Miscreants given a last chance, reducing expulsions
Goals of a pre-expulsion
For a look at a district document that spells out for a student the goals of a pre-expulsion, go here [PDF].
Photo
Photo
Photo
Karen Schulte
Photo
Marge Hallenbeck
Photo
Barbara A. Hilliker
JANESVILLE — Janesville School District efforts to reduce expulsions have paid off, big-time.
Only four students were expelled in the first four months of this school year. Three times that many students would normally have found themselves booted by now.
Officials don’t think student behavior has improved, at least not that much. A sliver of the student population still is getting into serious trouble, but those students, for the most part, are not being expelled.
Instead, many wrongdoers are being sidetracked into something called pre-expulsion.
The district has used its pre-expulsion process for years. It starts with a meeting where the student, parents and sometimes a therapist, juvenile probation agent or group-home worker, sit down with a school administrator, who lays down the law.
The administrator tells the student it is his last chance: shape up or face expulsion. The student is told he must fulfill certain conditions, which could include requirements for counseling, drug/alcohol re-education and proper attendance and academic performance. Students who refuse to take advantage of the last chance become candidates for expulsion.
So far this year, 37 students have faced pre-expulsion. That’s the largest number of pre-expulsions, September through December, in five years.
That raises the question: Are staff and students safe with students in school who otherwise would have been expelled?
School safety
In an expulsion, the student is ruled to be a danger to the health and safety of students and staff. In a pre-expulsion, efforts are made to change the student’s behavior.
Superintendent Karen Schulte, who has been handling some of the pre-expulsions personally, said she’s confident the schools remain safe.
“In some cases, not all, I feel we could have done a little bit more before they go to expulsion,” Schulte said of students expelled in previous years.
“I don’t want expulsion to be a knee-jerk reaction that happens when people are upset and tempers have been ignited,” Schulte said. “On other hand, I don’t want people that are dangerous in our schools, and I know staff have been concerned about that.”
Not every student gets the luxury of a pre-expulsion. Assaults and drug dealing are dealt with the way they always have been, said Marge Hallenbeck, director of at-risk and multicultural programs.
TATE Center
The school board has been pushing to reduce expulsions, and some board members are on a district committee seeking ways to reach that goal. Increased use of pre-expulsions is one tool the committee had endorsed.
Schulte and the district’s other top officials—directors Hallenbeck, Barb Hilliker, Keith Pennington and Steve Sperry—are in charge of pre-expulsions, each handling a share of the load.
Pre-expulsions are not just a meeting and a warning. Conditions are imposed in addition to the short-term suspensions that usually accompany serious infractions. One new wrinkle is that a student could be assigned to the TATE Center for a semester.
The Truancy Abatement and Transitional Education Center, located at the Arrow Park campus on North Parker Drive, delivers group counseling, training in anger management or social skills, alcohol/drug reeducation and academics so students can keep up with their studies. Its students—no more than 20 at a time—often include expelled students who are required to attend TATE as a condition for returning to school.
TATE is highly structured and quiet, and students don’t get to be with their friends, Hallenbeck said.
“I don’t think it’s a lot of fun.”
Special education
Special-education students also are getting closer scrutiny in pre-expulsions.
Hilliker, the director of special education, has tools in her bag through the federal special-ed law. One of those tools is the ability to change a student’s Individual Education Plan, or IEP, to require counseling, changes in the educational program or a reassessment of a student’s medication.
Hilliker also can require the student go to TATE or to be taught at home for up to 45 days.
“Sometimes there’s a scary issue that can’t be resolved. We can put the student out of school through the IEP,” Hilliker said.
And if the issue is not resolved, the district could move to expel.
Hilliker said she’s following each case closely, making sure that school staff and students are doing what was decided at the IEP meeting or pre-expulsion conference.
“We are being very, very clear on conditions in laying them out so there’s no mistake about it—this (behavior) cannot happen,” Hilliker said.
New programs
At the same time, officials are phasing in two new programs that they hope will prevent offenses. They are Restorative Justice, in which a student makes amends to anyone harmed by the student’s action, and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.
The PBIS philosophy is that some students need to be taught how to behave; you can’t assume they know what’s the right thing to do, Hilliker said.
Staff members are receiving training in both programs, and some schools will begin to employ them later this year, Schulte said.
Officials said their hope is to prevent expulsions or to get all expelled students back to school rather than to let them drift away, never getting a high school diploma.
“We are really evolving our thinking in terms of: Every kid is salvageable, and we’re here for them to allow them to give it a try,” Hilliker said.
Mar 24, 2010 at 8:35 p.m.
Suggest removal
Why in the world would the School Board consider ending the TATE Center? It makes no sense. TATE is a valuable program with great staff working with the most difficult kids in the district. Without TATE these kids will be wondering the streets.
.
The School Board MUST re-think this.
Jan 12, 2010 at 8:32 p.m.
Suggest removal
jvillean,
You fail to realize that at-risk, students aren't the only students with programs pulling resources from the average student.
.
Gifted and Talented
.
