School districts implement programs

With the recent passage of the SAFE Act, Ohio school districts may have to review and amend their discipline policies.

A number of cities and states across the country have implemented bans on the suspension or expulsion of younger students for nonviolent behaviors. Ohio could be next. With the recent passage of the SAFE Act, Ohio school districts may have to review and amend their discipline policies to be in compliance with the new law which will go into effect later this year.

However, it has been broken down into transition phases that will span the next three school years.

This allows time for schools to apply for grant money to put Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) and mental health supports in place.

The SAFE Act budgets $2 million from the Ohio Lottery Fund for training and positive behavior-supported curriculum. School districts can access these funds through a competitive grant program.

There are schools that already are working to put alternative discipline solutions into place.

Amherst Exempted Village School District leaders don’t think the district will have a tough time making the transition for the act.

“We already use the positive behavior program in our district,” said Steve Sayers, superintendent at Amherst. “The bill is aimed for grades third and below. But we also have the program instituted at Walter G. Nord Middle School to include fourth and fifth graders as well.”

Sayers said the program has worked well at Amherst.

“It was implemented a few years ago, and the schools have really taken to it top to bottom,” he said. “It has been a very positive intervention in our schools.

“Very rarely would we suspend a student. It would only be in a case where the student’s presence disrupts safety; it’s a very, very rare occasion. We want kids in school; we only have 180 days with them, and we want to make the most of the time we have.”

Beth Schwartz, principal at Powers Elementary School in Amherst, said the program has gone over very well at her school.

“We do different things, including daily character traits,” Schwartz said. “We feature different traits and reward students by entering them into a raffle for prizes when they display those traits.

“We also have a raffle for proper bus behavior as well. The teachers and staff have really gotten into it, and the students have really responded to it well.

“It’s important for everyone in the building to be speaking that common language and having those conversations on behavior and what we can add to the program.”

Jill Jiovanazzo, principal at Nord Middle School, said her campus is doing a similar thing.

“Through the program, we are doing a school-wide behavior incentive with Comet Cash,” Jiovanazzo said. “Well behaved students will get the cash for acting appropriately and doing what they are supposed to.

“They can then redeem their Comet Cash for different rewards. It has really helped the students be respectful and studious to those around them.”

Mike Von Gunten, superintendent for the Firelands Local School District, said his district also incorporated the program.

“We already have teachers and staff working on those behavior traits based on the state mandate,” Von Gunten said. “I feel what we have done really works and makes the students more ready to learn and behave appropriately.

“We rarely suspend someone as it is. We know how important it is to have these kids in school. Suspension would only happen due to a violent incident, but that is very rare.”

Denise Blatt, director of pupil services for Elyria City Schools, said students and teachers are abiding by the mandate in her district as well.

“We have definitely seen a decrease in behavioral issues,” Blatt said. “We really want to limit suspensions in those grades, only when the safety of students and staff is at risk.

“When the changes are implemented by the state, we will adjust where we have to. But I feel the district is already making great strides in that regard.”

David Hardy Jr., CEO of Lorain City Schools, would not comment on the SAFE Act specifically, but said the district will keep doing what’s best for the students.

“We want them to be in the best position to be successful,” Hardy said. “Lorain is a safe environment and our challenge is to keep our kids in school so they can learn.

“It’s a process that takes time, but we will continue to take the time and be diligent to make sure we do right by our students, staff and community.”

Changing culture

State Sen. and education chair Peggy Lehner, R-Montgomery said authorities are asking schools to change their culture.

“This doesn’t happen overnight,” Lehner said. “If you expect it to happen too quickly, you are inviting failure. We expect we will see the number of suspensions going down but not immediately.”

The SAFE Act, introduced by Lehner which was signed into law as part of House Bill 318 by Gov. John Kasich on Aug. 3, focuses on the suspension and expulsion of students from pre-kindergarten through third-grade.

Lehner decided to sponsor the bill after spending four years looking at early childhood education and the importance of getting children off on the right foot.

She said it was during her research that the questions of discipline came around.

“It immediately struck me how can a child be out of school for three, five or 10 days at a time, and keep up academically,” Lehner said.

She also started to question the impact an out-ofschool suspension would have on the child.

“It just impacts the education and leaves the child further left behind and with a negative impression on school,” the senator said.

Lehner said when she started her research four years ago, very few states had legislation on the books regarding suspension of the younger students.

But by the time her bill passed, at least 10 other states have implemented some sort of legislation regarding suspension.

Approximately 36,000 pre-kindergarten through third-grade students in Ohio were suspended during the 2015-16 school year.

Lehner said over 80 percent of those were for disruptive nonviolent behaviors.

In a joint statement from the U.S. Education and Health and Human Services departments, “Suspension and expulsion can influence a number of adverse outcomes across development, health and education. Young students who are expelled or suspended are as much as 10 times more likely to dropout of high school, experience academic failure and grade retention, hold negative school attitudes and face incarceration than those who are not.”

The Policy Statement on Expulsion and Suspension in Early Childhood Settings also states that children who are suspended earlier on are more prone to face additional suspensions later in school.

“We feature different traits and reward students by entering them into a raffle for prizes when they display those traits. ”

— Beth Schwartz, principal at Powers Elementary School in Amherst