Discipline, newspaper clippings

WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 1991 ARKANSAS democrat w vvcuiNtzouMY, JULY 17, 1991 9A * LRSD stats show penalties against students rose 20% 0 BY CYNTHIA HOWELL Democrat Start Water The number of serious disciplinary sanctions in the Little Rock School District rose 20 percent to 4,022 in the 1990- 91 school year, according to a 61-page report released Tues- day afternoon. Suspensions, ranging in length from 3 days upward. and expulsions were levied against 2,671 students, which is almost 11 percent of the districts enrollment. A total of 1,351 students were suspended more than once during the year. Superintendent Ruth Steele said the increases in suspensions and expulsions are partly the result of more stringent supervision at two of eight junior high schools. Efforts to reduce disciplinary problems will include an expansion of in-school suspension programs and alternative classrooms for misbehaving students, she said. District officials also are studying the relationships between absenteeism, academic achievement and suspensions as a way to help students before they be- come serious disciplinary problems. According to the report, firearm possession brought 13 sanctions in both 1989-90 and 1990-91. The number of sanctions levied for use of a weapon increased from six to eight. Assaults increased by 34 percent, from 65 to 87
the number sanctions for theft increased by 98 percent, from 36 to 71, and the number of sanctions for indecent exposure rose 70 percent, from 19 to 32. Disciplinary^ actions for possession of weapons, separate from the firearms possession statistics, rose 20 percent, from 49 to 59
and sanctions levied for assault on staff members increased by 112 percent, from 12 to 26. A total of 3,340 sanctions, or 83 percent, of the 4,022 disciplinary actions were levied against black students, who made up 64.5 percent of the enrollment.ARKANSAS S LAtiGEST LOCAL NEWS SECTION Metro/State Wednesday, July 17,1991 ytotenoe rises at LR schools Gazette staff .... . BStort-term^suspensions were vious years, although a couple of up Oy bO7 to 3,7/1. ^tegories - verbal assaults on Ruth Steele, district superinten- inciting to riot dedent, acknowledged that a dispro- portionate number of the suspen- number of firearms possessions fell on black males and said remained the same at 13, but f- vu offireannswentupfromsixto principals and teachers in an effort 8ht. Possession of all weapons to bring that number down. from 49 to 59
suspensions for gang membership rose from seven Suspensions over all increased Physical assaults on staff mem- fror^o " activity students were involved in 2 429 or more than doubled and the number 60.4 percent, of the cases of cases of weapons po_ssession in- The renort indicat^rf that- creased by 10 in the Little Rock Schoo! District for 1990-91. The figures were released Tuesday in a report comparing the number of suspensions and offenses for school years 1989-90 and The report indicated that: In 71 incidents expulsions suited, compared to 68 the suspen< The number of firearms Schools Continued from Page 1B sions increased from: OUS year. Long-term suspensions of 11 days to a semester were up by 62 to 180. previ- will continue to assist Almost all offenses resulting in suspension increased from the districts 25,083 enrollment. I Five students were suspended I eight times, she said. Another 20 I students were suspended seven I times, 40 were suspended six times, | 60 were suspended five times, 120 I pre- to 15 and assaults on staff increased from 12 to 26, a record. 907 to 1,056 for fighting. 1,070 to 1,142 for failure to were suspended four times, 322 follow rules. 32 to 76 for refusing to serve detention. were suspended three times and 784 were suspended twice. Steele said the report would be 314 to 405 for abusive Ian- distributed to principals, teachers guage. and members of the districts 57 to 103 for repeated tardi- safety committee for further security measures. ness. 65 to 87 for assault. 36 to 71 for theft. 21 to 38 for vandalism. Besides alternative classes, the district operates in-school suspension programs in the junior high H 19 to 32 for indecent exposure schools, except for Mann Magnet or sexual contact. School, Steele said. Other mea- 162 to 199 for disorderly con- sures short of suspension, she said, duct. include detention hall and loss of 5 to 18 for forgery. 11 to 31 for possession of pag- privileges. Steele said fights at Central High ing devices. School decreased significantly this Steele noted that although sus- past school year and she credited pensions totaled 4,022, the number Johti Hickman, principal, with of students who were suspended providing tough but caring leader- was 2,671, or about 10.6 of the ship. SECTION B Steele said the increases point to the need for more alternative classrooms. The school board has approved additional alternative classes for three elementary schools and Dunbar Junior High School. In the past school year, 60 seats were available for junior high alternative classes at Carver. According to the report. See SCH00LS/8B suspen- i|. Arkansas .Gazette., /.^ursfiayr. , 1991 Assaults in Little Rock School District Physical Verbal assaults assaults > on staff on staff . 1990-91 1989-90 1988-89 '20* ' 12 12 1987:88, 16 1986-87, 1985-86 -95, 3 ,'?45* " . 74 40 . 29 - 14 51 5 i s * Through Mardr TT ' ___^.^.^Gazetta SiWednesday, May 29, 1991...Arkansas Gazette 13 assaults on staff noted in LR schools, up from 7 i jBY DANNY SHAMEER Democrat Staff Writer Assaults on Little Rock School District teachers and staff in the first semester of 1990 nearly doubled over the
same period a year earlier, fig- i ures show. Statistics show 13 reported I cases of physical assault on ' teachers and staff in the first semester of 1990-91, compared
with seven cases in 1989-90 - i an 86 percent increase. I think that is a hard-core statistic that should be dealt with. said Sam Stueart. chairman of the district's Safety and i Security Task Force. I think that is a hard-core > statistic that should be dealt with. I ) The figures were presented to the Little Rock School * Board at Thursday's meeting. j The statistics, which com- I pare first-semester offenses by students, show increases in six other categories: t'lghting, from 429 cases in 1989 to 499 in 1990 - a 16 percent increase. Student assaults. 35 to 46 - 31 percent. Theft. 19 to 23 - 21 percent. Indecent exposure, nine to 12 - 33 percent. Possession of paging devices - one to 13. 1.200 percent. I'd be more tolerant if the LRSD offenses Offense 1989-90 1990-91 Percent First semester First semester increase Teacher assaults Fighting Student assaults i Theft Indecent exposure Carrying paging devices 7 13 86% J 429 499 : 16% 35 46 31% 19 23 21% i 9 1 district didnt have the resources to do the job," said Skip Rutherford, a school board member. This community passed a significant millage. yet many elements of the security task force have been rejected or ignored. Parents deserve -and expect safe schools." The security task force's report to the school board Thursday showed that 38 of its 102 recommendations had been carried out. Stueart. who headed the 58- member task' force, said a number of those recommendations could be easily carried out, such as keeping all school entrances except front doors locked from the outside. Why must every door be unlocked? Stueart wondered. Every vagrant can walk in any door. All we need to do is exercise a little common sense. Dr. Ruth Steele, the dis12 13 33% 1200% trict's superintendent, said officials will review security options for the 1991-92 school year. Td be more tolerant if the district didnt have the resources to do the job. This community passed a significant millage, yet many elements of the security task force have been rejected or ignored. Parents deserve and expect safe schools. Steele said she isn't playing down the increase in offenses. But she said the higher numbers in some of the offenses can be attributed to a more rigid enforcement of the discipline code" and an increase in security, particularly at the secondary level, resulting in more reported cases of offenses. '} I ! I? (I 4 w
I s d P y t i ?I I Pulaski Arkansas Democrat-Gazette SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 1992 i I I J Search of LRSD schools yields 4 bullets, brass knuckles BY DANNY SHAMEER Democrat-Gazette Staff Writer Four .32-caliber bullets and a pair of brass knuckles were among items discovered after a mandatory three-day search of all junior high and senior high students, a Little Rock School District spokesman said Friday. The spokesman said officials searched the area where the bullets were found, but no gun was found. No information was available Friday to identify the school where the bullets were found. The brass knuckles were found at Central High after a student search Thursday, Bill Barnhouse, the districts director of safety and security, said Friday. Superintendent Ruth Steele ordered officials at the eight junior high schools, five high schools and Metropolitan Vocational-Technical Center to search all students at least once for weapons Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. Steele said Tuesday she planned to review the reports and decide what instructions to give principals regarding security for the remainder of the school year. No decisions had been revealed Friday, the spokesman said. Steele called for the mandatory searches after campus supervisors found a weapon near Central High on Tuesday afternoon - the first reported discovery of a weapon since the district began random student searches with hand-held metal detectors Feb. 11. A Little Rock Police Department report said a student held a .380-caliber handgun on another Central student on the schools 14th Street sidewalk Tuesday afternoon. It is not known if the student ever had the gun inside the school. According to interviews Wednesday, Central campus supervisors Benny Johnson and Floyd Smith, Principal John Hickman and Assistant Principal Michael Peterson searched the area along with police. Johnson found the gun under a house at 13th and Dennison streets, less than two blocks from Centrals campus, according to interviews. Police said the handgun had been reported stolen. A 15- year-old student was charged with theft by receiving and aggravated assault. A .380-cal- iber bullet was found in the students book bag, which also was recovered at the house. The school district spokesman said that aside from the bullets and brass knuckles, the list of recovered items from students since Wednesday included: a pair of scissors, dice, smokeless tobacco, several packs of cigarettes, a handheld Nintendo game, a radio and several portable cassette players.! i it I Pulaski Arkansas Democrat-Gazette SATURDAY, AAARCH 21, 1992 LRSD tells schools when to search for weapons BY DANNY SHAMEER searches that principals must dering, Central High, Steele . . If a student has a metal locker searches. when they^can metal, can de- Spectators at athletic con- tect anything from keys to guns tests or visitors during school or knives. Democrat-Gazette Staff Writer
All junior and senior high school students will be searched with metal detectors ut least twice a month under new administrative orders by the Little Rock School District. Smaller groups - such as a busload, an entire class or a lunchroom crowd - will be searched at least once a week. The new instructions outline the first standards on the type, number and method of 1 carry out. No such written policy had been in place when the district began using hand-held metal detectors Feb. 11 to look for weapons. When Superintendent Ruth Steele first ordered the searches last month, she said had ordered that every secondary student be searched at least once from March 11-13, with new instructions on security precautions to follow. The result is the five-page administrative directive dated If a student has a metal object found by the detector but fails to cooperate with search under the written procedures, parents will be called a at the time that the frequency of searches would depend on the results of the early screenings. After the discovery of a gun March 10 on the sidewalk bor- Tuesday and released by the district Friday. Under the directive: District employees are barred from conducting strip searches or physical searches of students. to the school. If parents will not or cannot come, police will be called. Secondary school principals will have to provide the district with a written plan for searches that includes staff assignments, securing the campus while scanning takes place and provisions for student- hours - including district employees who are not wearing identification badges - can also be subject to searches. Each of the districts eight junior high schools, five high schools and the vocational- technical center have at least three hand-held metal detectors. The detectors, which look like chain saws and screech r Under a step-by-step procedure. students who have anything that triggers the metal detector during a routine search could be told to empty pockets, pull up pant legs, or be asked to turn over a jacket, purse or book bag for a hand search. The student could also be asked to show the backside of a belt buckle so an official can see if a weapon is hidden there. 1Arkansas Democrat TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 1992 I I Discipline problems worsening LR teachers want administrative help BY CYNTHIA HOWELL Democrat-Gazette Stall Writer The Little Rock School Districts student discipline problems are\ worsening and ad- ministratdrs are doing little to help curb the problems, districtteachers complain in a re-, cent survey. Seventy-eight percent of the secondary and 87 percent of the elementary school teach- ers responding to the Little Rock Classroom Teachers Association survey said they saw behavior problems increase this year. More than 80 percent said they felt that central office administrators limited their principals in dealing with errant students. Teachers feel they are expected to work miracles without support from the administration, Eleanor Coleman, CTA president, said Monday. Schools will close for the summer this week, but Coleman said a CTA committee of district employees will work through the break to develop ideas for improving student discipline. Coleman announced the results of the teacher survey at a school board meeting last week. She discussed the poll in an interview on Monday. Teachers reported that district rules are applied inconsistently from school to school, Coleman said. In addition, the number of disciplinary problems is underreported because teachers feel discouraged by principals and others from making the reports, she said. Coleman said principals do not always act on teacher complaints about a student. Some teachers responding to the survey said they have been blamed for student problems or have been cited on job evaluations for complaining about behavior problems. The districts records on discipline show that 2,818 students were suspended or expelled during the first three nine-weeks grading periods this year. That figure is slightly below 2,879 suspensions or expulsions for the same period last year. Allf I I I i ( I I i ( 1- 'We don't want children out on the street. We want the dis- cipline problems solved, Coleman said. She said teachers want some options lor dealing with the students. Coleman formed a blue-ribbon task force in December to identify problems in the schools and suggest changes. The teachers union formed the task force in response to v members growing complaints < about control in the schools. In my eight years, we have ' never had as many calls as we , have had this year about administrators not complying with the (teachers') contract , when it comes to discipline. j Frank Martin, CTA executive 1 l( director, said. . . , n Martin said a surprisingly j, large number of the callers were elementary teachers. See BEHAVIOR, Page 10B UVIMW r Mvrx JI I I I I Continued from Arkansas Page As many as 2500 surveys were sent to teachers and other school employees, with about 80 percent responding, Coleman said. The poll included some open-ended questions seeking suggestions for school improvement. Coleman said she anticipates the CTA committee will call for more discipline management training for employees, more alternative classrooms, administrative support and cooperation in dealing with misbehaving students, use of adult teams to work with individual students, mentoring programs, and more parent and community cooperation. The CTA has also included proposal on improving discipline for the 1992-93 teachers contract, which will be negoti- a ated this summer. Teachers cited discipline as a top priority to be discussed in the contract negotiations, Coleman said. In IArkansas Democrat (j^azcttc WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 23, 1992 I -- ' -- Teacher punched in face
