Last week one of my best students served time in In-School Suspension (ISS) for failure to follow proper check-out procedures. From what I can gather from the student and other teachers, one day during the previous week, the student had brought a note to check-out of school. The attendance clerk called home to verify the note and then gave the student a pass to return to the office to check-out later in the day.
The student attended her morning classes and then reported to my class where she delivered a 25-minute group presentation, the culmination of a long group project that the students had been working on for several weeks. Needless to say, group members were nervous and then delighted when they finished the presentation. At the end of the presentation, the jovial student left my room to check out.
Unfortunately, the student forgot to return to the attendance office to sign-out. Instead, she went immediately to her car and drove off campus.
Because she failed to sign-out officially, administrators assigned her 3 days in ISS.
The student was crestfallen. She had never been sent to an administrator for misbehavior before. In fact, she is a stellar student who volunteers her time to help teachers, administrators, and fellow students. Because she is so responsible and enthusiastic, she is well known and respected. Upon hearing of the discipline infraction, her teachers contacted administrators to explain that this is not a student who would ever knowingly break rules and asked that the administration rescind the ISS punishment. The administrators talked to the student once again and promised her that they would reduce her punishment from 3 days of ISS to 2 days if she behaved properly while she was in ISS.
Behaved properly? This is a student who always behaves properly, a student who unfortunately made a mistake on one day by not properly signing out.
In the end the student was given two days to serve, and teachers were frustrated because administrators appeared to care more about being consistent in enforcing rules instead of looking at the individual situation of a conscientious student. What is the intent of having students sign-out officially? The rule was established years ago to cover students who were skipping class and then trying to convince faculty members that they were really just checking out. Was this student skipping class? Absolutely not - everyone agrees that she just forgot to go by the office a second time.
Does she deserve punishment? Probably so - we have to have a record of who is on campus and who leaves. However, giving one, two, or three days of ISS for her first rule infraction in four years is heavy handed and certainly not in the best interest of the child.
On the first day the student served time in ISS, I sent her a note and told her how much I appreciated her positive attitude, enthusiasm, and interest in other people. I also emphasized that in life we all have bad things happen to us or things that appear unfair. As the student sat in ISS with so many other students who had skipped school, misbehaved, and interrupted classes, I wanted her to know just how much her teachers respect her. The following day she came by before school to thank me and to tell me how much my note meant to her.
We are all confronted with hundreds of situations during the day, situations where students make mistakes, misbehave, or act erratically. Sometimes it's difficult to determine what to do. When I'm trying to decide how to handle a situation, even when I am upset, angry, or frustrated, I always have to remind myself to
Err on the side of the student.
As a result, students may get away with a few transgressions, but I'm okay with that. I couldn't sleep at night if I thought that I had punished a student unfairly.
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