001three uh modifications to the code of conduct that we'll be reviewing. >> Louder, please. >> I'd like to propose three modifications to the code of conduct. >> We're getting an echo. >> Yeah, we're all getting feedback. Um >> that's going to be great. Um so with that, Mr. Bonagori has amended the code of conduct. is there or amended the agenda to add a code of conduct. We'll move that to 10.02 if it's approved. Is there a second? >> Second by Vice President Saxel. Any comments, questions, concerns? Is there a reason why this isn't just being discussed when we discuss the code of conduct, the presentation? Like why do you need a separate um resolution? >> It would from a process. Can I answer? >> Sure. from from a process standpoint um when we get to
002that you really can't add a resolution then to change anything because it's just a presentation of the code of conduct tonight. So if you're going to make any change if Mr. Mr. Barnagorio's amendment carries. It would have to be tonight and it would have to be through a resolution because if we didn't do it that way this evening moving forward, if he was going to amend it next month when we vote on the code of conduct at the public hearing, we would have to delay for 30 days, okay, and follow up with another public hearing because the amendment was added that night. So from a timeliness so we can get the code of conduct whether this passes or fails so we can get the con code of conduct up and have our public hearing in
003the second meeting of August. It would have to happen that way. >> Thank you. >> I hope I explained that well. Anybody else have any questions, comments or concerns? All right. All those in favor of the agenda is amended, please raise your hands. Any opposed? I missed Todd. Todd, do you have your hand up? All right. If that passes nine to zero. Thank you, Todd. It's hard to work with me here. All right, moving on to staffing. Can I move the staffing to the table, please? Moved by Missike, seconded by Mr. Maloney. Any comments, questions, concerns on staffing? Seeing none, all those in favor. That passes nine to zero. I got Todd. Nine to zero. Assistant Superintendent Larson. >> Thank you very much. This evening, um, I have the honor of introducing our new house
004assistant principal, Miss Hannah Webster. Hannah is a dedicated and equitydriven educator with over a decade of experience supporting diverse student populations. She holds a bachelor's of science degree in elementary and special education from Roberts Wesleyan College, a master's of science in teaching English to speakers of other languages from Nazareth and a certificate of internship in educational administration from Sunni Brockport. Hannah began working in Greece central in January 2022 as an ENL teacher at Greece Olympia. She led the Black Student Union, was a 10th grade adviser, and helped to organize Olympia's first hair show. Beyond the classroom, she has supported summer programs and district ENL initiatives. She earned tenure in Greece in January of 2025 and had previously earned tenure in the RCSD in 2016. Before joining Greece, Hannah spent nine years as an ENL teacher
005for RCSD. She also taught second grade at Greece Christian School where she led events like Bike Safety Day and planned interactive field trips. Hannah is passionate about building relationships, creating safe and inclusive spaces for students, and empowering both learners and staff to reach their full potential. As she steps into this new leadership role, Hannah is committed to continuous learning, uplifting student voice, and partnering with families and staff to foster a school culture rooted in belonging and academic success. Outside of work, she enjoys eating sushi, attending game nights, participating in her local church, and spending time with family and friends. She especially loves to travel and most recently visited Disney World, a place she hopes to return to very soon. We'll talk Hannah. Hannah is a proud wife of nearly 15 years to her husband Robbie
006and a mom to two Greece students, Abigail and Cara, who will attend Odyssey Academy this fall. She is deeply grateful for the love and support of her husband, children, mother, and extended family as she steps into this new role. Congratulations, Hannah. All right, Hannah, we're going to do some pictures. Um, if you'd like your family to come up first, we'll do a picture with them. Then we'll have the um we'll do pictures with administration and the two leaders at Athena. >> Maybe Athena. >> Oh, it must be Athena. >> I heard him say RCSD, the Christian School of Olympia. Yeah, that would be Mr. Mr. Fleman, superintendent deputy and Dr. Z. Now the two guys with the best hair lines in the place. >> I'm right there. >> Thank you. Congratulations. [Applause] All right, moving
007on. Item 2.02. Can I so move the uh memorandum of agreement attached per the accept MOA? Moved by Mr. Maloney, second by Vice President Stencil. Any comments, questions, concerns on this? Seeing that none, all those in favor? That that passes nine to zero. Moving on to 2.03. the teamsters transportation MOA. Can I somebody move that to the table please? Moved by Miss Farmer, second by Missike. Any comments, questions, concerns on this? Seeing none, all those in favor? >> That passes 9 to zero. Moving on to 4.01, code of conduct presentation. Superintendent Smalling. >> Good evening. I would like to ask Dr. Baker to please come up along with our director of student services, uh, Abby Toronto. >> All right. Good evening, every everyone. So, tonight we'll be going over the proposed changes to the 2526
008code of conduct that will be going before you um in August at the August 19th board meeting for your vote. So this um the changes are reviewed annually and so typically we come over the summer to present these changes. So and why do we have a code of conduct? It applies to all students, district personnel, parents and other visitors when they're on our school property which includes at a school bus or at school functions. And really the purpose is to help us to have a guide in which judgments can be made because we know that there's a lot of context when we approach student behavior. And so we want to have the best guide in order to help us with those decisions. It also states our beliefs as a district. And so we believe as
009a district we have to uphold both the safety and culture and climate of our system. And we also have an obligation to teach to teach and to shift behaviors. And so this code of conduct is looking at a balance of of that. Um and so when I was thinking about the presentation tonight, I was thinking about how discipline is kind of like a garden. And so each individual student is sort of like the flower and we have to be able to water and nurture that garden with sun and water and healthy soil in order to foster a healthy environment. And that includes sort of like the culture of our schools. And every once in a while there could be a bad behavior that creeps up. There's a weed. We have to to to pull it
010out. Um but that alone won't maintain the healthy garden. It's just pulling out the weeds, right? We have to really make sure we're nurturing the rest of the flowers. it's really healthy relationships and looking at the root cause of some of those behaviors. And so when we think about this, we're really trying to balance all that. We want to intervene with the with the weeds, but we also need to foster that that healthy environment. And it's the balance of both um because we also know that research alone um shows research shows that suspensions alone do not shift behavior. Um and that we want to counter that with interventions. And so that really is the last bullet point is that this code of conduct provides that balance between traditional consequences and interventions that have been shown
011to shift behavior. So an example of that is that typically um we were just doing more traditional consequences like a one day of inschool suspension and that so the student would sit there for a day and they would return to class and what we're really doing is trying to pair that with some teaching and learning while they're in that space. So they're still removed um but there's some additional structures that get layered on with additional resources while they're in that structure. So the process to develop our code of conduct is that we review and modify it each year and we're brought we bring it forward in the summer. And part of this process that we've done is we always look at our data from the following year to sort of look at trends. And we