' pupil with gun ticketed I A Little Rock junior high , school teacher was attacked Tuesday while trying to break up a fight outside her class, and a pupil at another city junior high school was ticketed Monday for carrying a gun on school property, police said. Sherrye Keaton, a teacher at Southwest Junior High at 3200 S. Bryant St,, said that a boy punched her in the face about 12:30 p,m, when she stepped between him and another student who had confronted each other outside her classroom, Keaton was treated at Baptist Medical Center and released Tuesday afternoon. Police said that Keatons attacker, who was believed to be 16 or 17, was loudly threatening a student in the hallway outside the classroom. Keaton told the threatened boy to go into her class and remained outside with the other youth, who punched her in the face, police said. Police did not know if Keatons attacker was a student at the school. No arrest had been made Tuesday night. Also on Tuesday, police ticketed a 14-year-old Pulaski Heights Junior High pupil about 4 p,m, Monday for carrying a weapon on school grounds, according to a police report, A school employee found the .25-caliber handgun on the boy, who told police he found the gun and was keeping it for himself. Police said the gun was unloaded. and the child was cited and released to his parents. It was the third incident this year involving weapons on school grounds, police said. SATURDAY. NOVEMBER 7. 1992 >3 Federal law stiffens drug, gun penalties in 29 school districts Id Bl 5a BY LINDA SATTER Democral-Gazene Staff Writer Fed up with criminals endangering schoolchildren and escaping long-term punishnient ' under state laws, federal offi- cials have started a crackdown against drugs and guns on and near school property in 29 Arkansas school districts. U.S. Attorney Chuck Banks said Friday at a news conference at Little Rock School District headquarters that increasing numbers of violent and drug- related events at schools, particularly in Little Rock, prompted him to start enforcing two federal laws in the states Eastern District. The federal gun statute has been in efTect since 1989 and the drug statute since late 1990. They impose strict penalties against anyone caught possessing firearms or illegal drugs within 1.000 feet of public or private school property. The federal laws are comprehensive and broader than . similar state laws. Banks said. For example, the federal firearms law pertains to possession or discharge of any firearm near public or private school property including school buses or bus stops while the state law applies only to handguns, and only near public school property. The federal firearms statute includes a mandatory $5,000 fine or a five-year prison sentence. Penalties under the federal drug statute include up to 10 years in prison, depending on the amount and type of illegal drug in a person's possession. Banks said. Under federal sentencing, theres no probation, theres no parole, theres no joking, theres no fooling, Banks warned. He added that unlike frequent consequences under similar state laws, theres no revolving door system under federal laws to allow criminals back into society more quickly than law enforcement officers can impose sentences. Banks said 29 of about 180 school districts in his jurisdiction have agreed to start a Gun- Free/Drug-Free Schools awareness program. The program began Oct. 15 in Little Rock. On Oct. 26, a spray of gunfire shattered a back window of a See SCHOOLS, Page 12A A li VA ja'rt!
'.' t^K- :f- f r t? 4-' jfw 'll 'SWe.- Arkansas Democral-Qazerte/R>ck McFarlan' WARNING Mac Bernd (from left), Little Rock School District superintendent talks with John Hickman. Central High School principal
Victor Anderson. Hal High principal: and Jodie Carter, McClellan Community High principal, after receiving signs stating that their schools are drug- and gun-free zones. Schools Continued from Page 1A McClellan Community High School classroom in Little Rock, 'forcing 12 students to hit the floor. No one was injured, but the 18-year-old man who was arrested faces both state and federal charges. I dont want to sound like were trying to militarize the schools. Banks said, explaining his enormous reluctance to bring the federal government and its criminal laws against young people. But. he said, the federal government has a responsibility to assure that schools are secure. For the past year or year and a half. Ive looked at these (crime) statistics pretty carefully. I had the position tliat school matters were best left to school officials, but over the course of the past 14 to 16 months, incidents occurring around our schools by young adults not necessarily students led me to believe these statutes need to be used ... and a more aggressive posture should be taken by the U.S. attorneys ofTice. I probably was a little remiss in not going along with it sooner, Banks added. Bill Cromwell, an assistant U.S. attorney in Fort Smith who represents the state's Western District, said in a telephone in- terview Friday that his area has no similar program. Cromwell said authorities have had to use the federal laws in the western half of the state only once or twice because we've not had the extent of the problem the Eastern District has had. Participating schools will post metal signs with drawings of a syringe and a handgun, both crossed out, above the words "Drug Free, Gun Free School Zone Violators will face federal and state prosecution. The purpose of the signs is to create awareness, to give notice and to deter crime, Banks said. He said he knows of only two other U.S. attorneys in the country to start such a program. Its not a nationwide concerted effort. Its something I decided to do afier I saw they were doing it in Texas. Banks said. Its a tough program. remarked Mac Bernd, superintendent of the Little Rock School District. Accompanying him and Banks at the news conference were high school principals Jodie Carter of McClellan. Vic Anderson of Hall and John Hickman of Central. The program has been endorsed by Bernd and members of the Little Rock School Board. Banks said criminals can expect "dual prosecutions (under both state and federal laws) as a matter of policy until we feel the public and the people prone to commit these crimes understand that we mean business. Under federal sentencing guidelines, he said, if you get sentenced to serve, even if youre a first offender, youre going to serve and you're not going to like it. Bernd said school principals will continue to report crimes to local police, who in turn will notify federal authorities. AWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 1993 a Student punishments drop 8.5% in LRSD I BY CYNTHIA HOWELL Oemocrat-Gazerte Education Writer The number of Little Rock School District students suspended or expelled in the first quarter of this school year dropped 8.5 percent from last year, but a disproportionately high number of the suspensions continued to involve blacks. Rudolph Howard, the districts student hearing officer, told the Biracial .Advisory Committee on Tuesday night that the number of suspensions fell by 61, from 713 last academic year to 652 in the first nine weeks. The committee, appointed by the school board at the direction of the federal court, monitors certain schools and aids the board on desegregation matters. Eighty-five percent of the suspensions, 552, were of black students. Blacks make up 64 percent of enrollment. For every one white student suspended, 5.6 black students were suspended, he said. Junior high schools reported 396 sanctions compared to 208 in senior highs and 48 in elementary schools. The number of suspensions for less serious offenses declined, but the number levied for more serious offenses increased from 28 to 41. The more serious offenses, such as arson, weapons possession or physical and verbal assault of staff members, can be punishable by expulsion. Howard said the number of firearms violations increased from four to six this year, and possession of weapons such as knives jumped from two last year to 10 this year. He said the districts stepped- up weapons searches added to the higher number. The number of lesser offenses. such as fighting, profanity and tardiness, fell from 587 last year to 528. Category II offenses, or those falling in the middle, dropped from 98 to 83, Howard said. Those include assault, battery, theft and gambling. In another matter, the committee approved plans to
Reorganize itself to improve meeting attendance. Better monitor and address recurring desegregation-related problems that no other agency or committee monitors. A draft of a report that will be submitted Jan. 28 to the board says those problems include racial disparities in the suspension and expulsion rates, academic disparity between black and white elementary pupils, multicultural education, and human and race relations. To have sufficient time to plan and monitor those problems, the committee voted to ask U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright to suspend the committee's job of monitoring the seven incentive elementary schools.Arkansas Democrat 7^ (gazelle SATURDAY, JUNES. 1993 Copyright O 1993. Little Rock Newspapers. Inc. Suspended students to get second chance Trial program lets 4 from Forest Heights complete work missed during year in the morning and spend the BY DANNY SHAMEER Democral-Gazelto Education Willet Officials are planning a trial program that will allow suspended Forest Heights Junior High School students to make up work they miss. The Little Rock School Board, in an unusual move in January, agreed to waive a policy that prevents suspended students from making up missed work. Only Forest Heights students in the program are affected., The Community Study Center had a dress rehearsal of sorts for about four weeks this spring, with four students who had b^en removed from Forest Heights, 5901 Evergreen St., for fighting earlier in the school year participating in the program. But the trial program will really get under way next fall, when up to 10 Forest Heights students at a time could be accommodated. I think it will be better next fall because we have had some experience with it already, said Jim Brown, Little Rock Boys Club director, who coordinates the project. "It look a little while this year to try and gel it started working, but now were in the swing of things. Instead of wasting time during the school day, the suspended students spend the day in a structured setting at the Little Rock Boys Club. They have the chance to get credit for work completed according to the practice of their regular teacher. The credit is conditioned on the students consistent attendance and performance in the program. Andrette Killion, the centers teacher, thinks the one-on-one instruction will help the stu- dents get ready to return to their regular school and achieve academic success. The schedule can be flexible, Killion said. We cover the core subjects, and we let the students express themselves through writing, drawing and thinking. The goals of the program, which is voluntary, are
Give students chance to continue their normal classroom work while suspended. Motivate suspended students to achieve academically. Connect suspended students with adult mentors, positive educational programs and activities that will further their academic growth. Accelerate the suspended students return to school. The students are brought to the Little Rock Penick Boys Club, 1201 Leisure Lane, by van day in programs similar to those in place at Forest Heights. The program is now financed by a $9,000 grant from New Futures for Little Rock Youth. Next fall, the program will be financed by a $20,000 state Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention grant. New Futures developed the program with the school district. Forest Heights, members of the Hoover Neighborhood Collaborative, the Little Rock Housing ' Authority and others. Forest Heights students who have long-term suspensions those barred from school for a semester or the remainder of a school year and live in an area bounded by Fair Park Boulevard on the west, Howard Street on the east. East Capitol Avenue on the north and Asher Avenue on the south are eligible for participation. I SATURDAY, JUNE 19. 1993 Committee to study bill to ban paddling in schools Damocrat-Gazette Capitol Bureau Legislation that would prohibit corporal punishment in Arkansas schools will be studied by an interim legislative committee. Legislative Council members agreed Friday. