However it is a distinction without a difference. If any student committed the following offences reported by channel 4 at the mall or at a grocery store or anywhere but at school then they would have been crimes.
From News4Jax: News4Jax obtained a list of Level 3 and 4 infractions of the Code of Conduct in the school district over the past two years. These result in transfer to alternative schools, expulsion and, sometimes, criminal charges.
From News4Jax: News4Jax obtained a list of Level 3 and 4 infractions of the Code of Conduct in the school district over the past two years. These result in transfer to alternative schools, expulsion and, sometimes, criminal charges.
For example, battery on employees by students increased from 59 in the 2013-2014 school year to 90 in the past school year.
In what the Code of Conduct calls a major disorder -- a large fight -- there were 130 more last school year than the year before.
Physical sexual harassment incidents increased to 57 cases last year from 14 the year before.
There was also big increase in lewd and offensive incidents involving students on students -- 342 last year compared to 148 the year before.
Superintendent Nikolai Vitti was quick to point out that many of these incidents are not crimes, just violations of discipline. He also said the numbers were higher because the school district is cracking down and requiring the schools to report these incidents.
I don't think it is lord of the flies at most of our schools but I do believe and most staff I have talked to agree that Vitti's policies have made discipline which quite frankly wasn't good before he arrived, worse.
As for his assertion schools are cracking down, I have to say I have heard the exact opposite is true and many offences go ignored and unprocessed, and kids don't receive anything approaching a consequence.
Discipline is hard but its made harder when we replace consequences with feel good policies that send the wrong lesson and make it so teachers are afraid to write referrals. two hallmarks under Vitti's watch.
Hammer to nail.
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Last year was the first year I received exceeds on my evaluation for discipline. I only got it because I stop writing referrals and just grinned and beared it the whole 180 days. There was no point in writing Little Johnny up on a referral because the office clerk was signing the administrators name to the referrals. When she did not respond, the referrals just sat on her desk for kids to steal. You couldn't even get a decent pass back to class from that office because she wouldn't even put the child's name on it. Also, in many cases even her signature changed from child to child. What a waste of time. In the meantime, Johnny has figured out how the game is played and he is creating holy havoc in everyone's class. Teachers are put in a no win situation, so there is no point to writing a referral. Besides I need the extra point for my evaluation score because Johnny is going to *uck up during the EOC and that is counted against me too!
Now that referrals are electronic and the dean can no longer simply throw them in the trash, his excuse for not doing anything is giving the students the benefit of the doubt. I say the kid did something and the kid says he didn't, and the dean says he'll give the kid the benefit of the doubt. What doubt? I'm an adult professional and the kid just returned from alternative school. SMH
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