012have seen since COVID, we saw a huge spike right after COVID and then we have seen that trend go down and we really attribute that to very targeted practices. We spoke to you last year and the year before around pilot work that we've been doing specifically at Olympia, Odyssey and Arcadia around restorative practices and we do believe that those efforts have contributed to the reduction in our overall uh not only discipline numbers but also long-term and short-term suspensions. So, I'll turn it over to Abby to talk more about the committee structure. So, our committee meets four times each school year and we have a secondary committee that focuses on the work that goes on in our secondary buildings and they meet three times a year. And our committee really is a comprehensive group that has
013board of education members, district and building administrators, our director of safety and security, teachers, mental health staff, and parents. And then this year for the first time we held a session at our student summit and we used the feedback from our students to make some changes to the code of conduct based on what they shared during that session. So our goal really was to have a comprehensive group of people in the room so that many voices were heard so that the changes that we were making we ensured that we heard from different stakeholders and we weren't just hearing one voice when we made our changes. as a group in 2425, we reviewed feedback from the board of education, from our parents, from our students, and from our building administrators. Um, we reviewed the data and
014we looked at our highest frequency behaviors and administrative responses to the behaviors. So, we looked at the firsttime offenses for our top four categories. So, in our K to2 group, which was our comprehensive like main group, we looked at inappropriate physical contact K to2 and disruption K to2. And within our secondary only group, we looked at substance use and skipping. So we tried to make sure we were looking at behaviors that impacted just those secondary groups. And so the question that we asked oursel was how could we revise the code of conduct to provide more clarity in the definition of and the response to those behaviors. Um so by breaking those up and having all the different stakeholders in the room, we really were able to parcel out those different behaviors. So, I just want
015to provide one specific example or a couple specific examples. Skipping as one of those behaviors is a behavior that has tends to have a high frequency. Students tend to if they sometimes not sometimes it might be just a couple times where they're spaced out. Um, but there are times where that is something that would be appropriate to be progressive. So when we looked at the data that I mentioned, uh we were able to see that for firsttime offenses only for students who only had skipping one time the first time that the outcomes were all over the board that we we ranged from teacher um intervention and just speaking to students to an out of school suspension. And we looked at the same thing for disruption. We saw that same trend. And so part of that
016we looked at the intensity. So not just the frequency for progressive discipline but also looking at well for disruption it could be extreme for the first time where that might lead to an out of school suspension. Whereas skipping once would that really be an out of school suspension? And so part of this consistency and why it matters in terms of calibrating is to help us make sound decisions that are good um and actually will lead to a change of behavior because skipping alone is probably reinforcing the behavior that they probably want to leave the school. And so we really want to be conscientious that our interventions are matching uh the consequences and that we're ultimately have the goal of reducing behaviors and that they're learning from the from their mistakes. So before I have Abby
017go into the actual changes, I just want to provide a little bit of context around um what's in the code of conduct so that you have more information to kind of guide those changes through. So the first is each of the levels. You'll see a color coding system in our code of conduct. Level one, which is green, um is actually classroom managed intervention for behavior. We call them minor referrals or level ones. And so those are really ch um interventions that that the classroom teacher is managing. Level two is an administrative response which could range from a detention after school lunch detention or inschool suspension. And those are usually paired with other interventions such as the learning I mentioned. We call them accountability projects where they're actually having to learn about something while they're in
018that inschool suspension. Uh we also have peer mediation and counseling services that take into effect uh sort of pairing what might have happened with the actual con traditional consequence. And then our level 3A is a short-term suspension. That's anything between 1 to 5 days. And then long-term suspensions are always anything longer than 5 days. And so all of those are paired typ typically um especially the 3A and the 3B with some other type of intervention. So other um examples that we've spoken to the board about previously were peer accountability council where they go before a jury of their peers for a long-term suspension and they might have sanctions where they have to participate in community service or um in other learning projects that they would that help them to reduce the likelihood that they would
019get a longterm again. And so so that's part of the pairing when we talk about interventions and consequences um ultimately with the the goal again of reducing the behaviors. So I equate this to when we think about specifically with restorative practices. I just want to highlight that because just like with PLC's when we u we've talked a lot to the board about PLC's when we implemented them several years ago we um didn't necessarily take the time and energy to do it with fidelity. We had called a lot of things PLC's at the time and now we have a reboot with this intentional effort to really try to make sure we're doing it right and that we have the training and support in order to pull that off. And that's where we have been for the
020last couple of years with restorative. Several years ago, we ended up calling things restorative that were not restorative. And so now it has sort of like a bad connotation around what it is and what it's not. And so what we really want to be clear around what it is is that it's really providing that intervention um and support and building relationships to have high accountability and high support. And so what that really entails is needing to do it right with the training and the resources and support in order to actually have this come off because it's actually easier to suspend. Um if we have a student not come back for a day or longer, there actually isn't a ton of resources that it takes to to do that. It actually takes minimal resources, but to
021actually intervene takes more resources and time and proper training in order to do that. So, I'll have Abby go over um some more of the specific changes, but wanted you to have these levels as context around the changes that are being proposed. >> So, one of the first changes that we looked at as a committee was we looked at skipping and when we started to dig in, we needed to first look at tardies. So you see all three of them together because we realized that like skipping like Christine mentioned tardy also um was an issue of frequency. And so by helping buildings to really define what tardy looked like at a level two and a level at a level one and a level two um it really helped them to be able to identify when
022a student was skipping and when a student wasn't. So, knowing if a student is present in the building from the time that school starts, um if they're 10 minutes late to class, or to know that if you've missed a h half a class period, they should write a referral. Being really clear in the language um helps teachers to know exactly when a referral should be written. It helps administrators to know that we're holding students accountable consistently um to is this a skipping or is this a tardy? Um, so we really wanted to clarify that language, um, in order to really understand what it meant to to skip. Um, and then the second thing the committee did was because we were looking at frequency and not intensity, um, we did a progressive discipline model for skipping.