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Judy Smith of Camden, was tabled last month by the Legislative Council. Council members agreed Friday to send the bill to the interim Education Committee for further study. The Legislative Council handles legislative affairs when the full Legislature is not in session. Under the bill, school officials would be prohibited from spanking or paddling students. Corporal punishment does not work, Smith said Friday. In .Arkansas, its illegal to hit a prisoner and to beat animals, so why wouldnt it be illegal to hit children? Rep. Ted Mulleni.x of Hot Springs had asked the Legislative Council to table the proposed legislation at the May meeting. .I believe we have ... to get back to the basics in the school systems, and I believe discipline in the school systems is completely out of control," Mullenix said Friday. Mullenix stressed that he didnt advocate abuse of students and that corporal punishment must be monitored." The Little Rock and North Little Rock school districts have outlawed corporal punishment of students. I I12B FRIDAY, AUGUST 13,1993 , Arkansas Democrat azctte LRSD explores using volunteers in truancy nroeram BY SHAREESE HAROLD held liable for driving truant dren^s Home in west Little Rock, to have more details about the * O Democrat-Gazette Staff Writer Volunteers soon may be on the lookout for students skipping school as part of a truancy pick-up program that the Little Rock School District and the held liable for driving truant students to a drop-off center, where someone would call parents to pick up the students and city of Little Rock are planning to start this school year. return them to school. Anderson serves on a task force of city representatives, school district volunteers and parents that is exploring ways to implement the program. One potential drop-off site . - ------------------- the committee may consider us- whethervolunteers eould.be ing is the United Methodist Chil- Victor Anderson, principal at Hall High School, is working with the city to determine said Estelle Matthis, interim district superintendent. Things are still being worked out, so we cant report much on this program right now," Matthis said. The concept is great, but the issue is' complicated. Well have to go into this program with our eyes open. Matthis also told the school board Thursday that she hopes program in a report she gives them at their Aug. 26 meeting. Regarding other items on the agenda, Matthis said she might report about the role the feder- $527,260 in funds which would be used to help improve student scores on the Stanford Achievement Test, eighth edition. ----------------- Rock. Personnel changes will also __ Sources said Wood accepted a math instructor job at the Uni versity of Arkansas at Little ally monitored school desegregation plan plays in school, operations. appear on the agenda. Dianne Wood, the districts mathematics supervisor, is re- , signing. Wood, who has been V* district for 28 years, is - J persou in an upper ucation grant application that management position to resign pniiln ensure the district since June. to approve a compensatory ed- could 4B THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14,1993 Arkansas Democrat azette LRSD suspends, expels more, but fewer for arms .BY CYNTHIA HOWELL Democrat-Gazette Education Writer The number of student suspensions and expulsions in the Little..Rock School District increased by 167 to 3,962 in 1992- 93, Khile the number of expulsions related to possession or use.of weapons fell by about 22 percent. The suspension and expulsion statistics were distributed Wednesday to members of the districts Biracial Advisory Committee. The committee routinely reviews the data because of concerns about the disproportionately high number of black students punished. For each of the past three years, more than 81 percent of all suspensions and expulsions were given to black students who make up 64 percent of enrollment. In 1992-93, 83.7 percent, or 3,310, of the districts total disciplinary actions were levied against black students. There were 652 suspensions or expulsions levied against whites. For possession or use of weapons or firearms, 64 penalties were administered last year, compared with 82 in 1991- 92 and 80 in 1990-91. There were 14 suspensions or expulsions last year for possession of a firearm, 47 for possession of a weapon other than a firearm and three for use of a weapon. A majority of the weapons and firearms apparently were found in the first semester, according to the report, as 44 of the suspensions or expulsions occurred in the first semester, compared with 20 in the second School district officials strengthened their policies last year on random searches of students for weapons after a teacher was stabbed multiple times in her classroom at Parkview Magnet High School. The teacher was seriously hurt but survived the attack. Hand-held metal detectors are used in all the junior and senior highs to conduct the searches. The number of disciplinary actions taken because of verbal assaults against staff members rose from 59 in 1991-92 to 82 last year. The number of sanctions resulting from physical assaults against staff dropped from 18 to ....... 13. Twelve sanctions were junior high students as against levied against students for being gang members, up from 10 the previous year. The disciplinary report also said
1,044 suspensions were levied for fighting, 1,350 for refusing to obey rules, 329 for use of foul language and 231 for disorderly conduct. 139 suspensions were the result of assaults or battery. 20 suspensions were given to students for carrying pagers. District rules call for police to be notified when students are caught carrying pagers. More than twice as many sanctions were levied against senior high students, 2,441 to 1,002. There were 519 sanctions levied in the elementary schools. Parkview recorded the fewest sanctions among the high schools, with 43. Central High, the districts largest school, had 126, compared with 43 the previous year. Hall High had 332 suspensions or expulsions last year and 374 the year before. Fair High had 327 last year and 223 the previous year. McClellan High reported 133 sanctions last year and 92 the previous year. Dunbar Magnet Junior High had the most sanctions levied, 406, in 1992-93 among the junior highs. Mann Magnet Junior High had the smallest number, 175. In the elementary schools, Booker Magnet School reported 47 suspensions or expulsions. Badgett, Franklin Incentive and Williams Magnet schools reported no sanctions.Arkansas Democrat TgS azcUc SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1993 5 Arkansas Democrat-Gazelte/Scotl Carpenter tricls new anti-truancy program to volunteers at the Martin Luther King School at 4800 W. 26th St. on Friday afternoon. TRUANCY TRAINING Jo Evelyn Elston, director of Pupil Services for the Little Rock School District, explains the dis- LRSD revives truancy program, says go to school or face patrols BY CYNTHIA HOWELL Democral-Gazette Education Writer Students attending the Murry Park Magnet School or the Park Plaza Mall Academy beware! The Little Rock School District with help from other civic and public agencies is reinstating an anti-truancy program absent for several years. Beginning Nov. 1, Little Rock police will pick up youth in the city who appear to be school-age but not at school. The patrol officers will deliver the students to a truancy center in the second-floor library of the old Oakhurst/King school at 4800 W. 26th St. There, truants will be interviewed by adult volunteers. Their parents will be called and the students taken to school, either by their parents or on a district school bus reserved for that duty. Parents will be asked to meet with school staff. A group of eight volunteers were trained Friday on interview techniques, district policies on truancy and attendance, adolescent behavior, and social service agencies. Some of the students will be hostile," Jo Evelyn Elston, director of pupil services for the Little Rock School District, told the volunteers. "After all, they did not plan to go to school that day, and they have been brought here by the police. Our purpose is to defuse that hostility. "They are not prison inmates, Elston said. They could be your kids or grandchildren. The students probably wicll spend no more than an hour at the center before they are taken to school, Elston said. Besides the Police Department, the district has worked with the New Futures for Little Rock Youth organization and two interdenominational religious organizations, the Greater Little Rock Religious Forum and Rock Vision. The anti-truancy program will be staffed by three district employees, a coordinator, a security officer and a bus driver. Plans call for two volunteers to work each day. Elston said it was impossible to predict how many students might go through the center on any given day. The staff will have some control over the number, however, as the coordinator can direct the police dispatcher to tell officers to stop picking up youth when the center becomes crowded. Little Rock School Board members, who approved.the anti-truancy program in August, have cautioned school district administrators against targeting absent students of any one race or neighborhood. The program is based on Act 867 of 1989, which authorizes school districts and law. enforcement agencies to cooperate to form stay-in-school programs. ---------------------------------------------------------- TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1993 Truants absent as center opens doors Workers predict busier days ahead as school year progresses BY CYNTHIA HOWELL Democrat-Gazette Education Writer The Little Rock School Districts new truancy center opened for business Monday, a trained volunteer counselor was in place and a bus driver to take truants to school was on standby. However, the day turned into a dress rehearsal for the workers because no truants were picked up by police and delivered to the center, which is at 4800 W.-26th St., on the second floor of the old Oakhurst/King School. No, were not discouraged, Jo Evelyn Elston, district director for pupil services, said Monday afternoon. She said she and the staff at the center are continuing to work with Little Rock police officials to identify young people who are skipping school. The department is supportive of the truancy program, Lt. Charles Holladay, a spokesman for the police department, said Monday. This was just the first day. I believe youll see activity pick up. Youll see more and more of the students who are on the street picked up and taken to the truancy center. Holladay said a memorandum was distributed to officers describing the truancy program. He said the success of the program is dependent upon the initiative of the officers to pick up students. This program gives us an opportunity to get kids off the street who may otherwise get involved in criminal activity, he said. The officer will be doing the kid a favor by getting him back in school and, at the same time, deterring a crime. There will be days like this, Manual Jones, the interim coordinator for the truancy center said about the fact that no truants were picked up Monday. Its warming up now but it was chilly this morning. There probably weren't many people standing around outside. In the spring that may be different. Jones, who is on loan to the center from the New Futures for Little Rock Youth agency, said he expects to get periodic reports from the police about the number of daily contacts police make each day with youth. Students who have been suspended or expelled from the district will have a written notice to show officers and wont be picked up. Also, a suspected truant wont be taken to the truancy center if the police find that warrants are out for the persons arrest. The truancy center was established in response to a 1991 state law that allows school districts and police departments to work together to find truants. Until now. the district has had virtually no anti-truancy program for many years. The district used to use social workers to check on absentees but that was discontinued after state education standards required schools to have elementary school counselors. The center is a collaborative project put together by interdenominational religious organizations, the school district. New Futures and the Little Rock Police Department. A task force of representatives from various public and private agencies will oversee the operation of the center and examine ways to help chronic absentees attend school. We dont want children to go underground. We want them to go to school, Annie Abrams, a volunteer counselor at the center, said Monday. Abrams, 62, a grandmother, retired from the Little Rock School District in June after 10 years as the federal Chapter I parent involvement coordinator and 27 years as an employee of the Arkansas Teachers Association and Arkansas Education Association. I feel we have to get the students off the street, Abrams said. If this approach doesnt work, well be back with another approach. Abrams said that as a retiree she can work for youth in a broader way than she could within the Chapter I program. I wanted to be part of a system to get children back in school, she said. If we dont save the children, we're not saving our future. If members of the public see children and teens that they believe to be truant, they should call Elstons office at 324-2162. If the suspected truants are outdoors or in a public place, arrangements will be made to have a police officer pick them up and take them to the center. If the truant student is at home, arrangements can be made to send a district social worker to the home to investigate. Elston is seeking people who are interested in serving as volunteer counselors at the center. The volunteers must be at least 25 years old, able to relate to children and adolescents, and be available for at least two hours at a time during the week. All candidates will be interviewed to determine whether they have been the subject of child abuse and neglect complaints. The volunteers must undergo a minimum of six hours of training. The volunteer counselors will question truants delivered to the center to determine the students schools and the reasons for the truancy. The volunteers will make arrangements for each childs parents to take their child to school. If the parent is unable to pick up their child, the student will be sent to school on a bus stationed at the center.Push-ups called corporal punishment BY RACHEL O'NEAL Democral-Gazette Capitol Bureau Using push-ups to discipline unruly public school students is a form of corporal punishnient, according to an attorney generals opinion released Tuesday. In the opinion, Deputy Attorney General Elena Willis found push-ups are included under the legal definition of corporal punishment. While no case specifically addresses the issue, "the practice would appear to fall within the broad definition, in the sense that it is a punishment inflicted on the body, Willis wrote in the opinion. She added that no state law forbids the use of push-ups or other forms of corporal punishment. The question of whether either is authorized in a particular school district, however, will depend upon local policy, Willis said. The opinion was requested after a Dunbar Junior High School students parents complained their child had to perform push-ups. The school is in Little Rock. In 1988, the Little Rock School District banned corporal punishment. That policy defines corporal punishment as "the intentional use of physical force or physical contact upon a student for any alleged offense or behavior, or the use of physical force in an attempt to modify the behavior, thoughts or attitudes of students. The Little Rock policy also says that corporal punishment "in any form will not be used as a disciplinary measure ... by any teacher, administrator or other school personnel. North Little Rock and Pulaski County Special school district have banned corporal punishment as well. Jeff Cowell, a teacher and coach at the junior high, said Tuesday he gave students who misbehaved an option
