The president of the Jamestown Public Schools Board expressed reservation with New York state potentially dictating discipline policy over local school districts.

Paul Abbott commented on suspensions and other discipline-related matters during this week’s school board meeting.

“I question the philosophy that is sometimes conveyed to us, or mandated to us, in these areas because, obviously, we want every student to succeed,” he said. “We want every student to achieve the most that they can while they’re in our schools, but I think watered down discipline is problematic.”

School board members Christine Schnars and Nina Karbacka recently attended a meeting of the state School Boards Association’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee. The group was established in 2021 to “support efforts to facilitate the elimination of the current barriers which exist in New York State that preclude all students from being provided with equitable educational opportunities and outcomes.”

During Tuesday’s school board meeting, Schnars said the committee discussed a range of issues, among them discipline and whether certain students were being suspended more than others. She noted that the state Board of Regents is asking local schools to “look over the data” regarding suspension rates and “do what we need to do to improve things.”

Abbott asked Schnars how the committee felt about possible changes to discipline policy.

“Of course I’m 100% in favor of we should always be looking at how we’re doing that,” he said, “but I question the methods of the state. We’re talking about student safety; we’re talking about the morale of our staff and effective classrooms. I’m concerned that you have two things that are sometimes diametrically opposed.”

Schnars responded, “I really don’t believe that I heard one thing about watered down discipline in this committee. What I did hear, over and over again, was that they can make recommendations and they can talk to us about things, but it’s our local decision how we handle things. They haven’t mandated anything that I’m aware of.”

According to JPS’ suspension policy, available on the district’s website, the superintendent or school principal can suspend a student who is insubordinate or disorderly; a student who is violent or disruptive; or a student whose conduct otherwise endangers the safety, morals, health or welfare of others.

Suspensions in those situations can last up to five days.

In situations where the superintendent determines that a suspension in excess of five school days is warranted, a “fair hearing” may be held.

On Wednesday, the state Attorney General’s Office and state Department of Education sent schools an 11-page letter reminding districts of their “obligation to place dignity, inclusion, and respect at the center of their educational decisions.”

Specifically, the joint guidance offered recommendations in three areas: learning and teaching, student discipline, and bullying and harassment.

Regarding discipline, the letter notes that “New York State remains committed to minimizing punitive suspension practices and instead using restorative practices to keep students in the classroom, because the damage suspensions cause to student achievement is lasting.

“Previous guidance from OAG and SED ‘urge all districts to fully evaluate whether they over-rely on exclusion as a form of discipline.’ This guidance cautioned that ‘over-reliance on exclusionary discipline and disparities in its use leave school districts in New York vulnerable to liability under a host of federal and state laws.'”

The joint letter also notes that racial disparities in student discipline rates persist in New York and the nation; students with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning students are also at higher risk for suspension and expulsion; and suspension can be the first step in a series of events leading to lower student academic achievement, higher truancy rates, higher dropout rates, and higher rates of contact with the juvenile and adult justice systems.

“There are a lot of different things we can look at,” Schnars said of other recommendations. “They talked about having a safe room — a safe, quiet room where kids who are upset could go. I know we have one of those at the high school, but they talked about having one of those for our teachers. Sometimes the teachers need to get out and sit in a quiet place as much as that classroom full of kids need to.”

She added, “I did not hear, and I hope we don’t hear, a lot of mandates about discipline. … I think we need to consider the safety and the quiet of classrooms as much as we consider what we’re going to do to punish the kids that are not behaving.”

Abbott said discipline policy should be handled locally. He agreed that statistics on suspension rates should be looked at, but also cautioned that the numbers don’t always reflect what’s going on in the schools.

“When you’re promoting a reduction of things like suspensions or detentions, in essence what you get sometimes is false reports,” said Abbott who, as a former police officer, made a comparison to crime numbers.

“I could go to (Jamestown City) Council and say arrests are down,” he said. “Well, are arrests down because crime is down or are arrests down because our officers don’t feel supported because the courts aren’t backing anything up and our officers now feel it’s a futile process to even do it?”

He added, “I just think this is something that we have to be very careful about.”

Dr. Kevin Whitaker, district superintendent, believes New York has been looking at changes to discipline policy on a statewide level. While this week’s letter from state Attorney General Letitia James and Commissioner Betty Rosa served as guidance, Whitaker said there is word that mandates may be coming down.

“We’re trying to figure out what the changes are that have been essentially case law for years and now may change,” he said following Tuesday’s school board meeting.