Discipline within CASD: Perception Vs Reality

As most of us in Coatesville are aware, discipline is an area that we need to address.  Not only did CCAP show this need in our Charter School Survey results, but just recently, the district also agreed with this concern when they shared their Comprehensive bridge plan draft on January 28^th.  This is certainly an area of discussion for many who enter and leave the Coatesville Area School District.     

Why is it important to have discipline in school?  Discipline holds students accountable for appropriate conduct and behavior. It gives them the opportunity to understand consequences, learn shared values, and prepare for life. Learning to identify how to avert inappropriate behavior also contributes to positive growth in social-emotional learning.  Discipline is a self-improvement practice that we owe to our children. It needs to be taught from a very young age, and if done correctly, will continue to help create better choices throughout life. 

As you read last week, CASD instituted PBIS in the past and is now actively looking at ways to implement it to fidelity in the future.  Promoting positive behaviors within the classroom and other school settings instead of instantly issuing punitive actions like detention, suspension, or expulsion, can encourage learning and discourage future misbehavior.

What type of behavioral concerns do we have? These are the most common:

• Disrespect - students speak and act in a disrespectful way to adults and peers 
• Defiance - students openly refuse to listen to adults
• Bullying - students consistently intimidate others
• Disruptive- students become physically or verbally aggressive

To the majority, discipline is very easy to define.  A student does something that violates the Student Code of Conduct and a consequence is issued for that behavior.  These consequences should be equal across the board to ensure that there is no bias and it  should be consistent to establish the authority within the building.  Simple, right?  

Unfortunately, it's just not as simple as we would like.  In order for us to be consistent across the board, we would have to assume that everyone is exactly the same and that is just not the case.  There are a number of factors that need to be considered when disciplinary action is being given to a student.  When it comes to laws, the district is required to adjust when it comes to discipline.

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So… why is it perceived by so many that there is very little discipline within our schools when behaviors like these occur?   Is it in fact perception or is it a true reality?   To us, it is all semantics.   The fact of the matter is that it is unrealistic for any district to expect any other perception to come from this without adequate knowledge and a true explanation of special education law.    Unfortunately, by not being proactive in educating our parents and our staff on what we can and cannot do by law, the district has set a precedent that has given truth to the perception that we lack consequences within our schools.  Maybe the question should be, is there a better way to communicate the truth of the law to families and our community? 

Understanding your rights as a parent are so important to advocate efficiently for your child.  Sadly, Coatesville Area School District has not been proactive in keeping their entire staff accurately informed about education law. It would be wise for staff to know what they can and cannot do in order to avoid lawsuits– as you can see from all the legal fees we’ve paid over the last three years.  My hope is that CASD will do better.  Not only can the district be proactive in properly educating school staff on these complex laws, but we also think it would be beneficial for our district to start educating our families and community on these laws and their rights as well. Honestly, we would have a much smaller “perception issue” if we were just transparent about what school staff is and is not able to do within the schools.   

Since this is such a hot topic that comes with so many facets and complex talking points we will be doing a deep dive into understanding the “Discipline Within CASD.” Over the next few days we are going to be talking about the ways discipline works and how it can impact everyone within the district.  We hope to be able to give you a better understanding about discipline and the truth about the law, while bringing clarity to current perceptions throughout the community. We will all benefit from knowing how we can best support our students here in the Coatesville Area School District. 

See you tomorrow when we start the conversation about Discipline for Students with Disabilities.

Fall is Ending - Looking Toward the New Year.

School Board - We began this blog in April with a series about the School Board.  Not only do these school board directors represent you as taxpayers, they also make  significant decisions about your children's education and your tax dollars. During this School Board Series we were beyond thrilled to have ALL of the inbound board members participate as we introduced them to our community. 

CCAP would like to WELCOME all the new school board members who will be sworn in on Tuesday:

Marry Harris (Region I)

Continuing to Serve - Henry Assetto (Region II)

Amelia Mills (Region III)

Jill Santiago (Region I)

Andrew Finkbohner (Region III)

Becky Harlan (Region II)

We also want to thank the outgoing board members for their service. We especially want to thank Rob Marshall. Mr. Marshall tirelessly served his term with integrity and an open mind. It is no secret that many of us here at CCAP were concerned when he was appointed, but Mr. Marshall quickly won everyone over. He sought information to understand the problems of the district and he wasn’t afraid to question anything that did not seem authentic.

Hearing from you - Recently we put out a post on our Facebook for new blog topics.  We have heard you and we are working on those wonderful suggestions.  Please keep them coming.  CCAP values the input from the community and the topics you are interested in learning more about. 

One of those topics was an update on how the new interim superintendent Dr. Dunlap is doing. It seems as if Dr. Dunlap will be addressing some hot topics himself on a CASD’s Facebook live. According the the district’s Facebook post, “He will be discussing the budget, town hall proposals, and his plan for the district in the New Year.”

We encourage community members to email questions for him at  streamquestions@casdschools.org.

CCAP and the District - CCAP leaders have met with Dr. Dunlap both as a community liaison and as members of the technology team. At this time, we simply do not have enough information or data to evaluate Dr. Dunlap’s performance. However, here are some key areas that have given us optimism regarding his leadership:

• Team Approach: 

Dr. Dunlap discusses plans in relation to his team. He is meeting regularly with other administrators in order to approach district matters with his team. He speaks of his employees as a leader who respects them and their opinions. We witnessed his interaction with some administrators and noticed that he asked for their input, considered it, and made a decision based on that input. 

• Communication:

Dr. Dunlap’s presentations and frank words already reveal more communication regarding issues of importance than the community received from our former superintendent. This also speaks to his team approach as he and his leadership team sit on the floor of meetings and present information together.  Additionally, Dr. Dunlap established some core groups to work with him on initiatives for improvement. CATA representation was invited (and accepted) to participate at these meetings for the first time in several years.

• Planning:

Dr. Dunlap has all of the year’s board meetings topics planned. The information is shared with the school board so that they can begin the ownership of establishing agendas for meetings. Planning is critical as the last several years we’ve found that the board was handed important topics for voting in the final hours. It put them in a precarious position to vote on topics in order to avoid penalties or without being provided enough or accurate information to make educated votes. Some examples of the last minute items were the opening of a 6th Grade Center, the opening of the 7/8 Center, the ATSI plan, the CASD Improvement Plan, the accepting of the Tmobile Grant / rolling out the Chromebooks, the discipline code, and the course selection guide.

Two events of importance this week that we want to highlight:

Monday, December 2, 6 pm - Dr. Dunlap’s Facebook Live on the CASD Facebook Page

Tuesday, December 3, 6 pm - School Board Organizational Meeting at the 11/12 Auditorium