either reSee PUSH-UPS, Page 7B Arkansas Democrat (gazette Push-ups Continued from Page IB main in a push-up position for two to three minutes or have a disciplinary notice placed in their file. Cowell said he had been using push-ups as a form of punishment for about five years. But he said he was told to stop doing so after the parents complained. "My whole philosophy is Tf they are not in class, they ca'ii- not learn. Kids are kids. They are going to make mistakes, but we can learn from our mistakes, Cowell said. Cowell said almost all the students both girls and boys chose to perform the push-up. He added he did not allow female students to perform the push-up until they had on appropriate clothes. Jerry Malone, attorney for the Little Rock School District, said Tuesday that he had not seen the opinion. Malone also said he didnt know if it was the school districts intent to include pushups and other forms of exercise in its corporal punishment policy. The district, as always, will look at it and make as reasonable a determination as we can of what our next step needs to be, Malone said. Malone added that under the school districts definition of corporal punishment, "it doesnt sound like push-ups are a physical force against a student by an employee. Rep. Mark Riable of Little Rock, who requested the attor: ney generals opinion, sent a letter Monday to Little Rock School District Superintendent Henry Williams suggesting that push-, ups and other forms of exercise be used as a form of classroom discipline. "Certainly a little exercise will not hurt most children and certainly our classroom teachers need as much help as they can get to maintain an orderly environment for the benefit of all the students, especially those desiring to learn, Riable wrqte in the letter. Williams did not return telephone calls Tuesday. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1993 Arkansas Democrat (gazette WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1993 EDITORIALS Annals of law An exercise in crime emember ^m class? The brutal rope climbing? The grueling jogs around the track? The endless sit-ups and jumping jacks? The sadistic smile on the coachs face you promised yourself youd wipe off someday? For generations of students, workouts like these made P.E. something to dread. Now it turns out that such exercise isnt only unpleasant
it may be against the law. For the last five years, a junior-high teacher in Little Rock named Jeff Cowell has given unruly students a choice: Receive a formal disciplinary notice or do push-ups for a couple of minutes. Most kids took the push-ups. That is, until one students parents complained about this form of discipline. Push-ups, they argued, are a form of corporal punishment something Little Rock schools have banned since 1988. Uh oh. The debate went unresolved until Elana Wills, one of the states deputy attorney generals, handed down her opinion. Ms. Wills declared that pushups are not necessarily the healthy activity theyve been assumed to be for so long. In fact, she said, theyre a punishment inflicted on the body. , Of course push-ups are punishment. And of the most corporal kind. Which . makes Mr. Cowell a regular Torque-mada of the tenth grade. WE DID NOT MAKE THIS UP, as Dave Barry would say. ' Congratulations to D.A.G. Wills. Finally somebody has had the courage to speak the truth about push-ups. Theyre punishment, as any middle-aged, white-is J collar worker addicted to the candy machines will testify. Gym classes across the country will doubtless agree with this landmark decision and cancel all push-ups. Next on
the banned list: Sit-ups, jumping jacks, and other examples of cruel and all-too- usual punishment. After all, if physical exercise is an illegal form of punishment for bad behavior, surely it is even less justifiable when imposed on kids who havent misbehaved at all. Unless, of course, kids who act up have more rights than those who dont an increasingly widespread suspicion. What we have here in Wills v. Common Sense is a legal breakthrough, or at least breakdown. A Magna Carta for couch potatoes. Any lawyer will immediately grasp Attorney Lieutenant Wills reasoning, though perhaps only lawyers will. At last the Nineties may have found their Dorothea Dix, sweeping the barbaric vestiges of a more primitive age from our public institutions. Theres no reason for Atty. Lt. Wills to stop now. There are all kinds of other medieval tortures being administered RIGHT NOW in local high schools
Boring chemistry lectures. (An electroencephalogram would surely indicate brain death among some students within the first 60 seconds of exposure to such treatment.) Then there are pop quizzes, which have been known to make weaker hearts race. And what about having to climb all those stairs between classes? And, worst of all, the sound of chalk on black boards. Anything but that. Talk about corporal punishment: That sound makes the whole body wince. And so cruelly on... Atty. Lt. Wills could put a stop to this suffering with more of her revolutionary opinions. And maybe she will. We nominate diagramming sentences as the next target of her remarkable jurisprudence, or maybe getting to school on time, which has been known to put an unbearable strain on some adolescents. Just keep in mind the new motto of public education: No pain ... no pain. EDUCATION WEEK NOVEMBER 17, 1993 Punishment Pushups: Fbrcing students to do pushups is a form of corporal punishment, a state official in Arkansas has ruled. Deputy Attorney General Elena Willis said this month that pushups are covered under the Little Bock school districts ban on corporal punishment. The opinion was requested after parents at a junior high school objected to a teachers practice of using pushups as a disciplin- apr measure. -The school has agreed to abide by the decision.1 THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 25,1993 Truants range from comical to sad BY CYNTHIA HOWELL Democrat-Gazette Education Writer Darold Maxfield, new coordinator of the Little Hock School District.s truancy center, has already heard all kinds of excuses from children who have been picked up for missing school. The most unusual one involved socks. It seems a couple of basketball players needed socks to wear to that night's basketball game. They went to the mall to buy the sock,s instead of to school. The mall wasnt open for business yet. While the kids waited for the doors to open, police picked them up and took them to the truancy center at 4800 W. 26th St. Not all the reasons for truancies are as amusing or innocent. Some of the 58 students who have been picked up since Nov. 1 have been unable to find care for their children. Others have family problems that keep them at home. One elementary pupil simply missed his bus. Some of the young people picked up by police have never enrolled in school this year, or have attended just one day. Others believe they have been suspended and cannot go back to school, or believe they cannot return without their parents accompanying them for a conference. Maxfield and his crew of vol- ' iinteers have the job of helping students solve their problems and getting them back into school. Now, in addition to handling students brought to the center, the adult volunteers are following up on cases from earlier in the month to see if those students are still in school. A * I T JI 'it . I??' ''-.A h Sf -JI > 011J TRUANCY CHECK Malcolm Jackson, security officer at the Little Rock School Districts truancy center, makes Wednesday, one student at the center had been to scliool one day this year. The boys fattier was unaware of the absenteeism, but once he was called he got his child back in classes. After a slow start, business at the center picked up. Maxfield said. The center opened this year as the result of collaboration among the school district, the Police Department, New Futures for Little Hock Youth and interdenominational church organizations. <.. a Sira tf ''li Arkansas Democral-Gazette/Sleve Keeses a telephone call Wednesday about an absentee while Darold Maxfield, coordinator at the center, looks on. Police picked up only two students the first week the center opened. But Maxfield said Wednesday the center has had as many as 16 students in a day. On a typical day, the center handles four to six cases. There has been one repeater. Most of the students picked up are junior high age. Only one elementary child has been taken to the center. All but one of the truants have been black a situation Maxfield wants to review because of Little Hock School Board directives against police targeting children of a single race. The students have been found all over the place. Maxfield said. A lot are picked up as the result of telephone calls to the center. At least one young man reported to high school alter a long period of absenteeism because he didnt want to be picked up by police and taken to the center. For information on volunteering or to report suspected truants, the telephone number at the center is 671-6398. Aritansas Democrat ' SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6,1994 Unruly acts surging on LR school buses BY CYNTHIA HOWELL Democrat-Gazette Education Writer Little Rock school bus dri- vers who complain that student misbehavior is increasing now have numbers to support their claim. Brad Montgomery, the Little Rock School District transportation director, said Saturday there were 2,449 behavior incidents on buses as of Jan. 4. He projected the number will exceed 5,400 by the end of the school year. That compares with 3,912 incidents in all of 1992-93 and 1,318 incidents in 1991-92. We really need to look at this, Montgomery said about discipline problems on buses. A school bus is a dangerous place to misbehave. The consequences can be fatal." Montgomery gave a comprehensive transportation report to the Little Rock School Board at a daylong board work session Saturday. The board discussed a variety of issues, including concerns about parts of the districts desegregation plan, the need for regular replacement of roofs on school buildings and See BUSES, Page 4B Buses Continued from Page 1B ways to improve the boards method of doing business. , Bus drivers have complained in newspaper and television news accounts about student behavior problems. Early this school year, one frustrated driver took her unruly passengers to the police department and left the bus. un- The most frequent bus behavior problems, 1,472 so far this year, occurred on buses transporting elementary pupils, but the more serious incidents involved junior high students, Montgomery said. There have been 885 junior high incidents and 92 senior high incidents. . District drivers have had 70 bus accidents this year, most of them minor, Montgomery said In half the accidents, the drivers were found to be at fault. The primary cause was driver inattentiveness or being distracted by students. The transportation department, which employs 344 drivers, aides, supervisors, dispatchers and mechanics, uses 279 buses to transport about 14,000 students every day. The buses run 558 routes each day, including runs for athletics and other after-school programs. The buses make 10,500 stops a day for students. Also during the work session, board members got the results of a transportation department loss-prevention study done by Gallagher Bassett Services Inc. of North Little Rock, a subsidiary of Arthur J. Gallagher and Co., one of the districts insurers. The loss-prevention study, done in December, made 28 recommendations for improving department safety. The study found: A majority of drivers do not inspect their buses before starting their routes. Drivers were observed loading students on heavily trav- eled streets without using emer- .gency flashers or stop arms. Several drivers bring their children to work with them The children play in the bus lot, creating a hazard as buses leave the lot. Additionally, the children add to confusion in the congested dispatchers office' and drivers lounge. The quality of the dispatch radio is poor. Dispatchers can be hard to understand, and are sometimes distracted and frustrated by activities in the dispatch office. The two-way radios in some buses are broken and the unnecessary chatter and occasional profanity on the radio could impede emergency calls. The five driver supervisors are distracted from working with drivers in the peak morning hours because they must simultaneously answer complaint calls from parents. - Discipline for students who misbehave on the bus is inconsistent, insufficient numbers of security personnel are assigned to the transportation department, and employee discipline is poor as the result of the school board taking long periods to vote on recommended firings. More than one-third of theArkansas Democrat (gazette WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 1994 i Police beat 14-year-old jailed after knife fight Police arrested a 14-year-old boy Tuesday morning after an apparently gang-related fight on a Little Rock School District bus in Southwest Little Rock. Police said the boy was scratched on the arm when he allegedly pulled a steak knife during the disturbance. He did not require medical treatment, police said. The fight began about 8:15 a.m. when two other 14-year-olds began arguing about being in different gangs, police said. The driver, Roy Burnley, 42, stopped the bus without incident and separated the three boys until police arrived. The three boys were taken to the detective division and questioned, police said. The steak knife was stored in the Police Departments property room. The boy with the knife was arrested on two counts of aggravated assault. He was being held Tuesday night in the Pulaski County Juvenile Detention Facility.MONDAY, MAY 2, ,994 I LR schools lose track of truants Estimates rise to 1,200 a day BY CHRIS REINOLDS Democral-Gazsne Staff Writer Truancy in Little Rock schools has increased so dramatically that the system cant accurately count its AWOL students, officials say, One estimate puts the number of truancy cases in the district at 1,200 each school day. The problem is compounded because, for the most part: School officials do not know who the truants are. Officials can't obtain an accurate count of unexcused absences on any given day. The odds are good that a students absence will not be reported to his parents, even though district policies require notification. In a report to the state Department of Education, the Little Rock School District cited only 250 cases of truancy for the 1992-93 school year. But a small volunteer-staffed truancy center set up last November already has dealt with 375 cases this school year, and coordinator Darold Maxfield says the operation has hardly dented the problem. Maxfield suspects that roughly 1,200 district students play hooky each school day. Spot checks with individual schools indicate Max-fields figure js on target. For example, attendance secretary Tracey Nelson said about 200 of Hall High Schools 976 students were absent April 22. She estimated only about 20 of those absences were excused and that truancy accounted for most of the rest. See TRUANCY, Page 5A J Arkansas Democrat :^azettc MONDAY. MAY 2.1994 5A Truancy Continued from Page 1A Thats a typical day for the school, Nelson said. Southwest Junior High had 26 unexcused and nine excused absences Wednesday among its 679 students, attendance secretary Virginia Irving said. School ofllcials said the absentee rate was about average for this time of year. Jeanette Wagner, spokesman for the school district, said she did not know how last years truancy numbers were calculated. This years numbers have not been separated by excused and unexcused absences, she said. *A lot of times I just have to take it upon myself to get the kid back in school Darold Maxfield, truancy coordinator Dr. Henry Williams, the district superintendent, did not return several telephone