RCS tracking discipline issues over time

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By Melanie Lekocevic

Capital Region Independent Media

All four schools in the RCS district are tracking discipline issues over time to identify strategies for alleviating the problem. File photo

RAVENA-COEYMANS-SELKIRK — The number of incidents requiring discipline in the schools is up since the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and the school district is looking to track them and find ways to alleviate the problem.

Each of the four schools in the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk district is collecting data on disciplinary issues and submitted a preliminary report to the board of education early this month, District Superintendent Dr. Brian Bailey said at the Nov. 9 meeting of the board.

Aggregated data is being collected based on school building, gender and ethnicity. Student names or other identifying factors are not included in the report, Bailey said.

The report, which is being updated regularly, will show trends in the district.

“The biggest reason why that is relevant is each one of our buildings has a target right now related to student discipline,” he said.

In-school incidents requiring disciplinary measures have been on the rise nationally and have been attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and its related shutdowns, quarantines and the like.

“Especially during these past two years, we know there have been a lot of social-emotional issues that students and staff have experienced, and we are doing things to try to close those gaps,” Bailey said. “I think that the types of behaviors that we are seeing are different than they were two years ago. Sometimes the magnitude of the behavior is different than it was two or three years ago.”

The goal is to build an atmosphere in the schools where learning is optimized.

“If we are going to talk about instruction, we obviously need to talk about school climate, a place where students can feel safe and confident,” Bailey said.

The report will be updated on a bi-weekly basis and data can be sorted out by dates, so administrators can look at the entire school year or just a selective range of dates to see how discipline changes.

“I think that will be interesting because you can see what happens during the first few weeks of school versus what happens around the holiday, which is always a difficult time,” Bailey said. “The span of time between now and Jan. 1 is going to be tough for a lot of reasons.”

Board of education member Tina Hotaling asked if the report includes recommendations for addressing disciplinary issues.

“Does the report take you to the next level, where there are interventions offered other than discipline?” Hotaling asked.

The report is limited to incidents and discipline, Bailey responded.

“It just talks about infractions and the type of disciplines that are given,” the superintendent said. “The list of consequences goes from meeting with a counselor to suspension from school, so there is a range, but it certainly won’t be everything that could be used.”

Hotaling said she hoped the report could be taken a step further.

“Obviously we have been given COVID funds to try to close some of those social-emotional gaps and interventions that at some point will be gone, and if there are relative interventions that are really meaningful, it would be great to tie the data to that so we can make a conscious choice to continue it,” Hotaling said.

The district, and each of the individual school administrations, will look at prominent behavioral issues, such as insubordination and property damage, like graffiti, and determine what preventative measures can be taken and the best way to deal with those situations.

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