Fairfax School Board Modifies Discipline Process

The Fairfax County School board Thursday night made major changes in how it disciplines students-- the most significant change was the school board’s decision to rely less heavily on transferring students to another schools.

Under the unanimously approved amendment, school officials will have to consider alternatives to "involuntary transfer" such as community service, loss of privileges or detention before opting to transfer the student to another school.

“This amendment will hopefully end the practice of automatically transferring a student as the first option of discipline,” said at-large school board member Martina Hone.

The Washington Post reported that 'in recent years in Fairfax hundreds of suspended students have been transferred to different schools in a practice that a number of parents and elected leaders complained had become a punitive seemingly automatic sanction."

The Post also reminded readers that the changes approved Thursday came as a major shift in direction after nearly five months of debate on discipline issues. A wave of community concern started in January, when 15-year-old Nick Stuban, a football player at W.T. Woodson High School, committed suicide as he struggled with the fallout of a disciplinary infraction, The Post said.

 The school board also voted to allow parents to request and subsequently front the bill for a court reporter to appear at their child’s disciplinary hearing and/or transcribe the proceedings.

Under the new regulations, re, the audio of student disciplinary hearings will be recorded.

After a months-long review process, many of the school board’s changes fall short of the demands of local activists, Among those that "didn't go far enough," activists said, was the board's decision not to make any changes to Dale’s recommendations regarding parent notification. 

The board did not pass an amendment that would have forced school administrators to notify parents that their child was suspected of breaking school rules prior to questioning the student about the incident.

School board members Sandra S. Evans and Ilryong Moon  withdrew two other amendments aiming to involve parents earlier in the investigation of their child’s alleged misconduct.

Many school board members acknowledged that their proposals did not go as far as some of their critics might like, but emphasized that the vote was an important first step in reforming the school system's disciplinary process.

“Whatever is done or not done tonight I believe is the beginning of a process,” said at-large school board member James Raney at the start of the meeting.

The school board made a symbolic gesture to community members by passing an amendment that renames Student Responsibilities and Rights to Student Rights and Responsibilities, which they said shows their desire to put the needs of students first.