messages left at bis office. Jo Evelyn Elston, director of pupil services for the district, said officials began to address truancy as a serious problem when residents complained about the number of children on the streets during school hours. Last fall, the truancy center opened as a collaboration between the school district, the Police Department, New Futures for Little Rock Youth and sev-eral interdenominational church organizations. It is fi- nanced mostly through private donations. So far, the center is dealing with six to eight students a day. Maxfield said the center will . need more volunteers, truant officers and community donations to have a real effect. At firsL district officials were concerned that police would target black students. But about 60 percent of the truants who pass through the center are black, closely tracking the districts 65 percent black enrollment. Police say truants can be found almost anywhere in the city. Their reasons for skipping school range from enjoying nice 4* A M* s.r.A.Y. ArWftsw Oemocral-QazaaaUonts RIchartson 11 TRUANCY TROUBLES Darold Maxfield, truancy coordinator for the Little Rock School District, estimates hat upwards of 1,200 students are absent from Little Rock schools on any given day. School officials say they do not know who the truants are and cant obtain an accurate count of the numbers of absentees. weather to escaping from dysfunctional families, Maxfield said. High school students get away with truancy more easily than junior high students, police say, because they often have cars and are harder to spot and catch. Police deliver truants to the truancy center, in the second-floor library of the old Oakhurst/King school at 4800 W. 26th St. Volunteers then interview students to find out where they attend school and how to notify their parents. Often, the process has a happy ending. Tenile Allen, 17, became one of the center's cases a couple of weeks ago when her mother, Angela Allen, found out she was playing hooky. Allen called the truancy center and asked them to talk with Tenile and explain to her what happens to truant students. She had a session with him (Maxfield), and he gave her a lecture on discipline, Allen said. Its been fine since then. But many parents cant take off from work to talk to school officials. In those cases, the truancy center tries to work with school officials to get the child back into class. A lot of times I just have to take it upon myself to get the kid back in school, said Maxfield, who has a military background and a degree in criminal justice. If a child is at home or on private proper^ where police have no jurisdiction, then the truan-cy center calls a social worker to find out why the child is not in school. Some parents keep their children at home to babysit younger children, while other children may stay home because of family problems, he said. More parents in the work force, economic needs that force children to skip school or drop out to find work, teen-age pregnancy and student apathy all contribute to truancy, Elston said. Arkansas law requires children between the ages of 5 and 17 to attend school. So any child can be picked up, even one who has dropped out of school or who was never enrolled. A truancy arrest is not counted as a real arrest or even a brush with the law. said Capt. W.W. Williams, patrol division commander for the Little Rock police. Punishments for truancy include detention, Saturday school or suspension. Court punishments can include fines and suspension of students drivers licenses. If a child does not report to school and a parent has not called by 8 or 9 a.m., school officials try to call the parents at home or work, Elston said. But absentees are often so numerous that it is impossible to notify every parent. We do not have the manpower to call every day, If school officials can't call the parent, they send a letter to the students home. By this time, the student may have skipped two or three days. Sometimes the letter never reaches parents because many families move without notifying the school, Elston said. Some parents do not have telephones or have good numbers, Elston said. On a students sixth absence, school officials ask parents to attend a conference. On the ninth absence, the school refers the parents to Little Rock Municipal Court. On the 12th absence, the student fails the semester, Elston said. If students miss so many days that they fail their classes, peer tutoring and summer school are available but they are not free, Elston said. Another option for chronic truants is the districts Alternative School at 800 Apperson St. for junior high school students. But students must be referred to the school. Lynn Rodgers, manager of reTruancy case coordinator finds problematic link to curfew trouble, crimes BY CHRIS REINOLDS Oemocrat-Gazene Staff Wtiter Kelly Carter sees lots of truants. She also sees lots of curfew violators. And some young criminals. Often, she sees all three in one youth. You see primarily the same kids in the same situations for each program that is offered out there, said Carter, Little Rock Municipal Court truancy case coordinator. So far this year, police have picked up 388 truants and 145 youths for curfew violations, although not all of the truants were turned over to the Little Rock School Districts truancy center. Of the 145 youths who violated curfew, 13 also were referred to Municipal Court for truancy. The court is a last resort to solve a students truancy problem. Carter and Little Rock Municipal Traffic Judge Bill Watt said many of the students police pick up for truancy will also violate the curfew law. You get a tremendous number of kids in the same rotation. Watt said. Watt, whose caseload contains about 30 percent truancy cases, said the criminal justice system. Department of Correction and the schools lack a partnership to combat these youth problems. Were not even scraping the edge. Watt said. There is a direct correlation involving truants, curfew violators and youths who get involved in crimes, according to a sample of 400 youths the court tracked. Of those youths, all were victims, suspects or witnesses in more than 1,200 police incidents. Watt said. Police averaged three contacts per child. If the kids are not in school, they are a major problem for you on the street. And if hes not doing what hes supposed to during the day then hes not doing it during the night, Watt said. Little Rock Municipal Court started issuing fines in 1987 for parents who were derelict in sending their children to school. Most of the cases involve junior high and high school students. Watt said' about 60 percent of truants are lightweights, and the other 40 percent are problems. First-time truancy offenders parents are fined $10 a day for each day missed. Secondtime offenders can be fined between $20 and $50 a day for each day missed. Carter said. The curfew calls for the youths to be issued citations and their parents contacted on the first offense. For subsequent curfew violations, parents can be fined up to $500. Little Rock. Jacksonville, Sherwood, Maumelle, Benton and Searcy and Pulaski County all have curfews. Little Rocks curfew, started in January, requires youths under age 18 to be home by midnight on Fridays and Saturdays and by 10 p.m. on other nights. Exceptions to its provisions include constitutionally protected activities. such as protests. search evaluation at New Futures, said it would be a great help if the district could calculate truancy. Hopefully, at some point the Little Rock School District could establish those measures. Rodgers said. We just don't have anything that looks at truancy. Its just really difficult to figure that issue out. Each district is required by law to submit truancy numbers in an annual disciplinary report. said Ray Lumpkin, coordinator of the Principals Assessment Center-Student Discipline for the Department of Education. It is difficult to compare truancy rates in different school districts across the state because districts report truancy numbers differently, said Rodger Callahan, the departments associate director of accountability. Arkansas Demcxrrat CBazctte WEDNESDAY, MAY 4,1994 Not trailing truants The Little Rock School District has admitted that it cant keep track of its truants because as many as 1,200 students play hool^ every day. The district confessed that it constantly violates its policy that parents of children who miss school must be notified of the absences. Its going to be hard to convince any reasonable person that a school district that cant keep track of its children stands much of a chance of giving them an adequate education.\ THURSDAY, MAY 5, iyy4 .Z oi.------ ---------------------- Jpg NLR,-county have grip on truancy LR district underreports student absences to state BY CHRIS REINOLDS Democrat-Gazette Staff Writer The North Little Rock and Pulaski County Special school districts say they have truancy problems but nothing like the one in Little Rock. Officials from both districts say they have a firm grasp on now often truancy occurs and who the truants are. The Little Rock School District has about 1,200 truants a day, according to the estimate of truancy coordinator Darold Maxfield and spot checks with school attendance officials But in a report to the state, the school system recorded only 250 incidents of truancy for the 1992- 93 school year. And school offi- ' cials said they often do not fol- ' low the district policy that requites them to contact parents whose children miss school. Pulaski County schools re- ported-1,329 incidents of truan- I cy,out'Of 21,633,-Students en- f rdlled for the 1992-93 school . include L ,.. Chronic truants.TfrttStddtiai' jisi truant siYHihAc u io I 1 re- I I six times, it is counted SIX truancy incidents. ' Rock reported 1 ana ------ j------- icpurieu oftruMcy for the school yeaf out of 9,251 V Students. Bobby Aeklin, the district s assistant silpdrintendent tor ^tudent affairs, said the 1992- no 1" " Wsher than the lu9T-92 figures because of a tougher truancy policy. Now the J .patching more stu- - oents through increased roll checks and pplice'/kssistance, Ackiin said. Eddie Collins, Pulaski Coun- , ty assistant superintendent for pupil personnel
, attributed his districts lower truancy rate to a closed-campus policy and a predominantly rural district. He said the truancy numbers for the district are accurate. We have not had any concerns that truancy is a problem, Collins said What we really enforce is the attendance policy. The students know they could fail that course if they miss 10 days, and the kids have been pretty receptive to that notion. And when students skip school, parents are always notified, Collins said. The schools use an automatic calling system to contact parents in the evening. The prerecorded telephone message tells parents their child did not show up for school. Some schools follow up with a letter, Collins said. I We dont have a problem with contacting parents, Collins said. If the child has been absent [ five days and parents have not contacted school officials, then the principal usually calls parents to let them know the student is in danger of losing credit, Collins said. A child who misses 10 school days fails. North Little Rock schools also use an automatic calling system. That does OK, but the students can get around it, Ackiin said. We do get lots of responses back though. North Little Rock police have an agreement with the schobl district to pick up truants and take them to the districts alternative school, until school officials decide where they belong. Police have picked up 145 students since.the 1993-94 school . year started.'This is the second I year police have worked with the schools
We think its better for everybody if we can keep them in school and off the street, A^in said. 0 Truancy Continued from Page 1B If students begin to miss five or six days in a row, the principals should try to reach the parents, Ackiin said. North Little R'ock allows a student to miss up to 12 school days. After the 12th day, he loses credit. When a student is constantly missing, we try to catch it before and try to call, Ackiin said. While most schools across the state report truancy numbers to the state, state officials say there is no clear definition of how to calculate truant students. Ray Lumpkin, coordinator of the Principals Assessment Center/Student Discipline for the Department of Education, said school districts should declare a student truant when the school and the parent dont know the students whereabouts. The state publishes its annual disciplinary report to help school districts identify areas where they need to improve. The truancy numbers are part of that report. Lumpkin said the state doesnt police school districts numbers, but workshops are available to help districts combat disciplinary problems. It ought to make school districts look at problems, Lumpkin said. Little Rock district officials should have noticed a problem with the extremely low truancy numbers, Lumpkin said. School districts are required by law to keep track of unexcused absences because schools must determine how many days a student can miss before losing credit, Lumpkin said. The state reported 22,154 truancy incidents in the 1992-93 school year out of an enrollment of 440,682. I26 ARKANSAS TIMES * AUGUST 25,1994 I MEDIA A BETTER HEADLINE: DUCK THIS B.S. BY MAX BRANTLEY__________ Never has the Arkansas Democrat- Gazettes institutional bias against the Little Rock School District been more evident than in last Mondays newspaper. Under the headline School Security. From hickory stick to ducking bullets" police reporter Jim Kordsmeier began a report thusly
