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Board Reinstates in-School Suspensions; Disruptive Students to Be Isolated at High School

Posted on: Friday, 24 March 2006, 21:00 CST

By Fred Hanson; FRED HANSON

The Patriot Ledger

In-school suspensions, eliminated three years ago to save money, will return to Randolph High School starting next month.

The school committee last night unanimously approved a plan that would place disruptive students into a separate area of the building away from other students.

Superintendent of Schools Richard Silverman made the recommendation based on comments from committee members and residents. He said it is designed for students "who may have been disruptive but are not violent.

"They need to be removed from the general school system, but they still have to learn," he said.

The school committee also voted to hire two security guards to work at the high school for the remainder of the school year.

The actions are the latest taken by school officials to improve security, after violent incidents gained attention during the current school year.

Teachers and students at the school told the committee that they feel safe in the building.

Peter Lam, a senior, said he feels safe in the school most of the time, and said things could be improved by "getting rid of all the kids who cause problems."

Several teachers applauded the decision to keep disruptive students out of regular classes.

"It will make our high school safer, quieter and more orderly," teacher Christine Beagan said.

She added that the school needs more academic opportunities as well, from elective courses to music and arts programs.

The school system had an in-school suspension program until three years ago, when it was eliminated to save the salary of the teacher who oversaw the program.

Silverman said the program would be an alternative to long-term suspensions. For serious violations of student conduct rules, the superintendent said the system only has three options: "Suspension, exclusion and expulsion, all of which are too strong for the situation we are dealing with." The school system can only provide five hours of tutoring a week to suspended students, Silverman said. The result is that for students on long-term suspensions "by the time they get back, they're so far behind they can't catch up."

Silverman said the program would resume after April school vacation. Students assigned to the program would arrive and leave the school at different times than regular students, and would have lunch in their classrooms on the lower level of the building.

A teacher would oversee the academic work of the students, assisted by an aide. A school social worker would provide counseling.

"It's designed so students can continue their education and not sit home and do nothing during their suspension," he said.

Silverman didn't know how much the program would cost but said it would be covered by shifting resources in the current school budget.

He said this would be an interim measure for the remainder of the school year. Silverman has proposed the creation of a full-fledged alternative high school program.

School committee member Larry Azer said the return of in-school suspension is a short-term solution, and supports the creation of an alternative program.

"This is the best we can do with the time and resources we have," Azer said.

School committee member Paul Meoni also supported the program, but wanted more information before it is implemented.

"I know this is a dire need for this school system," he said.

The new security guards would be paid about $15 per hour, which school officials said was closer to the industry average. Plans to hire "security assistants" were put on hold last month after the original proposed salary was questioned. The job was advertised at $24 an hour, which is higher than the base hourly rate of a Randolph police sergeant on the bottom salary step.

Michelle Stauss, the acting principal of the high school, said other measures to raise security at the school, range from stricter enforcement of the ID policy to the return of Saturday detentions.

Also at the meeting, Assistant Attorney General Richard Cole briefed the committee on the work being done as part of the Attorney General's Safe School Initiative. Randolph is one of three school districts involved in the two-year program, which brings in experts to help schools develop policies to combat problems such as bullying and harassment.

Reach Fred Hanson at fhanson@ledger.com.

Source: Patriot Ledger, The; Quincy, Mass.

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