THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 26, 1995 TAG: 9504260460
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
A committee appointed by the School Board in October to find ways to reduce school discipline problems issued recommendations Tuesday that include support for student and teacher dress codes and for holding children and their parents more accountable for unruly behavior.
The 18-page report also contained a set of findings on a range of strategies to deal with discipline, which ranks as one of the top public concerns for schools nationwide.
Among other things, the committee's findings report public support in Norfolk for student uniforms, single-sex classes, more alternative classrooms for disruptive students and special programs for African-American boys, who, statistics show, are disproportionately represented in such areas as suspensions and expulsions.
The 17-member committee, composed of students, parents, teachers, principals and administration officials, said the school district has made significant strides in reducing serious discipline problems, such as physical violence and students carrying guns to school. The report focused on a more elusive problem of students who act up in class and disrupt teaching and learning.
More schools in Virginia are expected to consider uniforms and separate classes for boys and girls after the General Assembly passed legislation this year giving local school boards the power to approve them.
Legislators also made it easier for schools to take action against parents who refuse to help discipline disruptive children, including taking court action that could assess fines of up to $500.
Norfolk's discipline committee recommended that teachers be required to dress ``in an appropriate and professional manner befitting the dignity of the profession.'' Students would be expected to dress in a manner that is ``conducive to the learning environment.'' The committee endorsed uniforms, but said each school should poll the community it serves before requiring them.
``It's not to say that we need some stringent dress code,'' said school board member Joe Waldo, who co-chaired the committee. ``But one thing we heard over and over is that parents want teachers to be dressed appropriately.''
Linwood Beckner, a parent member of the committee, said he favors ``color-coding'' dress by schools so that teachers and administrators would know immediately whether a student belonged there. That would enhance safety, he said.
The committee recommended that students be suspended after receiving three discipline notices from teachers, and further, that their parents be required to meet with school officials to get back in school.
School Superintendent Roy D. Nichols Jr., who was instructed by the School Board to develop a plan to implement the recommendations, has voiced interest in a policy that would require parents to come to school and sit in class with unruly students.
Educators voiced support for most of the recommendations, but said the key will be in how they are applied.
KEYWORDS: SCHOOL UNIFORM DRESS CODE NORFOLK SCHOOLS by CNB