Revisions continue after parent, staff meetings.
By: Lea Kahn
A new and improved version of the Lawrence Middle School’s student management plan is expected to be in place before the end of the school year, Principal Nancy Pitcher said Tuesday night.
The’ discipline policy has come under fire lately by some parents who claim that it is vague. Other parents have said that discipline is not handed out judiciously, so that the punishment fits the crime.
But after four meetings with parents and LMS staffers between Feb. 17 and March 3, "we are moving forward" toward developing a progressive, consequential discipline program, Dr. Pitcher told about 30 people at the monthly LMS PTO meeting.
The LMS administration will continue to meet with parents and staff on an on-going basis to discuss student discipline issues and to develop an effective consequential student management plan, she said.
The administration is working toward a hierarchy of consequences, Dr. Pitcher said. The details have not been nailed down just yet, she said, adding that she hopes to have a proposal for the entire staff before the end of the month.
Once the proposed plan is in written form, it will be presented to the entire LMS faculty for its input, she said. The group will discuss whether that policy is what it wants.
In the meantime, a bathroom monitoring system is on order, Dr. Pitcher said. The cameras would be placed outside the boys’ and girls’ bathrooms to record who uses the facilities. It is hoped that the system will be in place before the end of the school year, she added.
Until the camera equipment arrives and is installed, teachers are conducting periodic checks of the bathrooms throughout the day, she said. Bomb threats had been written on the walls by pranksters, causing the school to be evacuated as a safety precaution.
The bomb threats were one factor leading to a controversial new hall pass policy that brought international attention to the school last month. The policy limited to 15 the times a child could leave class during the month to go to the bathroom. That scrutiny led to the public discussion of the school’s discipline policy.
"We have asked the teachers whose classrooms are across from the bathrooms to check them," Dr. Pitcher said. "The students know that, and hopefully (the bomb threats) will stop."
A student attitude survey also is in the works and should be distributed to the seventh- and eighth-graders in two weeks. PTO member Kilani Digiacomo said the goal of the survey, which would be filled out anonymously, is to learn about students’ concerns.
Ms. Digiacomo said she and LMS teacher Joseph Sullivan met with a cross-section of students to design the survey. The students shared some concerns with them, which the adults later placed into categories such as dress code, punishment, recycling, respect for oneself and others, the bathroom policy and bomb threats.
The students are excited about the survey, because it reflects their issues, Ms. Digiacomo said. She added that she is confident that the adults "will get a good response" from the students. They want a voice and this is the adults’ chance to be respectful of them, she said.