Discipline policies in Denver Public Schools have been praised as models for other districts across the country, but in a couple of recent cases, relatives of students have questioned whether the softer approach is protecting their kids.
In one, parents at Denver’s Edison Elementary went to police themselves to report a fourth-grader who they said threatened to bring a gun to school after Edison officials decided not to report the incident.
In a second case, a grandmother reported a year’s worth of bullying of her granddaughter at Godsman Elementary to police because she felt school officials were not taking it seriously.
In both cases, questions were raised about a 2-year-old DPS policy that advocates a restorative approach to trouble in school, in which an offender learns from a mistake and makes amends, rather than the old punitive approach.
It was implemented after a 2008 push from Padres Unidos and other community groups, which said zero-tolerance policies were creating a school-to-jail track. Discipline in DPS at the time seemed to be disproportionately applied to minority students.
The new policy lists behavioral problems and categorizes them in five groups. Each type or category of offense has a corresponding intervention and range of possible consequences.
Using cellphones in class, pushing a student and using profanity are on the lowest category of offenses. Teachers are instructed to listen to students and counsel them, attempting to settle the problem without going to the administration. They also are instructed to use and document at least one intervention.
According to data from the district, which is complete only for one year under the new policy, in 2009-10, there were more incidents in schools that required discipline attention, but the number of students who misbehaved decreased, and so have expulsions and referrals to law enforcement.
John Simmons, executive director for student services at DPS, said preliminary data for the current year will show an even larger drop in behavioral problems at schools.
“It’s not by magic but by incredibly hard work,” Simmons said. “We’re competing to get face time with teachers, but we’re working to get everyone on the same page.”
Linda Pakiser, who said her granddaughter was routinely bullied at Godsman Elementary, worries that the pendulum has swung too far. Though police told her no crime was committed against her granddaughter, Pakiser said school officials were not taking steps to eliminate the threat until after she got police involved.
“Now, the girls who bully her are automatically sent to the principal’s office when they bother my granddaughter,” Pakiser said. “But that’s how it should have been from the beginning.”
Another DPS parent, William Untiedt, said he has noticed an increase in discipline problems in the district.
“There has been a significant increase in incidents of bullying, at least in my experience, and I don’t think they’ve all been handled appropriately by the administration,” said Untiedt, a parent of two. “When you have a consistent problem of violent behavior, that child doesn’t just need discipline; they need help.”
Simmons acknowledged that the new system requires some getting used to.
“We’re a school district, and we’re in the business of educating,” Simmons said. “Offenders are asked to make repairs, and we make it into an educational opportunity, but for years, it wasn’t the way.”
The new approach got some national attention Monday when the U.S. assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, Thomas Perez, visited Denver to learn about DPS’s discipline policies and restorative-justice programs, particularly as they apply to bias offenses on campus.
“We see hate crimes all over the country, and I prosecute a lot of cases involving young people, but I’ve come to conclude we can’t prosecute our way out of this,” Perez said. “We have to get to young people sooner and teach them tolerance and respect.”
Yesenia Robles: 303-954-1372 or yrobles@denverpost.com