023And so, um, part of that is listed at the bottom. So, you'll see use of progressive discipline model is recommended. Um and so linked there is a uh triangle that gives some supports and some recommendations for um tier one, tier two and tier three supports around skipping. And so that was something that I have shared previously with the board um around what the recommendations were for um that progressive discipline triangle. And so it is a recommendation right now. It's not something that they wanted to put into the code of conduct. it's something the buildings want to try and the committee will be readressing next year um assuming hopefully that it is successful but if it's not then we'll be able to readress that as well. Then we looked at disruption and again like Christine shared
024we looked at intensity because sometimes the first incident of disruption can be a very intense um event and so it may need a level 3B even on the first time. So we really looked at identifying how to know the difference between a level two, a level 3A and a level 3B and being clear with language so that administrators can easily parcel out based on an incident that's occurring in the building which level it should fall under. So the committee parcled out words like moderate intensity or um disruption requiring staff resources and impa impacting an entire building versus um requiring extensive school and possible community intervention and causing safety concerns and is dangerous versus may be dangerous. So we parcled out a lot of the terms so that it was a lot clearer where a 3A
025is it might be dangerous where a 3B is it is dangerous. Um so being just very clear and int and in intentional in the language so that when we look at those intense behaviors you can clear you can clearly see which one fits within each level. Some other changes that we made were we added um personal electronic devices under our computer and electronic misuse. And that was really just um taking what we've already had in practice and putting it into policy um because we just had never added personal electronic devices. And that also created a related change on page 10 which says that in grades 6 through 12 electronic devices must be in lock locked pouches except with permission of principles. So again, that's something that we had already been doing in practice and we're
026just officially putting it into the code of conduct for defiance and subordination and non-compliance. Um, this was a recommendation that we took into account from our student session. um is that after the pilot at Olympia and Arcadia, there was a lot of confusion around if students failed to comply or refused to comply during the SER security screenings and searches and the students felt that they were not clear that that was a violation of the code of conduct. Um and also staff members felt that they maybe didn't know what category that fell under. So it was kind of a a dual conversation in both arenas. And so they the students asked that that could be clearer and staff members asked where did that fit. So the committee spent some time kind of parceling that out and
027it felt like it ended up falling within this category. So we added a line within this category to make it clear for students and for staff um that that would be the appropriate category to use if a student is refusing or if they're failing to comply during those screenings. And then again looking at the intensity, we looked at um inappropriate physical contact was our second category. So we did the same um breakdown of levels. And so if you look at the difference between a level 3A and 3B, you'll see words like may result in minor injury versus with the intent to cause significant injury. So again, like your intent is there and it can cause a major disruption to the educational environment um is going to be your level threeb. So getting intentional with that
028wording to help really define what an inappropriate physical contact could look like. Um and part of that is the intent of the student um during those inappropriate physical contact moments. So again, it's different than fighting. Um it's just those inappropriate physical contacts. So pro providing some clarity in those top categories. We looked at damage of property and um we added the word causing intentional damage um because it just added a lot of clarity around that they were causing the intentional damage. It wasn't just damage that was occurring. Um and then we also made a change to the definition of bystander because what a lot of buildings were finding is that our students we had um some students presenting bystander behavior that wasn't just watching incidences occurring. they were actually um encouraging students to damage property
029or to engage in fighting and we didn't have anything within the code of conduct to address bystander behavior that was encouraging bad behavior. So we really needed to find a place within the code of conduct where we could um like address those type of behaviors. And so that was um the two kind of went together because of a specific incident when we were doing tabletop drills. So we addressed both at the same time. We looked at in an in an unauthorized area or out-of- bounds area and we added includes trespassing. Um and then we added the line this applies to students who are suspended or otherwise unauthorized to be on school property. And this was something that when students are suspended, it's always been within their suspension letters. It's just not something that had been
030in the code of conduct. So, um, this is a again a policy versus practice and a way for us to be able to be really clear with our students, um, and to be able to hold them accountable. For the next area, for the next one, we created a secondary um, category. So, um, SSEC stands for school safety and educational climate reporting, and it's a New York State category that gets reported directly to New York State. So there is a 3B category that's already exists within the code of conduct to address weapons at a at that level. And so an example of that would be there's certain kinds of knives or like lengths of blades of knives that are addressed within that category. Um we found that students could sometimes bring other weapons in like they
031might bring in a letter opener with the intent to hurt a student. Um, and so we weren't able to use that category to address such an incident like that. So we needed to create a category. So we created a 3A category that wasn't an SSEC category. So not reportable to the state. It was one that we could use to address weapons that were coming into the school that didn't fit that higher category. So we're able to still make those um we were still able to address weapons that are coming in that maybe aren't at the level that the state finds as reportable. And then our last one was we have a progressive discipline model to use for use, possession and sale of drugs. And that was created with our substance abuse prevention department. And it
032had been created over the course of a year um by administrators and teachers and our SAP department. And they actually brought it forth to the committee as a recommendation to look at. So the committee took a look at it. They made some recommendations. They sent it back and forth a few times and we really settled on a model that we felt like was was great to try out for next year. So it has similar wording to skipping but it looks a little bit different. And so the example that I would give is that like in the old model if a student was caught vaping they may just be given ISS. With our new progressive discipline model if a student is vaping they may get or sorry they would have gotten OSS. In our new model,
033they may be given ISS and then they're going to be given some interventions that are going to address the vaping and their substance use um to hopefully stop the behavior and teach them some other coping skills besides vaping. So, we're really working to address the substance use issues as well as provide a consequence for the behavior as opposed to just sending them out of school and then bringing them back in without any sort of intervention. So, some other changes that we did was there were some grammatical corrections that were made on pages 10 and 13. Cannabis was added and that was to be consistent with the New York State legislation verbiage um because they use cannabis with marijuana or in place of marijuana. So, we added them together on page 19,28 29 52 and 54.
034Um, we added click this QR code to the graphic on page 23. And on page 55, we removed the section related to intercolastic athletic eligibility and added the note for more information, please refer to board policy 7421 titled intercolastic athletic eligibility, which is publicly accessible from the district's board doc website. And we just did that because it was kind of redundant to have a board policy also listed within the code of conduct. Um, and then if changes were made at a different time besides um, when the code of conduct was updated, they were just constantly out of date. So, we're just referring them to the policy instead of reprinting the policy. So the next steps for our committee are just to have uniform presentations of the code of conduct to be delivered to students and
035staff at the opening of school and to convene the 2526 committee to review our data and collect input and make recommendations for next school year. And >> so then again, just as a reminder, the vote um is on August 19th. Um, and if there's any questions, you can send them through um, Sean and Jeremy who can relay them to us if if there is any questions. >> Thank you both. >> So, if anybody has any questions on that, make sure you get them to Jeremy and I and hopefully in the next presentation, Abby and Christine can get those answered or tie it in. So, all right, moving on to 6.01 anticipated bids. It's written information only. Does anybody have any questions on that? All right, moving on to item 10.01. Can I saw you move
036the following, please? And Mr. Butler, you're going to have to abstain from this vote because you aren't at the hearing. So, be it resolved the board of education of the Gree Central School District, having heard an appeal from a superintendent hearing determination made by the superintendent of schools and following due deliberation, hereby upholds the penalty imposed. Can I say I move that to the table, please? Moved by Vice President Stencil, seconded by Missike. Any comments, questions, or concerns on this? Seeing none, all those in favor? That passes 8 to zero. Moving on to 10.02, the amendment to the code of conduct. Can I soy move that to the table, please? Moved by Mr. Bonagorio, second by Vice President Stzel. Questions, comments, concerns? I'll let Mr. Bonagorio will start since it's his resolution. >> Thank you,
037Mr. President. Um, you had suggested breaking this into three um three pieces. Should I read each one in ter should I read them together so that there's some context >> and then we can separate them or you can separate them after that. >> Okay. Great. So there are three uh three passages in in the code of conduct on page five of the document and I've provided uh a copy of page five with the the the relevant sections highlighted uh in blue and in pink and then a uh an addition that I would uh like to propose. So I will I would like to propose three three amendments to the code. Uh the first to remove the first bullet point under the section titled specific goals of the code of conduct. It's highlighted in pink and
038uh it reads as follows. Reduce overuse and disproportionate use of inschool and out of school suspensions and school discipline referrals. The second amendment uh that I'd like to propose is to replace that statement with uh the following. Establish clear expectations of behavioral norms and consequences for infractions for all students and adults on school premises or at school functions with the intent of holding students and adults accountable for their actions and thereby protecting the safety and academic opportunity of all students and staff. And that is highlighted in yellow at the bottom. I inserted that there. And then uh finally the third proposal to remove the first sentence in item four under the section titled beliefs about children learning and discipline. That's highlighted in blue and it reads as follows. The use of out of school suspension
039as a response to challenging behavior does not improve school climate or outcome for students. I would leave the rest of that section intact, but uh remove that that one sentence. Would you do you want me to pause there or uh I'm not sure. I'll leave it in your hands to guide that. >> Okay. So, why don't we take them as three separate discussion points and vote? I mean, I guess we could kind of tie the yellow and the pink together because basically the pink's going away and the yellow's going in. So, why don't we tie those if you're good with that, Mr. Bar? If it's not an overstep, we tie those together since the the pink's going to go away and the yellow is going to go in its place. >> I'm fine with that.