Ask most adults to describe their first days of school and the memories most likely will be similarnew clothes and pencils, the first football game, the sanitary smell of clean rooms and waxed hallways. Ask astudentin the Little Rock School District the same question and the memories might be altogether different locker searches, fights, random metal detector sweeps, guns, the navy blue shirts of security guards. Gonearethedayswhenreading.riting ' and tithmetic were taught to the tune of a hickory stick. In the Little Rock School District, school can be adangerous place. And on what is this overwrought, Gannett-style lead based? It is the news that some 167 Little Rock high school students were expelled for fighting in the last school year. That is less than one expulsion a day in a community of more than 5,300 teen-agers, the majority fixim underprivileged circumstances. The premise might have had some validity had the writer attempted to compare the numberof fights per capitain Little Rock with.the number recorded in neighboring school districts, or, say, the crime statistics in a poverty-stricken community of5,300 people somewhere in Arkansas. But this is not the DOG s way when it comes to the Little Rock School school supplies. The halls smelled clean and the floors were freshly waxed. We didnt see a security guard, but we did see dozens of old friends from previous years, all smiling and none looking nervously over shoulders. We didn taccompany our daughter to day one at Central High School. Her embarrassment would have been far too great But it was her second year to attend Central, so shes an old hand at dodgingknives and bullets. Funny thing, of all the topics discussed in daughters District. When it examines standardized test scores, for example, it is careful to note the wide disparity in scores between blacks and whites in Little Rock. But it never goes on to note No gun was fired in Little Rock schools last year. first year at Centtai, not mentioned once were locker searches, fights, random metal detector sweeps, guns or the navy blue shirts of security guards. that, when broken down by race. Little Rock whites and blacks score far above the state average and far better than the neighboring districts to which whites with media-induced panic flee from the whizzing bullets of the Little Rock schools. Ducking bullets? No gun was fired on campus in the Little Rock schools last year. None. And speaking of violence, to the best of our recollection, the last school teacher in Pulaski County injured by an assault was a teacher at the exclusive Pulaski Academy. Her leg was broken by a marauding intruder in the school. The Democrat-Gazette did not report that story, of course. It didnt happen at Central High. J We have aconflict of interestbutit happens to have some relevance. We took a fourth grader to Gibbs Elementary in the Little Rock School District Monday. Onr son had a new haircut, new clothes and a backpack full of new Fact is, through a cumulative 13 years of Little Rock schooling at three elementaries, one junior high and one high school and a couple of years of mentoring in an inner city elementary, weve never had occasion to seriously doubt the safety of eitherourchildren orthose weve worked with. There has been violence in the Little Rock schools. The potential for more remains, here and everywhere. The District is responding to that potential with a variety of security measures, as are many other school districts. It is a pity that such a need exists. But to single out Little Rock with a headline about ducking bullets (derived from a baseless quote by a security guard with a Say McIntosh complex) and to suggest that the average Little Rock students impression of school is a place fraught with danger is worse than unfair, itis wrong. Anditdamages every single person who calls Little Rock home. I iTUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1994 I LR studies day curfew 1 for students Board looks at plan to cut high truancy 1 BY KEVIN FREKING Democrat-Gazette City Hall Reporter i The Little Rock Board of Directors this week will take up a youth curfew for school hours. A curfew ordinance com-
posed by City Attorney Tom- Carpenter would require youths 17 and younger to stay off public property such as streets,, parks or sidewalks between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on school days- . , The penalty for violating the, ordinance would match that im-, posed for night curfew violations. The first offense leads to a citation and parental notification. Subsequent offenses lead to a fine of up to $500 for parents. , , City Director Michael Keck said he read about school-time curfews established in San Antonio and Austin, Texas, to deter juvenile crime and truancy. The reason why I brought it up, the first part of the year, there was a great increase in daytime burglaries, and (Municipal) Judge (Bill) Watt didnt think there was aggressive enforcement of the truancy laws, Keck said. Although the city board could enact the ordinance as early as next Tuesday, Keck said, he wants to hold one or two public hearings to give res- See CURFEW, page 7A Curfew Continued from Page 1A idents more opportunity to comment on the proposal. The state already has truancy trict had about 1,200 truants a laws designed to ensure children attend school. Watt, who oversees truancy and curfew cases in Lit- tie Rock, said the Little Rock school attendance officials. School District is supposed to refer students to his court after 10 unexcused absences. At that point, the judge can ---------- ------- _ fine parents a minimum of $10 absences from a class. After six tistics are not yet available to per day or as much as $50 per absences, a school administrator determine its effectiveness. He day for unexcused absences, is supposed to meet with the ""........ The judge can also suspend a parents or guardians. students drivers license. Reaction to a proposed cur- A daytime curfew ordinance few from a handful of students fore the curfew was put in would dictate that truants be cit- outside Central High on Monday place showed that 35 percent of ed to appear in Watts court as ranged from ambivalence to op- crinie in Austin was committed early as the second time they position. during school hours. are caught by police for skip- The only problem I would When a minor is stopped in ping school. have with it is if you had a job, Austin during school hours, the Watt said he discussed the said Adrienne Matlock, 16. student is taken to a processing Tonya Mitchell, a senior, said center to determine whether he is truant. During the first few daytime curfew with Carpenter on Monday. He said they also discussed an alternative to the daytime curfew that entails tow- fight authority. She said the ing truants cars. same thing happens now with When you cut down on their the night curfew. I dont think you should fine mobility, you have everybody showing up in court because parents, said her sister, Tolice they want their car back, Watt Mitchell, a junior. A lot of there is a provision to penalize said. times, its not the parents parents. Rose said. Watts suggestion also would fault. School started Aug. 15, and Carpenter said the board weve got it in full operation, will need to address what to do Rose said. Its just as an ob- bring the youths to his attention more quickly than when officials rely on the school district with youths in home-school proto report a child after 10 unexcused absences. Watt has criticized the Little home school right now, Car- Rock School Districts truancy penter said. I guess we can put reporting in recent months. The in an exemption for home truancy problem is worse than schooling. Thats one question the district has reported. Watt thats been raised. The Austin daytime curfew believes. The Little Rock School Dis- day, according to May estimates eral exceptions, including for home-school students and private from the districts truancy coordinator and spot checks with Under the school districts guidelines, the district notifies sistant city attorney in Austin, parents or guardians when a Rose said the curfew began student has three unexcused about six months ago, and sta- a curfew may push some students to skip school as a way to grams. A significant number are in also runs from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on school days and contains sev- school students who have different days off than public school students, said Bob Rose, an assaid the curfew was generated by a neighborhood group fed up with crime. He said statistics be- months of the program, the students were taken back to school. Parents were not cited. Rose said. This year, the students will be cited for violations, and servation, but I think everyone agrees the hard-shell truant it probably wont affect. It will certainly impact the casual truant.f- Arkansas Democrar^^azetteJ SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1994 comtwnt O Little Rock Newspapers. Irw. Better schools require strict discipline A' 21 s most parents know, the weird thing about an ele- .mentary school is that. St (low n deep, you have no idea what exactly happens to your child behind its closed doors. The place exists in an orbit beyond your reach
one sometime.s imagine.s his offspring fending for himself in black space. This reality makes you reluctant after a while to accept the pronouncements of graduate school deans and highly paid public school superintendents further from the classroom I doui s than you. If you trust the observations on the system of anyone it tends to be those on the front-lines, the ones behind the closed doors. And what these soldiers have been saying lately does not jibe with the pronouncements of superintendents, whether theyre coming from Little Rock, New York or Los Angeles Michael Leahy because things might get a lot worse later and we might really want then to (remove him from school) for a couple of days." A disgusted Little Rock Superintendent Henry Williams denies that teachers are hindered from suspending any student for iamses out there. Five, ten years from now, if nothing has a lengthy period. Yet, in his next ..... ............ ...................breath, Williams betrays a jarring that he had given himself over ambivalence over how tough voice so level that she felt afraid to doing it. school discipline ought to be. Re- She would liot let her trauma fleeting upon the classroom bul-interfere with hci normal class [y the .22, he says, Just be-routine, such as it was. She cause this boy threatejts to hurt a taught arithmetic and reading, re- teacher doesnt mean he should cited stoi'ie.v ,u,d, to the disgust of be suspended from his school. So her other .siudrots, spent about stunning does this policy decla-one- third of all class time re- ration seem to be in its potential spending to the incorrigibility of for disaster that a listener reads While_ _th_eI superintendents and----- educational think tanks wring changed, the politicians will yield to a growing clamor for private school vouchers, the public schools will become the exclusive hellholes of the have-nots, and the gulf between the social classes will make the Grand Canyon look like a tiny gulch. What can we do? To start with, forget about fancy new programs for ten minutes
we have an abundance of programs, and plenty of innovative, committed teachers. Think discipline. Demand the regular in volvement of parents or guardians as early as a childs preschool year. Remove all older troublemakers and place them in separate rooms and buildings with caring teachers and support Yes. thats personnel, until theyre ready to right if cooperate. Give the kids who hes a special back quote the to Williams. thats hands over Underlying Causes and Promising Reforms, a funda- A education student," the superintendent adds. Twenty-want to learn the vast majority of them a real chance. This kind of talk doesnt come easily for some of us. Our instincts run toward wanting to help the earnest masses while simultaneously coming to the rescue of sullen rebels even when these two things are mutually exclusive. It is the enduring conundrum of our liberalism. Yet, if we now feel ourselves about to get weepy over the whitmental dilemma of the schools now involves something parents cant see happening in that insular world. The problem, in short, usually comes down to a prototypical bully making life miserable for someone in a cramped classroom. The quandary lies in the reality that, no matter what a codebook says, the bully often can torment and threaten with impunity. and that during Septem-bei. in east Little Rock, the bully knew it. I am goin^ to come back, with my gtin tomorrow aud I am goiug to kill you. he told his prey one morning. There ain't nothing you can do. He was not a young man gone berserk over a pi^ailed girlfriend who had left him. He wao not a teenage drug dealer threatening a potential witness. He was a nine-year-old boy, diagnosed as hyperactive, and she I his young schoolteacher of he? brightest studenLs vriwed, They say they can remove any -------- , r ,u The boy, an elementa^ stu- this made her heart sink, this kid. But, still, when a teacher schoolteacher last week of the dent in the Little Rock School bgp wonder whether she gets shoved or another teacher fledgling gang b^ully who d District, had been a serious dis- p^ght be on the brink of losing gets hit by a chair when two stu- threatened to kill her. The boy ciplinary problem since the be- best dents are fighting and, if theyre had been removed from class not ginning of the school year, dis- special ed students, the (super- by the school district but rather rupting his class, exploding into schoolteacher intendents and assistant super- by his dissolute mother, who had a 1 age when chastised. He intendents) attitude seems to be, abruptly left Arkansas with him warned the entire class, in what I seldoin pursu warrant, seemed no idle boast, that he -L toainct in,, vn mile hnllv Im sure^they have rules, but its The teacher felt worried for would S()on be initiated into a Ho ag^^inst volafi e ^hat you pick up. the child, but relieved for her 17 feared street gang Soon after, be leying pretty truth if ..... now, things are better, they get pvt HU' t li four hours later, a high-ranking administrator in the district's special education de-partment contradicts the superintling of once sacred tenets, we ought to be mindful that the old lias been an abysmal burdeciaring failure in lifting in great numbers the groups we purport to care so deeply about. In a school tendent. all his statement inoperative. 11 > We can remove a stu-system now two-thirds black, the troublemakers have made the the bully, capiivc to his fury, alternately cojtli
,
and adnionish-dent from a particular (school) struggle of good Little Rock kids anytime we wish..., declares the all the more arduous. When a ing him. Uthcu in the class, readministrator. bully in either high school or an sentful that tin. bad boy had - - stolen cente. .viagv and devoured refiects the murkiness of the dis- ----------- . hours meant loi them, threatened trict's overall discipline policy, frightened teachers
