In the interest of maintaining optimal learning conditions at all grade levels in public schools officials are compelled to remove students who display a lack of regard for public welfare. We increasingly find to our surprise that younger and younger students demonstrate severe behaviors and dispositions that defy logic. When students threaten the peace and sanctity of the public school environment school officials must act and consider the greater good. After many interventions school officials often find these disruptive students standing before a panel for long term suspension or expulsion.
It is the result of these hearings that will occasionally bring criticism from outside sources complaining that all children belong in the school setting and not out on the street. They often cite the societal cost of incarceration as opposed to the lesser per person cost of educating our youth. While this argument has it's merits, the overarching need to provide a civil environment free from the threats of the safety and welfare of children and young adults far outweighs the concern for the few disaffected students removed from the public school environment.
The overwhelming majority of children who attend public schools everyday (perhaps in excess of 90%) never act out of order. Every school division offers a sanctioned and published "Code of Conduct" that aligns with the regulatory and statuatory dictates of the state constituion. In Virginia, this relationship is very explicit and clean. The state associations such as the Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals hosts spring forums where distinguished presentors such as Roger E. Jones from Lynchburg University define the legislative changes and additions for the current school year's laws and regulations. School divisions, in turn, note these legal changes and incorporate such into their Code of Conduct for the following school year. The published Code of Conduct is then distributed and explained to all students entering schools in the fall and in Virginia parents are required to sign for receipt of them.
When student misbehavior rises to an unacceptable level of tolerance school officials must and do act in accordance with their statuatory responsibilities. Citizens pay a high price for providing public education in their communities, students are asked to pay a resonable price for attending these institutions: ie., respectful and civil behavior. Sadly, as a result of an increased push for free expression in our wonderful democratic society, the standards and expectations for behavior in public schools often exceed what is accepted in other public places such as shopping malls, theatres, or concert venues. In fact, many school bus drivers may not play the radio on school routes for fear that children will hear words and phrases in music that uttered in public schools would be grounds for disciplinary action.
The Supreme Court of the United States in reviewing key cases relating to freedom of expression and student rights has consistently defined the public school setting as a special circumstance. On one hand, "...students do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the school house gate," (Tinker, 393 US 503, 1969) and on the other hand of the behavior equation" ...failure to react...would be inconsistent with the district's responsibility to teach students the boundaries of socially appropriate behavior." (Morse, 127 S.Ct. 722, 2006).
The challenges facing public schools in this era of history are perhaps greater than at any other time in the history of education. Accountability in academic achievement must parallel the responsibility to hold students accountable for socially appropriate behavior in public schools. After exhausting all possibe remedies, the public expects school officials to hold children accountable for dangerous behaviors that impact the health, safety, and wealfare of others in our public schools. If such consequences lead to expulsion from school, school boards must do so without remorse and should withstand the limited criticism they face for eliminating threats to the school environment: after all public school officials are upholding the laws intended to create safe schools to begin with, and should not the children and parents invested in our public schools expect standards to be upheld? I say a resounding YES.
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