040>> And then we'll do the other one separate. So, we'll just have basically two resolutions. So on the first resolution removing the pink and adding the yellow that's before you. Does anybody have any comments, questions, concerns? >> Mr. Farmer. >> Yes. Thank you. I um Mark, we had a brief few minutes to talk about this. So thank you. So, um, so when we're talking about holding students and adults accountable for their actions, what does that look like to you in terms of accountability, I guess? I mean, I don't even know how we would do that with adults. Are we talking about law enforcement engagement? How how far Well, what does that look like? >> Yeah, thank you. I would say that I'm that these proposals are extremely modest and are not proposing what those responses
041are. Those are already I believe embedded in the code of conduct. So there's no change to that. This is really a verbage a verbiage change that I think is important because quite frankly it's called the code of conduct and a code of conduct deals with behavior. And the very first bullet point under the section and this is really the first substantial section of the code of conduct. It's it's four paragraphs in to the document. It's titled specific goals of the code of conduct. And the very first bullet point addresses not conduct, not student behavior, not adult behavior. And by the way, to your question, uh, Mrs. Farmer, the the code of conduct does apply to students and adults. So there's no no change in that. Uh but but this this one section um does it
042makes the presumption that there is overuse, which I would argue is suggesting that our administrators are already kind of violating the spirit of of what they should be doing. Uh or not just the spirit, but they're they're they're acting inappropriately, maybe even abusively. Um the statement of disproportionate use. Um, so you're you're looking at with regard to overuse and disproportionate use, you're talking about quantities and relative quantities. And in my perspective, when you're talking about responding to inappropriate behaviors, you should be looking at facts and whether those quantities, numbers of of um uses or or disproportionate uses, u those should be driven just by the facts. and any attempt to deal with them um kind of superficially to say, "Well, we can't have that." Then you're talking about a violation of justice. Justice is applying
043the rules to the case at hand. Doesn't mean we shouldn't care about those things, but it doesn't belong here in the code of conduct. Code of conduct is about behavior. Um if we want to address those, I think we have a lot of other uh opportunities to do that. And it's I think they're certainly worth investigating, but I think for for that reason alone that should be stricken and replaced with what really is the purpose of the code of conduct. Uh Miss Baker just stated it um on page two of her presentation. I think that should be really in essence I think having having listened to Superintendent Smallen and our cabinet members speaking repeatedly to us, we are the the text that I'm suggesting really comes from what I've heard them say. So that's the
044rationale for providing that that language in in place. >> I I mean I'm going to let you follow up because it was your question. He was responding to you. So if it's >> a followup. >> Yep. If you have a followup, I'm going to and then I'll come to Mary. >> All right. Thanks. Um, so yes, I agree that that first bullet, the pink part, it shouldn't have started there, right? Because all of a sudden we're looking at this in a from a deficit in terms of behavior. So I So if I go down to the second bullet, how is that? And I I see that your yellow is a little broader. Why do you want to replace the y the pink with the yellow? It seems as if these other bullets address all that.
045And I like how it starts with establish which which is there. Establish a schoolwide uh schoolwide expectations that all adults are committed to support and you kind of did the same thing. Establish clear and consequences for interactions. And then we go down. So yeah. So, what are you thinking in terms of replacing the pink with the yellow? Because I would take the pink out and start with the established schoolwide. That's what I'm seeing. I'm seeing similarities with what you have said. >> Okay. >> Is there a redundancy or is it just >> No, I don't think there is. Actually, there's 10 bullet points that I've counted there. And I don't think there is a single bullet point that clearly refers to establishing norms for student behavior. There's a lot of statements about um how we
046might get to not not clearly um better student behavior but providing supports and things like that. But there's no no clear statement about establishing uh clear expectations or behavioral norms for students or or adults on school premises or school functions. So, I think really again I'm I'm pretty much lifting that from um for example, it's on there's something very close to that on page four of the code of conduct at the top kind of as a preamble or or u where you might put a quote from Maya Angelou or someone like that. Um there's uh we we've seen it pop up. So, I think it just needs a clear statement. I'll refer to John Hattie who in his work I want to read a quote uh from Hattie uh this is from uh visible learning
047a major message is that poor behavior needs fair clear and understood consequences. Consequences matter. The effects of understood consequences are high for reductions in the regular classroom and high higher in self-contained special classes. So we really should just point the code of conduct at that. That's my >> So you see this as being the overarching? >> Yes. >> This sets this sets a tone. It's the very first bullet point of the goals of the code of conduct. >> All right. Thank you. >> Like >> um >> microphone. >> I It's on already. >> I just want to make sure >> I don't have Jordan here to turn it on for me. >> I know. That's what I'm worried about. I'm not very good at it either. >> Um I I would be very happy to
048see the first bullet go because um I was in situations teaching where we would be told we're not doing well in this area. So we need to cut down on referrals. And it wasn't about the behavior of students. It was about that issue. and and and when we talk about smart goals, I would like to see more smart goals for the code of conduct. So, we know if it's hitting the mark or not. We know when we look at the interventions, yes, that intervention did work. It worked at this school and it worked for these kids and how do we modify it? Um, so I think having smart goals attached to the code of contract, I do not want it longer, but I think that those are important. Um, and I think that um, what
049you wrote says it says that well. >> Thank you, Miss Lake. Mr. Butler, >> thank you. Um, I uh could support the first bullet being put like at the end of that list, but I actually think it's a really important element that uh that the committee that worked on this saw fit to include there. And I and I feel strongly that it ought to stay. The and the reason isn't because uh I want to see the number of uh suspensions go down so that the number is lower. It's because there is a wide and deep body of research that shows that suspensions don't improve school climate. They don't lead to behavior change and in fact they're predictive of students becoming involved in uh in the juvenile justice system and all kinds of other negative outcomes.
