issues to fix. Years of mandated education policies limiting disciplinary options have in effect tied the hands of teachers and administrators. We’re not suggesting establishing harsh or cruel punishments, but simply applying a fundamental principle of sound leadership: that inappropriate actions should have appropriate consequences.

So, going forward, how do we successfully manage school discipline within the GCDSD? The Board has determined that success requires a three-step, coordinated approach to disciplinary actions.

Sound and enforceable policies must be in place within the district. This has largely been accomplished through regularly reviewed and revised school district policies.

Policies must be understood and consistently enforced by the entire school staff. This has been problematic in the past. If a policy is going to be effective, it must be embraced by the school staff and uniformly enforced. In terms of sound school discipline, this will be a primary district goal this next school year — the uniform and enforcement of policies by all school staff members.

Parents of students need to be supportive of appropriate school disciplinary actions. This represents a challenging but achievable target. Without parental support, disciplinary efforts in school can be quickly undermined.

Two of the core values of any school system should be to educate students and to develop in them responsible behaviors — in short, to prepare them to succeed as adults. We are confident that the objective of developing young people into responsible and successful adults is a goal shared among our school staff and parents. Our intentions are to bring closure to how that common objective is met through fair and just disciplinary actions.

We are seeking a unified — school staff, parents, community, and students — effort to bring disciplinary issues in line with the overarching need to provide a safe and orderly educational environment for staff and students. This is a really complex and challenging issue; yet a sincere, joint effort to curb student misbehaviors will go a long way toward reaching this end. As mentioned during the departing staff exit survey, community support in this effort would be a welcomed and effective deterrence against anti-social student behaviors. Everyone needs to be pulling this rope in the same direction for it to succeed.

There are many hardworking people employed in this school district. The most powerful tool that we can wield toward improving the educational environment of the young people in this community is to give these dedicated professionals our collective support. Belittling those in charge only exacerbates the depth of the issues facing these leaders, solving nothing and instigating conflict. Everyone has the right to draw their own conclusions about our school district, but those conclusions should be based on facts and truth not hearsay. As the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan once wrote, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”

The Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors

George LaPlace

Rich Black

Ken Stanger

Shannon Nicholson

Alex Tufts