THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 9, 1997 TAG: 9701090327
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 61 lines
A committee has recommended that the school division loosen its rules on disciplining students caught with beepers on school grounds.
Now, principals are required to recommend a one-year suspension for any child found with a beeper on School Board property or at school events. The committee's proposal, which the board will consider on Jan. 21, would give principals flexibility to respond in individual cases.
``It would give principals latitude to a wide range of punishments,'' Jonathan Harnden told the board earlier this week. Harnden, who served on the committee, is director of the district's Office of Student Leadership, which deals with disciplinary issues.
Under the proposal, a student found with a beeper would be disciplined under the division's Code of Student Conduct. The principal could chose anything from a meeting with the student to expulsion, depending on the circumstances, Harnden said.
``I think this is a long time in coming,'' said board member Paul Lanteigne, who added that the state law that prompted the regulation was probably antiquated the day it passed.
The beeper rule and other similar ``zero tolerance policies'' have come under fire nationally for limiting the ability of teachers, principals and others to discipline students based on circumstances rather than guidelines set by administrators or legislators far away from the classroom.
In Virginia, possession of a beeper on school grounds is a misdemeanor in state code. Many school districts also have dealt with the violation forcefully within their own rules.
Board member Rosemary Wilson, who chaired the Discipline Procedures Review Committee, said she and board member Arthur Tate, who also served on the committee, would like the district to encourage change at the state level as well.
When the law was first introduced in 1989, supporters argued that beepers were linked to drug dealing. The prohibition of beepers was included with Beach school regulations on possession, use, sale or distribution of alcohol, drugs or drug paraphernalia.
Educators have increasingly recognized, however, that beepers are now carried by a variety of people and are often a solution for busy families trying to stay in touch with each other.
In addition, there have been numerous instances in which students reportedly brought the beeper to school by mistake, but disciplinary action was required under the regulation. Harnden said of the 125 beeper cases in Virginia Beach last year, eight involved weapons and four involved drugs.
In addition, the board was presented with a new regulation that prohibits possession of a cellular phone or other telecommunication device in school buildings, allowing students found in violation to be disciplined under the Code of Conduct, as well.
In the past, the division has treated possession of a cellular phone the same as possession of a beeper. A State Attorney General's opinion last year held that the two should not be considered the same.
Wilson said the committee would work to come up with guidelines to help principals deal with students under the proposed changes. There was also discussion among board members on the possibility of expunging the records of some students disciplined under the policy in the past.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOLS BEEPERS