AP Classes
.
SPED
.
ELL
.
In truth, as much as I back the public education system the one major flaw is nobody is looking out for the b/c student with good attendance and realively no behavior issues. Nobody is pushing them to the next level, or keeping them in line.
.
The AP kid is being pushed, the SPED kid has a case manager, the ELL kid has a case manager, the at-risk student is given differnt options. All have specialized teachers, program and staff looking out for them...
.
the average student is the one left behind.
Jan 11, 2010 at 3:20 p.m.
Suggest removal
realitybytes, the sad ... reality ... is that a tiny number of students will always take up an outsized chunk of resources. Some of this is no fault of their own, some of it is parenting, some of it is peer influences, and some of it may well be educational shortfalls in technique or application, but they will be taking up more resources regardless. That's just life. The question is whether we as a society figure out how we can work better at making them students who can succeed without so much help.
.
partarican1, the word miscreant has long ceased to have a formal currency and is mostly used jocularly today. I believe this is the sense in which Schultz used the word.
Jan 11, 2010 at 12:25 p.m.
Suggest removal
It would be interesting to see if the prevalence of school violent acts has increased or decreased. This data could also show that the time and effort that the school district is putting into the at risk population has increased to prevent them from going past the line? Maybe what this data is showing is that they are doing their job better? Looking at the raw numbers during the past adminstration shows that almost everyone in 'pre-expulsion' or refferals were expelled, compared with under 10% this year. Maybe a good question for Mrs. Schulte to answer is what has changed? Obviously something has and it would be good to know what...
Jan 11, 2010 at 11:39 a.m.
Suggest removal
Mr. Schultz,
Do you really feel the term "miscreant" describes the kids who have trouble in school? I don't believe all these kids are villanous, depraved, vicious, or heretics.
As a math and writing tutor for these "miscreants"; what I see is a need for more positive role models influencing these kids. Traditional learning settings don't work for everyone, and a lot of the kids I encounter are smart and have many transferable skills, if given the opportunity to show them. I also see students who have a 3rd or 4th grade reading level in 12th grade, and wonder how they were promoted through school. It's no wonder they fail; they don't have the basic skills necessary to succeed in life.
I am curious to know what the OTHER category refers to in the graph used to represent the expulsion data. I'm also curious to know the reading and math levels of the expelled students to see if there is a correlation; we know education is the key to reducing recidivism, a concern raised by other blogs.
Jan 11, 2010 at 11:31 a.m.
Suggest removal
Besides Reality...
NO CHILD LEFT UNTESTED (I mean BEHIND).
Jan 11, 2010 at 10:37 a.m.
Suggest removal
Really, reality? You think these KIDS don't deserve someone in their lives that is willing to spend a little extra time on them?
Your attitude is the kind that these children become accustomed to, and it does no one any good in the long run to just give up on them.
They're still children, even if they fail to realize it, and I'd much rather spend my tax dollars on a school system that gives a darn, than waiting until years down the road when they've hit rock bottom and turn to crime because no one took the time to set a good example for them.
Jan 11, 2010 at 9:51 a.m.
Suggest removal
Reality is all the people involved are already employed by the district. I don't believe it is costing the taxpayers any additional $$$.
.
The only thing happening is JSD Admin. is asking the schools to try everything before expelling a CHILD.
.
You may not care about these children but THANKSFULLY the district does.
.
Perhaps the reasons your taxes are so high is because our prisons and jails are overcrowded. I promise you, this is a cheaper alternative to your EASY way out for the district of not caring and reading about them going to jail some day.
Jan 11, 2010 at 9:29 a.m.
Suggest removal
how much taxpayer money is being spent to prevent these miscreants from being expelled? It sounds to me that excessive resources are being expended on kids that really just don't care.
First trip to the office: the principal should lay down the law and parents are notified.
Second trip to the office: One on one meeting with parent and a last chance warning is given.
Third trip to office: expulsion paperwork filled out.
Sorry, if your little Johnny or Janey is a bad seed then they dont't belong in school with children who actually are trying to learn. Why should a TEAM of people (paid for by taxpaying citizens) be required to handle such situations? this is the reason our taxes are so high.
Jan 11, 2010 at 8:22 a.m.
Suggest removal
Great job by the JSD to be pro-active on the issue of expulsions.
.
Also very smart of administration to recognize the value of the TATE Center and use it while re-vamping this policy.
.
The staff at TATE much be some of the best in the district to be able to handle these kids and be so flexible. Cudos to them.
Jan 11, 2010 at 8:19 a.m.
Suggest removal
Why change from "Protect and Educate"
.
to
.
"Miscreants given a last chance, Reducing Expulsions"?
.
Wouldn't be to stir the pot for online discussion? Wonder what the gazette makes in advertising for their online version. Wonder if they can charge more if the discussions are longer and involve more people.
.
Journalism at its best.
Before you post a comment, consider this:
Note: GazetteXtra.com does not condone or review every comment. Read more in our User Policy AgreementPost Comment
Commenting requires registration.