The Peoria Public School District’s board members are still in the early stages of adopting a revised student behavior policy compliant with Senate Bill 100.
The law passed in August requires school districts to only resort to suspensions and expulsions until “other interventions have been exhausted.”
The seven-page policy mandates changes, like increased documentation and administrative support, should an incident arise.
The measure puts greater emphasis on dealing with the causes of student behavioral issues and only recommends suspension or expulsions as a last resort, in cases where students pose a threat to other students or faculty.
Board VP and Policy committee chair Rick Cloyd says the challenge going forward with the new policy is maintaining consistency.
“We’ve got over a thousand teachers in our schools," Cloyd said. "They all have to be trained in this, and at the end of the day are they going to be thumbing through a policy that’s seven pages long when they’re confronted with an issue? The answer is no, they don’t have time or the ability to do that.”
Cloyd says the revised policy reflects how the District currently responds to behavioral issues but requires substantially more documentation and administrative support.
“The reality of dealing with a classroom in a school building with kids who are struggling to deal with life issues and other problems, doesn’t fit neatly into a lot of boxes that people would like to address with just one policy,” Cloyd said.
Cloyd says the District’s Office of Social Emotional Learning coalesces with the policy’s emphasis on addressing causes behind behavior outbreaks, like mental health issues.
The board aims to approve a final draft by July 1, ahead of principals’ training and the start of summer session at Valeska-Hinton later that month.