energies mutiny Do .sumedihig about lum or They have all kinds of policy, *' srhnnl Im goiug to do bud stuff, too, one says the young schoolteacher, of her brightest students vowed, rpmove anv Yet the confusion at the top elementary grade consumes one-third of a class time and a then the center of that school has come apart. Hes gone, said the young and this made her heart sink, this kid. But, still, when a teacher schoolteacher last weeK oi ine made her bully might be on tin. brink of losing gets hit by a chair when two stu-her best. dents are fighting and, if theyre The young schoolteacher seldom considered pursu_ ing stem disciplinary action against the volatile bully. special ed students, the (superintendents and assistant superintendents) attitude seems to be. Oh, do your best to work it out. Im sure they have rules, but its don't really seem to underfailed to respond, the boy final ly reappeared at school, more angry than ever in moments, telling the teacher on that frightening morning that he would shoot her with his .22. his 'special education' student, and stand." the policy i.s thot you can't treat The grumblings at the grass-those students like the rest, she roots, among teachers and par-the that cant savs. And (my school's princi- ---------- pal) and 1 didn't want to use all schools ought to blare like an of the ten days up at that point alarm for all the Henry Will- __________________ all my time these days," she said ents alike, about disorder in the softly. There are no fairy tales in her school, but now at least 17 kids have a chance. Arkansas Democrat [ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1994 Copyright Little Rock Newspapers. Inc Teachers are schools problem, not children, minister says BY SUSAN ROTH Ipnce in schools, the session was voice. Stewart look the teachers 'ypocnsy.^and they .,noctori ihnl ipnph- ? Democrat-Gazelle Education Writer ^The problem with today's schools is the teachers, not the children, the Rev. Hezekiah Stewart declared Thursday. Stewart, director of the Watershed Project, a Little Rock prdgram that counsels troubled youngsters, addressed more than 200 teachers at a session of the Arkansa.s Education Association's annual convention at Rqbinson Center. pevoted to the issue of vio- lence schools, the session was one of hundreds aimed at educating teachers during the three-day convention. Also speaking was Dr. Barbara Stanford, associate director of the Arkansas International Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Stanford introduced a conflict resolution program she developed that focuses on consistency of discipline, good listening skills and student mediation. In his booming preacher's to task for failing to get along with each other, with parents and with administrators. You act like you get along but you reall.v don't, he said. The white teachers get togeth- and talk about the black er teachers and the black teachers get together and talk about the white teachers. Students see that, Stewart said. They respond to your facial expressions more than to what you say. Kids cant stand Youngsters say they dont think teachers care about them. Stewart said. How do you manage getting up in the morning hungry? How do you manage to sleep when your parents are up all night Fighting, or there's crack cocaine or alcohol in your house all night? he asked. A child leaves home and brings that to school and you want him to sit down? Forget it. It's not going to Stewart suggested that teachers spend the first hour of the school day giving children encouragement and hope. Children need to be loved by some- one, and love is conducive to learning, he said. Administrators should also go back to classrooms to learn about the to problems students bring school with them, he said. Teachers should also make an effort to build relationships with parents, Stewart said.Voices WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1994 9B [f only teachers had time to teach
reminded recently that there is e to improving education than can bund in buying more textbooks, hir- )re teachers and enhancing test Behavioral problems might be reduced there is too much abuse and not enough reminder came from a local read- has been following our ongoing di- about the state of education. ewith, an excerpt from his letter front of Hall High School is a sign ming that the school is drug-free i-free.... Theres another si^, iden- front of Forest Heights Junior High, isume theyre in front of all Little chool District high and junior high Meredith Oakley a sad commentary on our life and on our children and our schools, gns such as this are considered ap- ite. ,ed, it is a sad commentary, not because such signs recognize that re these types of problems in pub- xjls, but because such signs impart oneous message that drugs and ive been expunged from the school ition. lot convinced that guns and drugs eliminated: theyve been around ?, and they have become too acces- ven grade-school pupils have been with them. res no easy solution to the problem, s can do only so much. Im afraid : blame accrues to the parents, be- hats where behavioral problems lu think the state of education is OU should consider the environ- n which troubled and troublesome youths are reared. The words squalor and deprivation do not begin to describe the situation. Aberrant behavior is a natural byproduct of familial instability and inadequacy. I truly believe that some children are irrevocably lost before they ever hit their teens. We might have a fighting chance of separating young people from guns and drugs if we could make all parents care what happens to their offspring, but that is an improbability. Although we like to think that evep^ parent wants whats best for his or her children, taint necessarily so. Neither is a sign outside a school that declares the school to be free of guns or drugs. Thats wishful thinking at best. Schools cant even eliminate gum chewing. Sound fatalistic? Sure it does. But that is not to say that all at-risk youths are corruptible in the face of poor parenting skills. In trying to improve the state of education, we should not ignore the state of the family unit. The state of the family unit in many households is not very good. You have households with too many children and too few parents, and households in which discipline. Actually, teachers, not parents, are our first line of defense against the development of aberrant behavior. As another reader pointed out, a public schoollhat exists in any community or society will mirror the social values and ills of that particular community. If we are to attack behavioral problems, we must give teachers the tools diey need, and what they are most in need of is the freedom to teach in an environment that tolerates no nonsense. As Other Reader pointed out. if a student doesnt want to learn, or if his parents present more of a problem than the student does, public school teachers must still try to educate the student, Teachers dont have time anymore to teach. Society simply must find a way to untje the hands of educators when it comes to discipline, but in a manner so that they have leeway, not,license. .. We have become such a litigious society that Im not sure how to help teachers do their job, but it seems logical that a mix of better teachers, smaller class sizes and less paperwork would go a long way toward improving the state of education..^ It wouldnt hurt too much for the government to provide more support for parental counseling in its welfare programs. Im confident it would improve tlje teachers lot Associate Editor Meredith Oaideys column, appears every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. ' 'Arkansas Democrat [ MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1994 Coovrieht Llttl Rock irw Going to school 'with dad The ultimate deterrent I f public schools enforced the same rigid policy on truancy as __they did back in the 50s and beyond, a judge named Bill Watt might not have to haul parents into Little Rocks municipal court or have them attend classes with their children to make a point. There was a time when truancy wasnt much of a problem. Students were expected to attend school, and all but a few did. Most kids didnt want to be embarrassed by being marked as a truant. An unexcused absence was rare, and it meant carrying a bright pink admittance card from class to class for each teacher to sign. .A visit to the dean of boys or girls was a fearful thing, and being expelled almost unheard of. Kids whispered when they talked of it. Today, the policy in public schools is to allow nine absences before anybody need take much notice. By then, skipping school may have become a habit. Unlike the school systems. Judge Watt has been cracking down on truancy the past couple of years. He sees a connection between missing school and daytime crime especially thefts of property and break- ins. His latest gimmick to discourage truancy bringing the parents into the picture seems to be working. No wonder. He offers parents a choice: Attend classes with their child for 15 days or pay a fine of $1,500. One parent chose to attend class because he had lost his job and couldnt pay the fine. Going back to school made sense for him, even if it meant having to take a night job. But his 16-year-old daughter threw a hissy, she even offered to find a job and earn enough to pay the fine if thats what it took to keep from having dad sit next to her in class for three weeks. (Gosh, that could be even worse than having to carry around a pink card from class to class.) Can a little judge from Little Rock have discovert the functional equivalent of the 50s pink slip in the '90s? We can hear the shocked whispers now
"She had to take her mother to class! Talk about gro^'. 'Then again, the girls father says his punishment wont change his daughters attitude because she doesnt want to attend school. He may have a point. But if compulsory attendance doesnt change attitudes, it might change behavior. Specifically, it could cut down on the citys crime problem. Its worth a judicious try.. Arkansas Democrat (Bazctte [ FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1^ Copyngnt <9 Little Rock Ncwspaoereaw LR board OKs discipline book, power to bar disruptive pupils BY CYNTHIA HOWELL Democrat-Gazette Education Writer - All Little Rock School District teachers and administrators will undergo further training next month on the districts new student discipline handbook, the school board decided Thursday. The board also reaffirmed a in provision the existing teacher contract that allows teachers to bar disruptive students from their classrooms. Board members said the votes were an attempt to assure parents and employees that state laws and school district policies on discipline and safety will be enforced. Both measures were unanimously approved. Board President Linda Pon- dexter proposed both mea- sures in response to numerous complaints from teachers and parents this year. Pondexter, who teaches junior high civics in the neighboring Pulaski County Special School District, earlier this month asked that the board rescind the new student discipline handbook and return to the discipline handbook used last year. She said Thursday, though, that the cost and logistics of printing and distributing the old handbook by the time the second semester begins next month made the proposal impractical. Pondexter said the contract provision allowing teachers to bar disruptive students from class was possibly the districts best-kept secret. She said the provision allows teachers to maintain order in . , - ------------ on tests, they wont be sus- their classrooms but also re- pended but will be subject to quires the teacher, a parent other penalties, such as in- and the principal to meet with- school suspension or detention in 48 (lours to decide how to re- hall. solve the behavior problem. That requirement makes every- ___ __ _____ one involved accountable, she handbook "had "been watered down, but he agreed that more A total of 353 students were training on the handbook was barred from their classrooms last year. Of those, 319 about 90 percent were black. "I dont like to see that a dis- ------ we will enforce them, Riggs proportionate number of the said. students are African-American," Pondexter said. "But if a disproportionate number of African-Americans misbehave, olution supporting plans to then a disproportionate num- ' ber should be put out of class. ... People have the impression ture with the city of Little that we are putting statistics Rock, the state Department of above the safe^ of our children Human Services and other and our staff community organizations Pondexter was applauded Cloverdale Junior High will frequently by audience mem- be the first school to host a bers, largely parents and staff Beacon program, based on a members from the Chicot and similar program in New York Mabelvale elementary schools. City. Activities and programs Henry will be offered at the school for Williams said he agreed that children and adults. parents must be involved in re- People in the community solving discipline problems will decide what the programs but said staff must be flexible should be. in scheduling times when The new Stephens Elemen- wcjrking parents can visit the tary School also will host a Bea- school. con program when it opens in 1996-97. The district this year adopt- ed a new handbook that reduces the number of offenses for which students can be suspended. When students fight or cheat Board member John Riggs said he didn't believe the necessary. I want our parents to know that we have a set of rules and The training will be held at each school. The board also passed a resopen schools after hours to the community through a joint venArkansas Democrat ' WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 1994 Truants, principals risk wrath of Watt BY CHRIS REINOLDS Democrat-Gazette Staff Writer I In its first effort in at least 17 years to track truancy, the i 11 I Little Rock School District counted 3,680 truants during the 1993-94 school year, figures obtained Tuesday show. But Little Rock Municipal Judge Bill Watt said the problem is much larger than the figures indicate, and he promised to jail principals if. 1 they dont report chronic i truants, as state law requires. Im going to turn some heat on, and it will get interesting, Watt said Tues- day. Theyre (the district) getting funded for phantom students, and theyre giving a bogus number of 3,000 students for the whole year. ' Watt said he discussed Truancy Continued from Page 1A dents involved in truancy cases instead of the incidents of truancy. Elston said the number represents only students who were caught for truancy. She said she didnt know how many students evaded school officials and Little Rock police. Elston said students who forge their parents signatures on excuse notes and parents who lie to school officials could contribute to a higher truancy number. There may be some kids ' were not catching, Elston said. Last year, the district officially reported only 250 truancy incidents among the 21,633 students enrolled for the 1992- 93 school year. Elston said Tuesday that that number represented students suspended for truancy not incidents of truancy. This year, students wont be suspended for truancy. The building principal will either assign in-house suspensions or another form of discipline, Elston said. Elston said the district tallied a more complete count of truants last year to aid the new truancy center. Last fall, the taking action against princi- luc truancy center opened as a col- pals with Little Rock Super- i intendent Henry Williams ! during the summer. Williams' couldnt be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon. In May, the Little Rock laboration between the school district, the Police Department, New Futures for Little Rock Youth and several interdenominational churches. The center dealt with six to eight students a day. School District truancy coordinator, Darold Maxfield, estimated that about 1,200 students among the 25,594 enrolled for 1993-94 were truant, on a typical day. Spot checks at several schools'supported his estimate. .- But Jo Evelyn Elston, di- - ___________.. rector of pupil services, dis- ! school officials should start We wanted to have some base-line data so we could get some handle on the number of Watt said Central High School didnt report one truant last year, but Watt has court records that show Central High School students with more than 10 truancy incidents. If I was the district. Id use this (the court) as a tool, he said. Watt said many of the 4,000 to 5,000 juveniles he sees for traffic and curfew violations each year also have been truant but not reported. Once the students are referred to the court, many other problems, like absent parents and criminal activity, can be addressed. The North Little Rock and Pulaski County Special school districts have kept track of truants every year. North Little Rocks number ofJruants rose last year while Pulaski Countys truancy rate declined. The North Little Rock district reported 2,215 incidents of truancy last year 393 more than in the 1992-93 school year. The enrollment for the 1993-94 school year was 9,085 students. Bobby Acklin, assistant superintendent for desegregation, said the higher number reflects a crackdown by school officials and police.
