Fulton County School System

DISCIPLINE REVIEW COMMITTEE

Executive Summary of

Report and Recommendations to the Board of Education

August 10, 2004

BACKGROUND

The Committee

The Discipline Review Committee was established in fall 2003 in compliance with the Unitary Status Agreement approved by the courts in June 2003.   As required, the committee was made up of one parent/teacher/administrator from each of the 11 clusters; one representative each from the Fulton County Schools' student services office, police department and social work office, and two parents:  

•  Andrea Allen, director, Student Discipline

•  Harvey Beasley, director, School Social Workers

•  Julie Burke, teacher, Milton High School

•  Pamela Gayles, principal, Independence High School

•  Cephus Jackson, executive director, Student Services

•  Catherine Maddox, community resident, Tri-Cities/Banneker Cluster

•  Glenda Rawls, Curriculum

•  Ellen Rogalin, Communications

•  Marquenta Sands, deputy chief of School Police/coordinator of School Safety

•  David Stivers, teacher, Liberty Point Elementary School

•  Robin Suter, parent, Milton/Roswell Cluster

•  Dru Tomlin, teacher, River Trail Middle School

•  Latha Varman, parent, Chattahoochee/Centennial Cluster

•  DeWitt Walker, principal, Banneker High School (chairperson)

•  Edward Williamson, assistant principal, Sandy Springs Middle School

•  Dr. Sam Taylor, assistant superintendent, Instruction (facilitator)

The Charge

As specified in the Unitary Status Agreement, the Committee was charged with the following tasks:

• Reviewing discipline policies and practices for fairness and equity;
• Analyzing discipline data disaggregated by race, socio-economic status, school, school level and other categories the district's staff or consultants deem appropriate to evaluate the fairness and equity of its policies and practices, and
• Including, at a minimum, data maintained by the district on in- and out-of-school suspensions, and duplicated and unduplicated counts.

CURRENT POLICIES, PROCESSES AND PROGRAMS

Policies

Five Fulton County Board policies and one administrative procedure directly speak to the issue of student discipline.   Formal systemwide processes for responding to student discipline issues are described in these documents:

• Policy JC, Rights and Responsibilities
• Policy JCAC, (Students) Verbal or Physical Acts of Bigotry
• Policy JCD, Student Academic Integrity
• Policy JD, Student Discipline/Code of Conduct
• Policy JDA, Corporal Punishment
• Procedure JD, Student Discipline/Code of Conduct

Programs

Fulton County has a variety of programs in place to prevent discipline problems before they occur and to respond to discipline issues when they do occur.   The programs include:

• School Resource Officers
• Stopping the Acts of Violence Through Education (SAVE)
• Substance Use Prevention and Education Resource (SUPER)
• Independence and McClarin high schools
• Out-of-school alternative suspension (OSASP)
• Second Chance/Crossroads
• North/South Metro Psychoeducational Program – for special education students with severe discipline problems
• Second Step – conflict management program taught in middle school health classes

FINDINGS

Trends

Data from the nation, the state of Georgia and Fulton County reflect the same trends – a disproportionate number of black students are disciplined in schools.   After studying the data, the committee also found that in Fulton County there are:

• Much more disproportionate numbers of black students disciplined in north county than in south county
• Higher levels of reported conduct problems in 3 rd , 6 th and 9 th grades than other grades
• Higher levels of reported conduct problems in south county schools than in north county
• More students in need of alternative programs than space available.

Needs

The committee determined that Fulton County needs the following in order to help provide all students with an environment conducive to learning:

• Alternative program evaluation, including what happens to students after they leave;
• Resources to meet diverse needs of students who need a non-traditional setting;
• Alternative programs for elementary students;
• Intervention programs at the elementary level to identify and support students who may have problems in the future;
• System-provided or arranged student transportation to alternative programs;
• Teacher training to work with highly challenged students, and
• Adequate space and staffing for alternative programs.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on research and data analysis from the nation, the state and Fulton County , the Discipline Review Committee recommends that the Fulton County School System take the following actions.

• At the system level, implement policies and practices that mandate:
  • Diversification of faculty and staff
  • Ongoing, regular diversity training for all faculty and staff

• At the system and school level, implement:
  • Ongoing proactive behavioral strategies
  • Early intervention
  • In-school suspension tied to curriculum
  • Adult mentors
  • Effective, positive discipline practices
  • Create environment conducive to learning
  • Change environment to improve student behavior

• At the system level, expand alternative programs
  • Separate . . .
    • Students with first offenses and/or minor violations from students with repeated and/or major offenses
    • Open campus and alternative facilities
  • Provide . . .
    • Appropriate staff training and services for special education students with severe behavioral problems
    • Temporary placement or homebound service option for students slated to go to North/South Metro but not yet admitted
    • Alternative options for elementary students, such as . . .
      • School within a school
      • One alternative school per area
    • Permanent placement alternative program for secondary students
    • Transportation for students in alternative programs

• At the system level, provide annual training for . . .
  • Student resource officers
  • Teachers in alternative programs
  • All teachers and administrators
    • Behaviors
    • Discipline process
    • Classroom management
    • Cross-cultural communications skills and strategies
    • Positive and effective discipline strategies
    • Focus extra attention on more challenging 3rd, 6th and 9th grades

• At the system and school levels, provide resources (facilities, staffing, training, transportation) to meet students' preventive, rehabilitative and alternative learning needs
  • Allocate resources based on need, not just numbers
  • Help stabilize schools with higher levels of risk factors

• At the system and school levels, implement preventive and rehabilitative programs for elementary students and their families.

IN CLOSING

The Discipline Review Committee encourages Fulton County to help achieve SACS, Balanced Scorecard and No Child Left Behind goals by modifying discipline policies and practices to:

• Improve education for all students by identifying and meeting the needs of students with current or potential behavior problems
• Establish an action plan and time line to develop and implement programs to meet the needs of students with current or potential behavior problems
• Implement the recommendations of the Discipline Review Committee

ATTACHMENTS

•  Discipline Review Committee:   Final Report (PowerPoint presentation)

•  Student Enrollment and Discipline by Race , 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04

Return to Discipline Review Committee Report