050Um, so it it actually makes it more likely when a student is suspended that they are going to be suspended again and that behavior problems are going to continue. So I think the idea that it is in there uh is important. We've been cited by New York State for overuse of suspensions. So I think the fact that it says we need to reduce uh uh overuse and disproportionate use is you know just a fact. You know, the mention that we want to deal in facts, that's a fact. And if we want to deal in facts, then I think that belongs in there. And the code of conduct is a tool to help manage the behaviors that too often are leading to suspensions. And so I think as far as the striking of the first bullet,
051I could see moving it to uh later in this section as a specific goal, but I think it should be the goal of the code of conduct to provide the tools, the progressive discipline and the uh the context framing and t and training that uh adults need in order to help students avoid uh negative behaviors. And as the fifth bullet says, uh, promote positive behaviors preventing inappropriate, unacceptable, and unskillful behaviors. Um, and support improve behaviors for students. So, um, I I think that uh I I think it's really important that that stays. And I and I agree with what I thought where I thought Tracy was going that I think everything else in that section does talk about it doesn't use the words behavioral norms, but establishing schoolwide expectations is I think a tradeout for
052behavioral norms. And I don't see one as being better than the other. I I appreciate Marky pointing out the what's in bold uh on the even earlier in the book than that which talks about um student behavior and and the behavior of students, district personnel, etc. So I uh I'm not in support of the of the first element. >> I just want to make sure before I come back to you, Mary, anybody else have anything? All right, Mary, you're up. Well, in terms of the research, there's there's a lot of other research, too, that says that there is a relationship between students getting in trouble in school and students going to prison. However, it's a correlate. It's they've established a correlation. They have not established a causation. However, when we were looking at literacy um
053and incarcerated juveniles, the number one predictor of recidivism was illiteracy, not socioeconomic, not racial, not anything else, but literacy. And that was pretty startling for those of us who were um who participated in that. So, so I think that there's a lot on on on both sides um that we need to look at in terms of the research, which is why I think if we establish smart goals, then we decide how we're measuring things and we can do our own research. >> Thank you, Miss Slake. Mr. Margario, >> I'd like to just respond to M Mr. Butler's uh comments regarding um the evidence uh about suspension. Actually, two two points. First, um this this proposal, none of these proposals are advocating against uh the use of restorative practices or um uh progressive discipline. I think
054those are all fine in keeping with it. The purpose of these uh these recommendations are really to keep us focused on the point of the code of conduct, which is about conduct and be student behavior, adult behavior. Uh with regard to the evidence on uh on suspensions uh the 50% of students who are suspended once are not re are not suspended again. uh the the there is a uh a very strong um deterrent uh factor. The the the recurrence the recidivism of of activities that lead to suspension drop basically by half with each with each um event of suspension. So there is there is a lot of evidence that suspensions do help. That doesn't mean I'm suggesting we should start suspending any everyone. No, that that should be, I think, you know, down the list.
055U a last resort maybe. Certainly not the first thing you go to unless it's a really egregious uh offense. But again, that's not what's in view in these in these proposals. Um just let's keep keep our our focus on on what is that issue. And I think really let's not use this document as a means of of trying to push um a a distortive view of what of what u um providing a balanced uh disciplinary process is. I think um I think m Mrs. Baker, Miss Baker, Dr. Baker. Um, sorry about that. Um, hit on it. Um, right at the beginning. This is about balance. So, u, I don't think anything in these proposals um, opposes that balance. >> Mr. Butler, we're back to you. >> Thank you. Um I uh I think the uh
056according to the research that I've been able to do, I have not been able to find any research that shows that it does have a deterrent effect. In fact, when you when you Google does suspension work for students, the first thing that the Google AI uh assessment of of what is published says that it has no deterrent effect. Student studies have shown that suspensions do not deter students from future misbehavior and can even increase the likelihood of future disciplinary problems. So I am not an education expert. I do my best uh as a board member. I think um most of the people uh um on the board uh that would be true about as well. If there are I I do wonder if any of the uh people who have gone to school for this
057uh have uh the ability to sort of clarify what the the research has shown. Am I uh right that the uh overwhelming weight of research shows that there is not deterrent effect that um it does increase the risk of future problems. Uh if if any of our cabinet members or the superintendent have a comment on that, I'd love to hear them weigh in on what the what the actual re what what their years of experience and reading of the research tells about this. So that's my I just have not been able to find any uh any research at all that shows that suspension does have a deterrent effect. uh in fact quite the contrary that it has a negative effect on students and it is these are uh studies that don't just look at correlation
058but actually look at causation. >> I'm going to let Dr. Baker answer and then I have an amendment that I want to add. >> I'm going to have Dr. Z go first and I'll jump. >> Oh, okay. Sorry. Sorry, Mike. >> Just a couple a couple things before Christine speaks. Um about a year and a half ago, we did a presentation on restorative practices to the board after which we sent um several resources uh that had to do with both restorative practices and suspensions. And the articles that we base that um our kind of development of this on do align with what Mr. Butler said um about suspensions having a harmful effect on student outcomes including John Hadtiey's research from visible learning. Um so the effect size um with regards to suspension in student outcomes
059is actually a negative effect size where um positive point4 would be kind of a flat um no effect of the intervention. So um those were the couple that I had. >> Yeah. And just to add to that, I actually did my dissertation on reducing um disproportionality in schools and restorative practices and other interventions were part of that study. And so that is consistent with what I found when I did my own research. >> Thank you both. >> And and if I could just add one thing, I think the import the operative word in this part of the code of conduct is the word overuse and disproportionate use. It's not saying we should uh just flatly reduce the the use of suspensions, although it sounds like the research would would encourage us to try to do
060that if we really want to have better outcomes for students. But it is about the overuse and disproportionate use, which I would think that we would all be opposed to overusing something or disproportionately using something. >> Thank you, Mr. B. >> Can I go quick? >> Nope. I'm gonna make my amendment because we're we're beating this horse to death and I think my amendment is going to correct this. Maybe we'll see. So after adults accountable for their actions, these actions should reduce overuse and disport disproportionate use of in and out of school suspension thereby protecting the safety and academic opportunity of all our students and staff. So it gets reinccorporated back into with Mark's resolution that in with what he proposes it should reduce the overuse and dis disproportionate use of in school and out
061of school suspensions. That's my amendment. Is there a second? >> Would you consider a friendly amendment to your amendment? >> Maybe. What's your friendly amendment? So your your the way you stated it was a causal relationship from the um uh the reduction in disproportionalities and overuse to safer environment. I would put it the other way around that creating a safer environment would reduce the overuse and disproportionalities. >> Okay, I'm confused now. Um, so I so with my amendment that I made, read it to me so I can hear if it's friendly or it's if it's totally changing what my amendment is. >> No, I I So you ended at uh Can would you read it back to me? >> Sure. Sure. So I'm adding in after accountable for their actions. I would like to amend
062it to say these actions these actions should reduce over the overuse and disproportionate use of in school and out of school suspensions thereby protecting the safety and academic opportunity for all students and staff. So my suggestion is basically saying thereby protecting the safety and academic opportunity for all students and staff and reducing um overuse and disproportionate use of suspensions. >> So you want to move basically to reduce overuse and to the end as opposed to where I put it. >> Yes, >> I can live with that. >> Can you can you please read it at can you please read it as you as it's being proposed? >> And is there any way somebody can when we do this that somebody can type this up so we can see it as well? Is that a I