The schools are doing a better job of searching for them, Acklin said. It ought to reach a peak and then I hope to see it go down. The students know its a priority for us. Acklin said Little Rocks numbers are lower comparatively because that district has a larger area to cover. Were not as spread out as truants, Elston said. Although Elston said the district was dealing with the truancy problem. Watt said puted Maxfields estimate. I wouldnt put any stock in it other than its just conjecture, Elston said. This year we have some hard ferring more truants to not just counting them. recourt, data based on schools. ,, Maxfield said he couldnt comment on the latest numbers. Elston said this was the first time the district had tracked truants since she started working for the district 17 years ago. The report indicates the number of stu- See TRUANCY, Page 13A State law says schools should refer students who miss more than 1() days of school without a valid excuse to the Little Rock Municipal Court. At court parents and students face fines of up to $50 a day for each school day I missed. ' Little Rock and Pulaski County (districts), Acklin said. Ours go to McCain Mall. The Pulaski County district reported 1,029 students disciplined for truancy in the 1993- 94 school year. In 1992-93 the district caught 1,329 students playing hooky. Eddie Collins, assistant superintendent for pupil services, said those students represented the bulk of the truancy problem 'in the district. i Enrollment for the 1993-94 I school year was 20,426. Collins said the district may be missing some truants, but he feels administrators are doing a better job of keeping students in school. We have a very good attendance reporting system, everythings computerized, Collins said. T, Arkansas Democrat ^(Bazcttc [ FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16. 1! Copyngnt O Little Rock Newspaoer LR board OKs discipline book, power to bar disruptive pupils BY CYNTHIA HOWELL Democrat<3a2etta Education Writer All Little Rock School District teachers and administrators will undergo further training next month on the districts new student discipline handbook, the school board decided Thursday. The board also reaffirmed a provision allowing teachers to ed a new handbook that rebar disruptive students from duces the number of offenses class was possibly the dis- " ' ' tricts best-kept secret. ed a new handbook that for which students can be suspended. When students fight or cheat ,, . , - ---------- on tests, they wont be sus- their classrooms but also re- pended but will be subject to quires the teacher, a parent other penalties, such She said the provision allows teachers to maintain order in Teand the principal to meet withas in- . ----------------- in 48 hours to decide how to re- provision the existing solve the behavior problem, teacher contract that allows That requirement makes everv- teachers to bar disruptive stu- ' dents from their classrooms. in school suspension or detention hall. Board members said the votes were an attempt to assure Board member John Riggs ----------. said he didn't believe the one involved accountable, she handbook had been watered down, but he agreed that more training on the handbook was necessary. I want our parents to know that we have a set of rules and A total of 353 students were , . barred from their classrooms parents and employees that last year. Of those, 319 about state laws and school district 90 percent were black policies on discipline and safe- ty will be enforced. Both mea- sures were unanimously ap- students are African-Ameri- prwed. can, Pondexter said, But if a Board President Linda Pon- disproportionate number of dexter proposed both mea- African-.Americans misbehave sures in response to numerous then a disproportionate num- complaints from teachers and ber should be put out of class parents this year. - . . 1 dont tike to see that a dis- we will enforce them Riggs proportionate number of the said. The training will be held at each school. The board also passed a resolution supporting plans to open schools after hours to the Pondexter, who teaches junior high civics in the neigh- _________ boring Pulaski County Special and our staff School District, earlier this . .--------------- community through a joint ven- ... People have the impression ture with the city of Little that we are putting statistics Rock, the state Department of above the safety of our children Human Services and other !>nr! nn communlty organizations. month asked that the board rescind the new student disci- Pondexter was applauded . ,, , J----- ------ bers, largely parents and staff pline handbook and return to members from the Chicot and the discipline handbook used Mabelvale elementary schools, last year. Superintendent She said Thursday, though, , , *---------- Cloverdale Junior High will frequently by audience mem- be the first school to host Beacon program, based on a a similar program in New York Williams said he agreed that that the cost and logistics of parents must be involved in reprinting and distributing the solving discipline problems old handbook by the time the but said staff must be flexible City. Activities and programs Henry will be offered at the school for second semester begins next month made the proposal impractical. Pondexter said the contract but said staff must be flexible in scheduling times when working parents can visit the school. The district this year adopt- children and adults. People in the community will decide what the programs should be. The new Stephens Elementary School also will host a Beacon program when it opens in 1996-97.Arkansas Democrat ^(gazette TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 1995 School-hours curfew begins for LR children under 18 I i Democrat-Gazene Start Little Rocks daytime cur- few begins today. Children under 18 are barred from city streets and parks from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on school days. Since last year, the city has had a curfew barring children under 18 from being on the streets from 10 p.m. to a.m. 5 Sunday through Thursday, and from midnight to 5 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Curfew exceptions allow children to be out if working, attending school activities or accompanied by an adult. Those caught breaking the curfew are given a citation on the first offense and, for subsequent offenses, their parents are fined up to $500. The school-hours curfew doesn't cover holidays, afterschool hours and summer vacations. The Little Rock Board of Directors approved the curfew Jan. 3. The day curfew covers students who are registered as home-school students. Technically, the ordinance prohibits a child who is too young to attend school from being outside, unaccompanied by parent or a guardian, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Little Rock police said truancy regulations address students skipping school, but a day curfew will also prevent students who have been expelled or suspended from school from roaming city streets and parks.Arkansas Democrat (gazette ? WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 1995 Curfew nets 6, puts teens at mall on spot BY JULIAN E. BARNES Oemocral-Gazene Staff Writer Seventeen-year-old Michael Ward of Bryant hadnt heard of Little Rocks new day curfew, until he went to check out the sneakers in J.C. Penneys. (The clerk) asked me, Shouldn't you be in school? Then he told me about the curfew. said Ward, a junior at Bryant High School, Its a free country. When you go to the mall you shouldnt have to worry about the police. Still Ward, like most of the young people at University Mall on Wednesday, said that, while he didnt want to watch his back for the mall cop, the curfews intent to keep kids in school was good. Little Rock police issued six citations for violations of the school-time curfew Tuesday the first day the law was in effect, Lt. Charles Holladay said. Although the rainy streets were mostly empty, there were youth in the mall, many from Bryant. Bryant schools had the day off for teachers conferences, but young people from other cities whose schools werent closed were in violation. Kelly Davidson, 15, who was hanging out at University Mall about 30 minutes before the end of her school day in North Little Rock, said she wasnt in violation of the curfew because she was with her parents and had a doctors appointment. While Davidsons parents werent immediately to be found, Case Dillards mom was sitting right beside him as the two ate lunch at Park Plaza Mall, If I want to go to the mall, I have to have an adult with me, said Case, 12, of the new curfew, I think they could find an easier way to keep kids from crime, he said. He said he had never been to the mall during school hours without a parent. Still, it was the principle of the thing. Park Plaza Mall officials said they already questioned young people in the mall and dont expect the daytime curfew to change things. But there are those who think the day curfew might make the mall cops more quick to question people about whether they are truant. After visiting his mother in the hospital, Casey Green, 9, had lunch with his dad at the University Mall McDonalds, Finishing his lunch quickly, he took $2 and went to the arcade, A cop stopped me and asked me why I wasnt in school, Casey said. He was a little shaken by the confrontation, but his father said such scrutiny is now a necessary evil. I think its a shame its come to this, Rick Green said, But over here in Little Rock, they need it,FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 1995 < Expulsion appeals survive LRSD vote Motion: Only parents could plead BY CYNTHIA HOWELL Democrat-Gazette Education Writer A school principal's decision to expel a student for misbehavior should be final unless a parent appeals, the Little Rock School Boards president said Thursday. But the board didnt agree, rejecting Linda Pondexters motion in a 3-3 vote. Passage requires a majority vote. Board member O.G. Jacovelli was absent. The tie vote came during a lengthy board meeting in which administrators hinted at programs that could be eliminated or modified next year to achieve $8 million in projected budget cuts. Early-childhood education programs for 3- and 4-year-olds, vocational education, portation. nursing transservices, safety, security and the McClellan community education program are among some 15 areas targeted for cuts or changes. Few details were available Thursday. The administration is reviewing the recommendations before presenting them to the board in the ne.xt few weeks. I Appeals Continued Irom Page 1B plan. In making the motion to up- hold principals' expulsion recommendations, Pondexter cited a district report showing that while principals recommended 57 students for expulsion last semester, only one student was actually removed. That causes me a great deal of concern. Pondexter said. I want assurances that the principal's recommendation stands unless the parent appeals. 1 dont want one individual to be able to set aside a recommendation, she said, adding that the district's hearing officer i.s given too much latitude in handling disciplinary matters. An expulsion is effective for either the remainder of a se- mester nr the school year. Stu- dnnt.s can be expelled and reinstated only by a vote of the Most of the proposals would have to be approved by both the school board and U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright, who monitors the districts compliance with its desegregation See APPEALS, Page 9B school board. Students who appeal an expulsion have the right to a hearing before a district administrator and can then appeal to the board. Offenses warranting expulsion include use of a weapon, possession of a firearm, physical assault on or verbal abuse of staff, drug sales, arson and gang membership. Pondexters motion came after several highly publicized fights at area junior and senior high schools that have resulted in 23 students arrests since Jan, 13. Dr. Henry Williams, superintendent, said he agreed with Pondexter. He announced that a coalition of district administrators, principals and teachers will hold a news conference Monday to announce measures to provide more support to principals. We plan to make a strong statement about reclaiming our schools and to show that thi.s foolishness going on in our schools won't be tolerated, Williams said. Pondexter and others contend that at least some of the recent school fights stem from the fact that students suspended last fall are returning to school for the new semester. She said she didn't have any numbers to back that up. A fight at McClellan High School was allegedly started by students who either had returned from suspensions or had transferred from other schools. Our kids are in the news every day, but they don't do anything serious enough to be expelled? Pondexter asked. She noted that 22 expulsion recommendations came from Henderson Junior High and 11 came from Central, but none of the students were expelled. The principals recommendations should be upheld unless a parent asks for an appeal. We need to return local control back to the schools, Pondexter said. Unfortunately, children are getting a message that if we mess up, its OK because they'll be back in school in a few days. Larry Robertson, the districts hearing officer, said ne tried to remove misbehaving students from school by placing them on long-term suspension.s and, in some cases, placing them in alternative settings. His goal is to keep students off the street, and he has heard complaints from only one principal, he said. Long-term suspensions last longer than 10 days and can cover an entire semester. Board members Pondexter, Pat Gee and Judy Magness voted for the motion. Dr, Katherine Mitchell, John Riggs IV and Kevin OMalley opposed it, Mitchell questioned how Pondexters proposal was any different than current policy, while OMalley complained that the proposal was out of order because it wasn't on the agenda for the meeting.SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 1995 We will no longer coddle kids Williams Continued from Page 1A has said he believes that fight was started by one student who had been suspended but who returned to school for the new semester and by two students who peals the recommendation to the central office or the school board. In I principals have been asking for - - - that the district be Unruly face ouster, LRSD chief vows BY CYNTHIA HOWELL Democrat-Gazette Educ
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