FZTR Hopes School Board's SR&R Vote Isn't Final Call

As Fairfax County School Board members prepare to vote on revisions to the school system's discipline policies at their meeting on Thursday, reform supporters are planning a rally before and during the meeting to show their dissatisfaction with the proposed changes.

Fairfax Zero Tolerance Reform Rally for Student Rights will kick off at 6:30 p.m. in front of Luther Jackson Middle School. The school board meeting begins at 7 p.m., with a vote on the changes to the Student Responsibilities and Rights handbook scheduled for around 7:45 p.m.

FCPS Superintendent Jack Dale and Student Responsibilities and Rights handbook last month, and groups such and Fairfax Zero Tolerance Reform, a group of concerned citizen who fight for reform of Fairfax County school disciplinary policies and their implementation.

Some school board members and local advocacy groups think the superintendent's recommended changes to the system’s disciplinary process don't go far enough – especially in the areas of parental notification and access to audio recordings of hearings.

FTZR President Caroline Hemenway said the changes are small and aren't close enough to the complete discipline system overhaul the group would like to see.

"More than 70 issues were raised [at the March 14 work session], and the board stated it would be responsible for leadership in reviewing them," she wrote. "Instead, the board ceded responsibility to the superintendent. As a result, his proposal does not go anywhere near far enough to include parents and guardians in preventive, rehabilitative, or restorative practices."

She adds these guidelines for the school board to consider Thursday night:

• Whatever happens, this is only a START; keep the reform review going.
• Notify parents/guardians before kids are questioned, give them Miranda warnings, do not let them sign statements without parent/guardian permission. Superintendent Jack Dale's SR&R proposed changes state only that an attempt to notify parents will be made after questioning.
• Put a moratorium on involuntary lateral school transfers because research/data show they are deleterious and none shows they are beneficial. Work with national experts to develop criteria for the very limited cases where they may be appropriate. The proposed SR&R changes do not address this issue at all, Hemenway says.
  
• Record all hearings and make them available for free immediately to parents who request them. Jack Dale's proposed SR&R changes suggest hearings be recorded but parents can only "review" them, not have copies.
• Support children on suspension by providing ongoing educational (and wraparound) services throughout; meantime, reduce out-of-school suspensions to as close to zero as possible. 
• Reduce disproportional discipline against students with disabilities and disadvantaged students, including minorities. This is not addressed in Jack Dale's proposed SR&R changes.

FZTR plans to wear red "as a symbol of valor and strength" and wave signs, Hemenway said. The meeting is shown live on Channel 21.