Proposal for Saturday detentions sparks controversy
Portsmouth – A motion to approve a new policy on Saturday morning detention sessions for students with disciplinary problems was presented at a Portsmouth School Board meeting, meaning students would be trading in sleeping in their beds for sitting at their desks.
Tim Steele, the board member who made the motion, explained that the policy would require students to attend Saturday detention sessions from 8 a.m. until noon.
During discussion of the proposal, Peggy Bacon, a parent, said she was not in favor of the new rule. She commented that it is hard enough to get her son off to school five days a week and that parents shouldn’t have to worry about doing that on Saturday as well.
“I just don’t think it’s going to make any difference,” she said. “The parents are going to pay for it – in higher taxes as well as in ruined Saturdays.”
The new disciplinary measure is being proposed in an effort to reduce the number of in-house suspensions. Students in in-house suspensions are not allowed to make up class work they missed during that day. Students caught smoking in the high school bathrooms are automatically given in-house suspensions, meaning they miss an entire day of class time and work.
Proponents believe this will ultimately help students because they would not miss class time or class work.
Furthermore, Steele hopes the threat of Saturday detentions will cause students to re-think breaking school rules and policies.
Resident Bob Farley, a proponent of the proposal, said he liked the idea of the new rules and commented that it was time for parents in America to take responsibility for their children.
“That’s the whole problem,” he explained, “parents aren’t teaching their kids any discipline, so the kids have no respect for the rules.” He believes that if students have to sacrifice a few Saturday mornings then maybe they will start acting appropriately.
If a student chooses to skip a Saturday session, however, “he or she would not be allowed to return to school until the detention has been served,” according to Steele.
Lisa Gallagher, a senior who attended the meeting, responded to the repercussions for missing a Saturday session, saying “What are they going to do, make them stay all weekend?”
Gallagher believes the point of the new rule is make life easier for school faculty, meaning they won’t have to deal with detentions during the school week.
The school board voted 5-3 to table the issue until the next meeting, March 7, when Steele is to return at that time with figures on in-school detentions for the current school year.
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