How San Diego School Districts Are Dealing With Discipline In The Age Of COVID-19

Speaker 1: 00:00 In the COVID era classrooms might be virtual, but disruptive student behaviors are still very real. And so are there consequences? KPBS education reported, Joe Hong spoke to administrators about how distance learning impacts school discipline. Speaker 2: 00:17 Earlier this month on the first day of the new school year in the Sweetwater union high school district, a student brandished, a firearm during a virtual class session, the police were called and officers arrived at the students residence to find that the weapon was a BB gun. And no one was harmed later in the week, the district, which was the first in the County to start the fall semester received reports of students sharing pornographic images during online classes, these disruptive behaviors add yet another layer to the challenges facing teachers and administrators as they restart school in the COVID era, Manny Rubio's the spokesman for the Sweetwater union high school district. He said, the expectations for student behavior are the same as the word before the pandemic. If you were in a classroom, it's, you know, respecting your classmates, your fellow classmates, respecting the teacher, that's in, that's in front of you giving the lesson, um, asking questions that are thoughtful and very, you know, that are appropriate for the class. Speaker 2: 01:08 Um, it's making sure that you're prepared. It's making sure that, um, you know, when you're offline, you're also conducting yourself in a way that's respectful and proper, but educators across the County know that this is a new reality for students. And while rules for behavior stayed the same, their learning environments are completely different. Jamie de Hoff is the director of attendance and discipline at Powell unified. He said the new setting can lead to changes in student behavior. This is a new environment for students. Um, the rules are not established. You know, we make some assumptions that kids know that, you know, when you're in your bedroom doing the stuff that you're held to the same levels of conduct that you would be if you're sitting in a classroom and I don't think we can make those assumptions, the state education code requires suspensions and even expulsions for certain offenses and day Hoff and other school officials made it clear that students will still be punished for disrupting online classes, but they also knowledge they'll have to take extra steps to make sure the punishments don't further exacerbate. Speaker 2: 02:10 The problem schools have connecting with their students. Rubio said Sweetwater's having counselors reach out to students and parents to better understand negative behaviors. And so what we want to understand is, and is this just a case of, you know, a kid trying to make a disruption just for the sake of it, just for the, you know, for the sake of doing it, or is there something behind that? And so we really want to know, get to that root cause of what's going on. School. Officials are also quick to say that there are still working to emphasize restorative justice and other alternatives to punitive discipline in part to eliminate the disproportionate impact on students of color students with disabilities and low income students. But advocates worry that when physical campuses reopened districts will revert to overly punitive practices in the potentially dangerous learning environment created by the pandemic. Speaker 2: 02:54 Daniel Lawson is the director of the center for civil rights remedies at UCLA. He's concerned for example, that a shoving match between students or a confrontation with a teacher where student violates social distancing could lead to harsher penalties due to the public health risks involved with physical contact. And I worry that when we reopened schools, that teachers, again may, may with increasingly increasing frequency view situations that normally they might handle as dangerous situations. And so one response might be that schools, teachers and administrators will call police more often than before because now every small incident could have a danger component to it that didn't exist before they have said planning and communication will be key to avoiding such scenarios. It's like you're in school and we want you to be relaxed and be able to learn. But you know, you can't be disrupting you can't, there are certain things you just cannot do and you're held. And I think the more specific we can get with students on scenarios and things that occur the better at Joe Hong KPBS news, Speaker 1: 04:11 Joining me is KPBS education reporter Joe Hong, Joe. Welcome. Thanks for having me the incident that you start your report with a student brandishing, a weapon, which turned out to be a BB gun. How would that student be disciplined if he did that in an in person classroom and was disciplined for the virtual classroom incident? Any different? Speaker 2: 04:35 Yeah, so, uh, in, in this case, uh, when the students showed the, the gun in the virtual classroom, the teacher reported it to administration who then reported the incident to police. And I think if this was in an in-person classroom, maybe, um, the, the teacher could have recognized that it was a BB gun and the police maybe wouldn't need to get involved. Um, but even so, you know, according to California education code, this could result in suspension or expulsion. Um, if, if the gun had been, uh, been a real firearm, it definitely would have resulted in suspension or suspension or expulsion, but the rules are a little more lax for, for a BB gun. Speaker 1: 05:19 Now, is it technically possible for kids to get away with more bad behavior when they are online, then when they're in the classroom? Speaker 2: 05:29 Um, that's hard. That's hard to say. I mean, theoretically, yes. Just because there is less sort of monitoring by the teachers and there's less of sort of that in person relationship. So I think educators are sort of concerned that there's just sort of less a sense of accountability from students because they're not being washed all the time. Speaker 1: 05:51 Lots of teachers, you know, develop classroom instincts, almost like having eyes in the back of their heads to sense when students are doing something they shouldn't. Is it more difficult for teachers now to use those instincts? Speaker 2: 06:05 Oh, definitely. And I think teachers are, they're not just worried about being able to catch bad behavior. They're, they're worried about not being able to develop a relationship with their students. And so at the end of the day school discipline, how schools think about it now is more about student wellbeing. Are these behaviors a sign of something else going at home? And is there, is this something that a more meaningful relationship with an educator to resolve? Speaker 1: 06:32 Yeah. Tell us more about the counseling outreach that Sweetwater is starting. That's in an effort to try to figure out what's behind some kid's disruptive online behavior. Speaker 2: 06:42 Yeah. So it's making sure that kids, when they're at home, they have the supports that they need and making sure that's when students are logged in that they're focused. And if there's anything in there in their home environments that are preventing that then, uh, those counselors and administrators are, are working to address those issues. Speaker 1: 07:04 What role do teachers expect parents or caregivers to play in maintaining student discipline when kids are learning online at home? Speaker 2: 07:13 I think teachers are hoping that parents sort of take some responsibility and are kind of filling in for the teacher and making sure their students are doing the work they're paying attention to live class sessions when they're going on. And just making sure that students are focused because I think teachers don't want their kids to be logging into class and their Gemma's from there, from the bed. Ideally teachers would want parents to maybe have a sort of a setup that has some semblance to like a classroom or, um, oral work environment. Speaker 1: 07:48 And you mentioned the very successful alternative discipline programs like restorative justice will be continued during virtual classroom settings. How will they be doing that? Speaker 2: 08:00 Yeah. So a lot of that is just what you've been talking about already. Um, making sure that counselors are in touch with students that might be struggling and the, in the virtual classroom setting. Um, and this it's a really holistic sort of approach to student wellbeing where the teacher might notice that a student is really isn't really engaged in class. And, um, you know, that might be again, a sign that something is going on at home, or they're having some challenges outside the virtual classroom. And at that point a counselor or, uh, or, uh, an administrator would reach out to that student and the parents. So it's really about enhanced communication. This time. Speaker 1: 08:41 I have been speaking with KPBS education reporter, Joe Hong and Joe. Thank you. Speaker 2: 08:46 Thank you.