Disciplinary policy reform in FCPS continues as Superintendent Jack Dale and other organizations are submitting legislation in order to change the current harsh policies.

On March 30, Dale revealed a proposal to address reform after the school board told Dale that it was the board’s responsibility to do an “in-depth review and prioritize issues.” Dale recommended that the board refine notification rules to help parents prepare for the disciplinary process, help students and parents understand their rights and responsibilities, record all disciplinary hearings, thereby shortening the disciplinary process.

In the wake of the deaths of South Lakes junior Josh Anderson in 2009 and Woodson sophomore Nick Stuban this year, parents started to become more aware of what goes on when their children are punished. Anderson committed suicide a day before his second hearing, which would have likely expelled him out of any Fairfax County school. Stuban took his life at home on what would have been his sixth day at his new high school, Fairfax.

Dale wants to provide instructional and intervention support for students, give more power to principals, urge parents to fill out exit surveys after hearings and school board rulings, and train and retrain staff on disciplinary guidelines.

“We need to keep a balance between consistency and individual discretion,” said Dale to the Annandale Patch. “Every child is different and needs to be treated so, but every infraction should be treated consistently.”

Reform organizations like the Fairfax Zero Tolerance Reform (FZTR) have pressured the school board and Dale to create legislation to reform discipline policies.

The FZTR has sent various documents to the school board that demonstrate the issues and possible solutions concerning the current disciplinary policies. They are currently working on presenting more to the school board on the May 16 work session that will tackle subjects like involuntary transfers and providing education and support when kids are suspended.

The Fairfax County Council Parent Teacher Association (FCCPTA) passed a resolution titled “Parental Notification & Involvement in School Disciplinary Process,” that is concurrent with the views of Dale and the FZTR on April 4. In the resolution, the FCCPTA requested that the school board “modify Regulation 2601.24P to include parent representation in the development, dissemination and periodic review of the FCPS student conduct code, known as the SR&R.”

“We are trying to organize students as well, and find ways to include them in our work. They are, after all, the most affected body of people and the ones treated with the least respect by the process,” FZTR director Caroline Hemenway said.

Seeing what is being done, various groups have joined the FZTR in changing disciplinary policies to help in their efforts.

“The groups and people we are working with include Delegate Kaye Kory (D-38), the Fairfax Board of Supervisors, Fairfax Partnership for Youth, The Advancement Project, The Rutherford Institute, the Advancement Project, JustChildren, Family Foundation, Voices for Virginia’s Children, the ACLU and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund,” Hemenway said. A sister group called the Loudoun School Discipline Reform has formed on the Internet as well.

“You should know we are in this for the long haul. We have parents contacting us every day with new grievances. Until this process is fixed, we will have angry and active parents ready to advocate for transformation of the culture here from punitive to restorative, bottom up and top down. We are always looking for people willing to give their time to this, and willing to show up to board meetings to voice their opinions. We also have a petition through our website and will be promoting that in the weeks to come,” Hemenway said.

As officials take hold of disciplinary policy reform, students may be looking at different consequences for next year.