School Board supports discipline policy changes

Broward schools could soon report a lot more discipline issues, as School Board members try to respond to concerns about a culture of leniency and underreporting in the district.

But board members also pledged their full support Tuesday for the controversial PROMISE program, which proreceive vides alternatives to arrests for certain misdemeanor crimes, saying it should be tweaked but not disbanded.

PROMISE (Preventing Recidivism through Opportunities, Mentoring, Interventions, Supports & Education) allows students with issues such as marijuana possession, vandalism and trespassing to go to an alternative school for a few days, which enables them to avoid a criminal record.

PROMISE has received increased scrutiny in the wake of the Feb. 14 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High massacre, as some have questioned whether district policies have given students like killer Nikolas Cruz repeated second chances.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel highlighted the program in an investigation into a culture of leniency that allows students to endless second chances.

At a Tuesday School Board workshop on student behavior issues, School Board members voiced support for several changes to district discipline policies. They include:

Students should not stay in the PROMISE program for a fourth offense. Board member Laurie Rich Levinson said if the