GREENSBORO, N.C. — The Guilford County Board of Education Student Discipline Policy was presented to the board in 2004 and has since seen three revisions: in 2005, 2006, and 2011.
A fourth revision to the policy is on the docket for the next Board Meeting scheduled for November 12. There are some parents already fired up about it and taking steps to stop it.
Guilford County Schools parents have started a petition on Change.org under the name "Take Back our Schools - GCS" to present to the Board at the meeting.
According to the petition, an addendum to the district's Student Discipline Policy gives the Superintendent full authority to expunge suspension records.
"She [Contreras] is looking to add addendums to the current Student Discipline policy that will give her unlimited power to overturn student suspensions and expunge suspensions from student records."
One edit in a draft provided by GCS explains the district's focus on "ensuring that students can attend school every day, ready and able to learn," and goes on to say students wouldn't be suspended for attendance violations.
The biggest concern, according to the group that started the petition, is principals being encouraged to reduce suspensions and keep students in class, which "keeps disruptive kids in the classroom thus teaching them no consequences for misbehavior."
Another concern of the parents is that the new policy would "allow her [Contreras] to delete suspensions, at her discretion," although that would be after a review of the student's record and expungement request. The parents believe implementing Contreras's new policy skews suspension rates to the district's benefit and puts school safety in jeopardy.
We've asked Guilford County Schools to explain why the changes are being made and whether the changes would misrepresent the school district's disciplinary success.
1,000 signatures are needed for the petition, and as of 11 a.m. Tuesday 738 people had signed.