Elementary Schools Tighten Discipline Policy to Comply With New Anti-Bullying Law

Elementary school principals are using the middle school's discipline policy as a model, as they change their own policies to comply with the state's new anti-bullying law.

The elementary principals decided to use the middle school's  levels of disciplinary action for each school. Those levels  range from student behavior being dealt with by staff members to immediate consideration for suspension or expulsion, based upon the regulations established by the Melrose School Committee.

Lincoln School Principal Brent Conway told the School Committee on Tuesday night that the Horace Mann School and Winthrop School were developing their own disciplinary levels, in part based upon the middle school handbook. The elementary principals decided to use the middle school's levels of disciplinary action for each school.

"We felt it that it was important for consistency across the district," Conway said. "A lot of it is driven by the new legislation around bullying, but it's not just a bullying or aggressive behavior rubric."

Dr. Dennet Sidell, Hoover School principal, added that the middle school's rules were "looked at carefully because we're the feeder system," but the format of the levels were modified for the elementary schools.

"This is more friendly for parents, as well as for principals to use in the process," Sidell said.

School Committee Chairwoman Margaret Driscoll asked if the principals had considered anything for the handbook to encourage students to walk to school. Committee member Carrie Kourkoumelis also asked if there was a single bicycle policy for all elementary schools.

Sidell and Conway said that individual schools take steps to encourage children to walk to school or regulate bicycling to school, but Conway added due to varying circumstances at each school, a single policy was not developed.

"This (handbook) is meant to provide consistency across all buildings," he said. "If can't be done in all buildings, it's not something that belongs here."

Kourkoumelis added that she found the 'good manners' section of the elementary school handbook "very refreshing" and added "I think that should be a core value of the district."

Committee member Christine Casatelli also asked the principals to follow up and possibly add a policy regarding gifts given by families to teachers and limits on how much those gifts cost, a question that arose last year.