063don't know if the technology allows that, but >> So what So what this would say now is the paragraph that you have in front of you, the yellow paragraph at the end. Read it, Mark. Um, beginning with uh holding adults. Yep. Sure. >> I just want to make sure we have the right language. Just give me a second to get the right language. Okay. on the amendment. >> Establish clear expectations of behavior, behavioral norms and consequences for infractions for all students and adults on school premises or at school functions with the intent of holding students and adults accountable for their actions and thereby protecting the safety and academic opportunity of all our students and staff and reducing the overuse and disproportionate use of suspensions. Okay, that's how you think that's how you read it. >>
064Yep. >> Okay. Was so that is that a second on my amendment? Okay. So, we're on the amendment to the amendment at this point. >> All right. Is there questions on the amendment to the amendment? Uh, >> you want to make a comment, Superintendent Molly? Fire away. >> Yep. You're up. >> Um, when I read when I read the first bullet and I actually listened a little bit more to what Chris, what Dr. Baker and um, what Abby shared, what they found was an overuse on some level one or level two um, instance. That was an overuse because we didn't there wasn't clear expectations that's now outlined here. We saw ranges for kids for their first infraction of skipping led to suspensions. Right. So I now that I read that with what you've put in
065that now with clear expectations um and clear consequences which with the revisions attempted to do by doing both of those having the clear expectations having clear consequences for those examples that you had to the point what it does now is it it should with those clear expectations reduce the overuse of of suspensions. So I think with what you brought in with that idea of being clear and being clear with expectations, it actually to me, I hear it supporting what came out of the research that you pulled when you looked at referrals and saw we were overusing suspensions for infractions like skipping the first time. Now we've attempted to be clear with the expectations and clear with the consequences to hopefully reduce the overuse. So like I to me that's how I see that now where
066there's a com combination I think the point that you were making because without that piece it just says basically that the purpose is of our code of conduct is simply just to reduce it's not clear enough I think it depends who reads it could misinterpret it what's there what I'm hearing is now that it's clear on these are the expectations these are this these are the consequences which is part of the revisions we could Now hopefully not only um get to some of the other pieces, you know, have a um >> safe setting, but also we will now avoid overusing suspensions for infractions that really shouldn't be suspendable infractions. >> That that's how I now hear as I'm listening. It kind of covers both >> um to some degree. still with the understanding to your
067point the interventions that we have been that we're trying to do along with I guess you call traditional are still need to happen but what we're saying is if we're clear with this these are the behaviors which is now outlined in here we now know these are these are suspendable like three A's or three B's but ones really aren't suspendable unless you start going through a progression which is outlined in here >> that's how I heard that Right. Right. >> With with that including of reducing with the understanding that our goal is to reduce the overuse if we're clear on expectations and consequences. >> I amendment to the amendment. Mr. >> Oh, an amendment to the amendment. >> Okay. Thank you. So, thank you Todd because originally I was thinking yes, it needs to the
068pink needs to stay but move it down. But my question is, we only were not cited just for sus one suspension because a kid skipped a class, right? I mean, weren't our suspensions based on >> Well, it's over. It's >> I'm going to stop. It's It's not That's irrelevant to the amendment to the amendment at this point. It's not relevant to the amendment to the amendment. Um, so I mean if you have a clarifying question, but that question we're starting to go down someplace else. >> Okay, I'll do a clarifying question. So does that same verbiage that you just the three of you just discussed take care of the other overuse of suspensions for fra infractions that are not skipping once or being late to class twice. >> That's what the code of conduct presentation
069was, >> right? So, but if we take this out because I heard Jeremy say it's only because of skipping once that kids were suspended. That was what we were cited on. >> No, he just gave an example. >> He was using that as an example of we overreacted to a skipping in class. >> So, that was the that was what he was the example he was using because Dr. Baker and Abby Torana both said that in their that was one of our pres presentations as part of the news. >> Sure. And and that's kind of you and I hear you guys talking about the school to prison pipeline and illit illiteracy being the number one factor blah blah blah. So if kids are out of school because of suspension then we're having the same issues
070in high school as we would be having or in whatever uh elementary, middle or high that we would be having in prison. Yes. If we're not if we're the kids aren't in school because of too much suspensions. >> I mean, if that's a statement, I'm not going to let you ask board members put board members on the spot to make a you know, if you have a question or if that's your statement, that's fine. But I'm not going to let you put dislike on. Is there any other questions to the amendment? To the amendment. >> I know. >> Is there I mean, do you need something clarify? I mean, I don't I I'm struggling right now with you, Mr. Farmer, in the sense that I don't know what where you're trying to go. >> Well,
071I I I guess I'm so like I just thank Todd because when I was looking at the pink, I thought, well, maybe this just needs to be moved down. And then when Mark talked about this being the overview, okay, but I think it's really important that we continue to focus in on the the reduction of suspensions >> and that's in that resolution. I understand that it's in there, but we are talking about removing. You're going to put it back in at the end, but I want to make sure that it's not just put there for the for the um unusual suspensions or the the ones that shouldn't the the infractions that kids should not be suspended for. And is there something that we need to say a little bit more to make that clear? Because
072I was I Yeah, Mark. I mean I sorry I don't mean to do that but I think we're having a discussion. >> I don't need to. >> Okay. Um is there any other questions or comments on this >> dislike? Yep. Go ahead >> on the amendment to the amendment. Please keep it on that. Yeah. I'm trying to be >> just an answer. I think they took exactly the language >> that was in the pink and moved it down. So it didn't do anything to change what that meant. >> Okay. So >> yeah, we just added it in. We're just going to put the pink at the end of the yellow >> and the yellow will be first. The first bullet. >> Yeah. >> Correct. >> That's the amendment to the amendment. >> All right. On
073the amendment to the amendment. Are there any other questions? Seeing none, all those in favor of the amendment to the amendment. Can I see a show of hands? All right. That passes nine to zero. Back on to the original amended. Amendment as amended. Are there any questions on that? Now, >> this is just the addition of the yellow content with the pink added to the end of it. Correct. Or are we talking about both things now? >> Well, the the pink the amendment is to remove the pink portion >> with yellow that we just amended with that other stuff at the end with that other pink stuff at the end of the yellow. now, >> right? But we're not talking about Mark's second change. >> We're not to that second change yet. We're doing one
074at a time because praise Jesus, we would have gone down a rabbit hole I don't know I could have got out of. So, we're just on the first one right now. So, um, is there any other questions on that? All right. So, the amendment as amended to the code of conduct. All those in favor? That passes nine to zero. Now on to the second amendment to the code of conduct. >> Mr. Bonnie Goro, go ahead. >> Okay. The second amendment is to remove the first sentence from section four or item number four of the section titled beliefs about children, learning, and discipline. And again, that states the use of out of school suspension as a response to challenging behavior does not improve school climate or outcomes for students. the rest of the the passage remains
075intact. Um, and I'm going to go back to the research and one of the one of the criticisms of Hadtie's work is that at their meta analyses, they take everything, throw it into the pot and and and pull out with the results. One of the things that goes into that pot is what happens. Do suspensions help students who are suspended academically and things like that? Maybe not. But what happens to the rest of the students? And there is the research does provide positive um effects for cases. I'm just going to refer to a couple of examples again from visible learning heading notes. If classes are to be in inviting places that are fair and safe and places where students are are respected as learners and this is regarding bullying. There is no place for bullying.
