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Dealing with discipline positively
Revised rules will be implemented today
YOUNGSTOWN
Youngstown City Schools CEO Krish Mohip has modernized the school district’s student code of conduct, which was last updated in the 2011-12 school year.
Mohip increased the code from four pages to 46. The revised code will be implemented today.
“We are excited about the rollout,” Mohip said. “We are listening to the community’s desire and combining it with the national trend.”
According to the new student conduct code, the district will provide students “with clear expectations of positive behavior and reinforce good behavior through districtwide implementation of Positive Behavioral and Intervention Supports, PBIS, and restorative practices, which emphasize that all students receive an education rather than be excluded from the classroom.”
A problem Mohip sought to address with this new code was the high number of out-of-school suspensions.
Last school year, the district issued more than 2,600 out-of-school suspensions. So far this year, the district has issued 913.
The updated lengthy code “catches up” the district with current best practices for improving student conduct, Mohip said.
“[The new code] makes it so students are not repeating offenses while giving them the opportunity to remediate those that occurred,” he said. “We are still going to give students consequences, and there is a spectrum of discipline that is still there, but the new code is a little more thoughtful and takes a look at whole child.”
“The focus remains on improving our children’s quality of life while reducing problem behaviors,” the code says.
The new approach allows disciplinarians to create what Mohip calls “a culture of calm,” enabling the discipline process to breed a caring atmosphere for students having trouble.
“We are giving the child the opportunity to talk and respond in a positive way to move forward,” Mohip said.
Teachers and administrators are receiving constant training to continuously improve the disciplinary process, the CEO added.