[SchoolMatters] Student conduct policies update

[Brian Wheeler]

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This message is not an official communication of the Albemarle County School
Board. It is a private, e-mail-only newsletter written by Brian Wheeler,
At-Large Member of the Albemarle County School Board. 
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The 2006-07 school year commences in Albemarle County Public Schools this
Monday when our students return.  Our staff are hard at work making their
final preparations for their arrival.  The School Board and staff worked
over the summer reviewing student conduct policies and staff recommendations
for a full program of continuous improvement efforts with respect to student
conduct and behaviors involving alcohol/substance abuse.  As a result, we
are starting the year with several items I want to bring to the public's
attention.  Speaking as one board member, I think these are all positive
developments, but as outlined in the first list of recommendations below, we
expect further improvements will be made after additional investigation by
staff and other experts.
 
1) Staff recommendations included the following items which will be acted
upon throughout the 2006-07 school year:
 
* Review, and revise in 2006-07 as necessary, our existing curriculum for
alcohol, tobacco, and drug abuse and, identify and use resources and
strategies that extend relevant substance abuse instruction beyond the tenth
grade, addressing all students in grades 11 and 12.
* Identify and partner in 2006-07 with organizations that share with us a
mission of eliminating underage drinking so that we can better use their
services to further engage students in learning activities that more
systemically educate parents and students about the dangers and implications
of underage drinking (MADD, etc.)...
* Review Sports Done Right, a University of Maine Sport and Coaching
Initiative, and other instructional resources designed to support coaches to
engage in consistent best practices for implementation across all three high
schools... 
* Review best practices associated with other school divisions' training and
extracurricular participation rules and change as appropriate so that
Albemarle County Training rules and extracurricular activity participation
guidelines ensure consistency across schools and clearly address
consequences for underage drinking on or off school grounds and during or
not during school activities. Consider the possibility of requiring students
participating in other extracurricular activities to sign participation
agreements.
 
2) The School Board unanimously approved a revision to the Student Conduct
Policy (Policy JFC) to clarify that disciplinary action may be taken for
behaviors occurring off school grounds in certain situations as permitted by
state law.
 
3) In response to the School Board's policy decision, staff updated the
Standards of Student Conduct which is signed by both students and parents.
It now begins as follows:
 
From: Albemarle County Public Schools, Parental Responsibility and
Involvement Requirements, Student Conduct, 2006-07
See:
http://www.wheeleronboard.com/docs/ACPS-StudentConductStandards2006-07.pdf

"The Albemarle County School Board has adopted policies to encourage good
citizenship, reasonable standards of behavior, and a favorable atmosphere
for learning.  The standards are published here to help parents, students,
and school personnel to know some of the more obvious types of misconduct.
The list of types of misconduct is not exclusive nor a limitation upon the
authority of the School Board or school officials to deal with conduct which
interferes with the proper functioning of the schools.  At certain times as
permitted by law, students may also be subject to disciplinary action, up to
and including suspension or expulsion, for misconduct that occurs off-school
grounds."
 
4) Staff also have revised the Athletic Training Rule for the 2006-07 school
year to ensure the same policies are in effect at all our high schools.
See:
http://www.wheeleronboard.com/docs/ACPS-AthleticTrainingRule-2006-07.pdf
 
Brian Wheeler

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Brian Wheeler
 <mailto:bwheeler at albemarlematters.com> bwheeler at albemarlematters.com
 <http://www.wheeleronboard.com/> http://www.wheeleronboard.com
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