076No place. There is a negative correlation between achieving and being bullied. But this may mean that those with good academic achievement were less likely to have been exposed to bullying victimization. He goes on to site other research that found being bullied was negatively related to achievement and school attendance. There's a logical conclusion in that if you remove the sources of bullying, the rest of the class and the school environment is a is a more inviting and safe place. A second example that he uses is regarding disruptive behavior. And there he says the presence of disruptive students can can have negative effects on their own and all other students achievement outcomes. So their own achievement suffers and other students achievement suffers. And he goes on to report that reducing disruption from classrooms has a very large
0770.82 effect size on improving student outcomes. So reduce it somehow but certainly redu removing the disruptive element from the classroom has a positive impact on the classroom. Again maybe not on that student and I would suggest that the research that says that the the um that it doesn't help student outcome is primarily focused on the students who are being suspended. >> Thank you Mr. Baroro. Mr. Baller. So, uh the the research I think again uh suggests here that uh it doesn't suggest it says that uh suspensions while intended to address student behavior often negatively impact school climate and student well-being. So I think the uh the I can't imagine approving a code of conduct under the sections about what we believe and and striking the section that says we that that says uh what we
078believe is that uh suspensions uh are uh uh damaging to student outcomes and well-being. the the leap there's a leap being made in the in the proposal that uh things like bullying which nobody wants to see and and and uh disruptive behavior which nobody wants to see are uh that the only solution to those things is suspension. Um that if that were to be true, if that were the case that was being made by anyone, then then you know we would have a problem and something we'd need to change. But that's not the case that's being made here. The case that's being made is that we believe as this as it says right now that suspensions have a negative impact and should be avoided uh when they can. Um doesn't mean we're not going to
079be suspending students. We will be continuing to suspend students, but I I can't imagine not acknowledging what we know to be true and believe to be true, which is uh what is stated in the code of conduct right now. Thank you, Mr. Butler. Any other comments or questions? >> I can just add something that we started to talk. Is that okay? >> Sure. So what I found when I was teaching is that if a disruptive child was taken out of the room for whatever that might look like, typically within the next week, few days, somebody else would rise up to fill that child's um spot. we would find another kid who was um with challenging behavior so to speak based on the other kid going there's no I don't have any scientific data but as
080a classroom teacher and and discussing with other teachers that's what we would find over and over again we'd take one out and somebody else would rise up so this idea of suspending kids in in the hope that it would bring um stability and the ability to learn within that classroom when that kid's gone cannot stand on its own with just the suspension. There has to be other things that come into play to help that get better. You agree? >> I do. >> So, how does that >> may I respond to that, Mr. McCabe? >> Yep. It was directed to you. >> I'll be brief. I don't think there's a a a a conflict in that. I just see this as removing I believe it's it's it is a belief statement. I I don't think it
081is supported by the evidence. I've cited specific research. Um but it doesn't say that nowhere in any of this discussion has anyone argued that we should only be using suspensions. I'm endorsing the balanced approach that we're talking about. I just think we ought to remove a statement that on its face says I mean if we were to take this as what it it seems to be saying and what Mr. Butler is arguing I would say let's get rid of suspensions if suspensions are really that bad for the entire school climate. Let's get rid of them. That's I the the research doesn't say that. I'm not arguing for that. I'm not arguing that it should be the only tool. No way. Of course not. So, I don't think there's any conflict between what is currently the
082plan that's that's in the code of conduct and the the very modest changes that we're looking at here. I'm done. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Monorio. I before I get to you, Mr. B, I just have a question for Mr. Bonagorio. I'm looking at the highlighted portion on three and I'm trying to figure out how students about them and will help them learn and grow. I'm I'm try I'm struggling with how that makes sense, I guess, right now to me. Am I missing something someplace else? I mean, like the second half >> of that bullet or did a part piece of that bullet get cut out? It's just not >> That's a good question, Mr. McCabe. >> These are subsections of this paragraph. >> It's something after >> Oh, I see what happened. Okay.
083So there yeah there's a little bit of an error. So at the end of that it should have been when you remove students it should be if I'm reading the code of the draft of the code of conduct if anybody has it in front of them Dr. Baker if you have it at the end there it should say students are more likely to do the right thing when they understand. So it was that first part that you took out on item four but in your printed copy it's out. So it just I'm reading it didn't make sense. Yeah, >> but I see where your error was. So, we're still just taking out that section. Correct. Correct. And then the rest will follow through with the current documentation. >> Okay. >> All right, M. Farmer, I
084just wanted to clarify that because that it just I was reading and I was struggling with trying to get it to make sense, but Me, too. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> All right. like the hot top. Yeah, >> Miss Lake. >> Um, I just think if every one of us thought back to a student that was in a class with us and you thought that class would have been so much better without that kid. Now, I'm not saying I'm not saying anything about suspensions, but when you say that to remove a very disruptive element from a classroom is not going to affect the climate, that doesn't even make sense to me. Of course it will. I mean, if you remove somebody who is disrupting your household, um, it will make a difference >> in
085the classroom. >> That's all. >> In the classroom, >> the school. >> Yeah. >> All right. We got too many individual conversations going on. So, does anybody have any questions or comments? Mr. Butler? So, uh, just I I don't think I think we have to be clear about what the research actually says. Uh, the the examples from the author that were being read earlier talked about the need for a calm classroom, the need for a uh um a calm learning environment in order for students to learn. 100% uh agree with that. Um it does not that research does not say so suspensions and uh removals should be utilized in order to achieve that. That's not that that was not read something that was was read uh in this meeting. The research on the impact on
086school climate and other students of suspension says that schools with high suspension rates are often perceived as less safe and welcoming by both students and teachers. It says that in schools with harsh discipline policies, even students not suspended may experience lower test scores and a less positive school climate. In a school climate focused on control and punishment can negatively impact the overall sense of safety and belonging for all students. Those are all university studies. So I think the research we should not be unclear about what the research is saying about this. And I think the and we should also not make leaps about what the what the research is not saying that there's not a false equivalency between that we shouldn't create a false equivalency between the desire for a calm classroom environment and the
087uh and the idea that suspensions help to create that. >> Thank you Mr. Butler. Are there any other questions or comments? Could I make it >> Maria? And then we'll go to Super Smalling. >> I I think the presentation that um we heard this evening really speaks to this wider lens. Um I think the uh the code of conduct has written. I think if I may take your m a moment to read what u Mr. Vonaguro was trying to um articulate and what we've since by looking at that little omission that I think clarifies the climate is a a a product of many things that were introduced in our code of conduct. We are not using just one tool in our toolbox. Um, the use of out of school suspension, I might suggest that we
088say the exclusive use of an out of school suspension as a response to challenging behaviors does not improve school climate or outcomes for students. Students are more likely to do the right thing when, and these are the bullets, they understand the positive behaviors that are expected of them. They feel that staff members care about them and will help them learn and grow. All staff, oh, I'm sorry, all school staff consistently use shared language and practices and all staff provide recognition and feedback for behaving appropriately, making their best effort, and completing highquality work. That is the description of our classroom. And I think to pull out just the um suspension piece is really not um is not um accurate, right? It's all of these things because I think it would lead to a great climate if
089all these things that we have in our code of conduct are being followed. So I think we're really focusing on one tiny piece of a much larger um dynamic that happens in our classrooms regarding um student behaviors. So I do think we can achieve a good climate provided we are working with our students in many ways and suspension being one of the tools in the tool box but not the only one. So I would suggest if we were to make an amendment um the exclusive use of out of school suspension as a response does not improve school climate because I think that's where we're we were perhaps having that conversation and I just offer that for your consideration. >> Sir, are you amending >> amending the amendment? >> You're amending it's but it's Let me
090let me just think this through for a second before I decide. I think I'm going to have to rule the amendment out of order because it changes the original motion, the original amendment too greatly because you remove that whole section. You're putting the whole section back and adding a word. So, I think it totally changes the amendment. I don't think it's an appropriate amendment at the end. >> Okay, no problem. I just wanted to add my clarifying comment. That's all >> and that's good. Okay. Um, any other comments, questions or concerns? Oh, super. I'm sorry. Um I think what makes this whole conversation difficult um is that um is that this the document itself like this section when it was it was created in through a a committee of people that when they set this
091out years ago they worked they said these are our beliefs at that time. I I do think there's revisions because this was put together 2012, right? And there's been slowly revisions throughout that. But what I think what always makes these conversations hard is that when they when you look at this section as you almost got to look at the section as a whole before you could start picking apart what goes in and what goes out because when it was put together at that time it's a committee of people that I'm I'm assuming back in 2012 did research looked at different and then try to come out with here's our beliefs at that time and they created that. So what's difficult is like all of I think everything that everybody's saying are logical like things that
092we should consider but we're trying to like make small changes to a larger process where people researched had discussions worked on that language that fit that you know the bigger picture here. So it's really hard to amend one keep the others because it was all done as a bigger you know a bigger process that flowed in. So it's hard to like change this for that. Not saying in any right or wrong, but without the bigger process, we're just nitpicking words versus really trying to get at what I think what you're saying, Mark, is are we all clear on our beliefs about discipline and are we like, do we have a unanimous or common collective understanding to operate of which is what that was done when it was initially put in and now through time we
093need there needs to be some changes. So I just think what what we're all going to struggle with here is how do you actually get to exactly what needs to be there when we're doing it just out of the context of a larger committee that's reading researching having discussion word smithing and all that work so that it gets out initially what you're looking for and everybody's here because I think we're all looking for the same thing but I just think it's hard to do one tiny section in a in a whole section that is our beliefs about children learning and discipline. It's it's just hard to do that with a few of us versus trying to go through a a process that would be yeah we're all this all makes sense to us. So I
094think that's the struggle that we're getting that you're in here right now because you know her suggestion was a great suggestion. All these suggestions are good. So how do you do that? And typically in a committee, it's through a process and word smithing and in and out and feedback. So, I'm only putting it out there because I think it's going to be really difficult to to get to the final piece with so many different viewpoints here that are all valid. >> I just have a question. >> Okay. Do you know if this came out of and a lot flows together in my brain out of like the NYU when NYU was here doing you remember if this is where that came from at that point? No, it was prior to >> prior to >> um
095so when these came in >> um when these changes were made, they were just before we were actually were in like our MTSS PBIS learning phase and it was be prior to we went through the TACD restorative learning phase. So these changes if my memory serves was prior to that. >> Yeah. I mean I know it's been in there a long >> but it's been and it hasn't been touched since in either way. >> Mr. Farmer, >> thank you. Yes. to your question because I started on the board when TACD came in and I think that was 20 2016 maybe. So my qu and I have to agree with you Jeremy and I think why I was scrambling because I'm like how are we fitting this into here and when I look at the beginning
096of the document in the first column everything is there. So yes I appreciate what you said. Thank you. >> Any other questions or comments? All right on the second amendment then we're going to vote. I guess we'll do a roll call vote on this because I have no way or idea where this is going to go. So, we'll start with since it's Mr. Bonagorio's resolution, we'll start. Mr. Bonagorio, >> since it's a roll call, correct? I will just um make a final reference to the research data which when you do a correlational research look for relationships between a a school or a district with serious uh behavioral problems. There will be automatically a correlation a high correlation between suspensions and behaviors. They go hand in hand. It's not necessarily causal. Cause correlation does not imply
097causality is the famous dictim of of uh statistical research. So we would expect to see that correlation there. I I support I vote yes for the amendment. >> And just to clarify for everyone when you speak it's declare it's to explain your vote. I'm going to give you the leeway there, Mr. Bonagorio, but it's just to explain your vote. Mr. Maloney. >> I'll vote with Mr. Bonatorio. Yes. >> Mr. Seaman. >> No. >> Mr. Butler. >> Uh because I think we've got a because I'm I'm b I'm voting no on the basis of the of the research that does show causation between suspension and uh all these negative impacts on climate and student outcomes. M Farmer, >> I too am voting no that based on school to prison pipeline, the fact that kids aren't learning
098when they're not in school, and based on what Jeremy said regarding this being a smaller piece of a whole. >> M. >> Yes. >> Mr. Ferano. >> No. >> Gotcha. >> Mr. Vice President Stansel. >> Yes. And I'm just going to say something before I explain my vote. Um, research, everybody's citing research tonight. And research, I can find research that said says Bigfoot exists. I can find research that says Bigfoot doesn't exist. I think we end up in a very slippery slope as a board of education when any of us start citing research because anybody can find anything on the opposite side of the spectrum. So I think I think we have to be careful with that and it seems like tonight we got bogged down a little bit in the research component um of
099different differing opinions because you can always find something to support your argument. So I just want us to be careful with that moving forward. Um I am going to vote in favor of this. I do think that I it's difficult for me to comprehend how suspending a student for that student, it doesn't improve their climate, it doesn't produce their outcome. However, I do think if you're a disruptive I mean I agree with Miss on this. I think if you're a disruptive student and that student now is out of the school setting, out of the classroom, etc., it does improve for those students or for those buildings. Sometimes kids we suspend we LTS kids. I mean we did a hearing this evening where a student was out for a while out of school because of egregious
100actions. And I think at times that does help improve the school environment because if a student would have come back sooner, we could have been right back to square one and in that battle in that physical altercation again. So that doesn't help the school environment. So I am going to vote in favor of this. I think taking that line out, the use of school suspension, I I just think it's a philosophical belief and we all have our own philosophical beliefs, but I I don't necessarily know if this belongs in a code of conduct, so I'm going to vote yes. Motion to amend the code of conduct passes 5 to four. And with that, I'm going to take a point of personal privilege. I'm going to wish our superintendent a happy 50th birthday to I mean,
101you know, he looks good for 50. All right. >> I mean, I wanted to put him a day over 60, so he's looking good, >> but I want to wish him a happy birthday on behalf of myself and the rest of the board of education. With that, Mr. Maloney, >> I'd like to uh pass the amendment to end this meeting. >> It's not going to be an amendment. We're not going to do that. So, >> but is there a second? Vice President Stansel. Thank you, everyone. Everybody votes in favor, I assume. Nobody ever votes no on me. >> Nobody >> ending to me. Thank you everyone. Have a good night. >> You caught me off guard.