GILROY
– Attempts by Gilroy High School staff and administrators to
step up discipline of students this past school year resulted in
nearly half the tardies and fewer referrals and suspensions than
the previous year.
Overall, tardies decreased 46.7 percent this year, based on the
school’s final discipline numbers released this month. Tardies
after the first period of the day went down nearly 70 percent. As a
result, 32 percent fewer tardy letters were sent home to
parents.
Tardy reduction was a major objective for school officials at
the start of the school year in August.
GILROY – Attempts by Gilroy High School staff and administrators to step up discipline of students this past school year resulted in nearly half the tardies and fewer referrals and suspensions than the previous year.
Overall, tardies decreased 46.7 percent this year, based on the school’s final discipline numbers released this month. Tardies after the first period of the day went down nearly 70 percent. As a result, 32 percent fewer tardy letters were sent home to parents.
Tardy reduction was a major objective for school officials at the start of the school year in August.
“I think (students) responded pretty quickly to it,” Principal Bob Bravo said. “Part of the reason why I think they had a relatively rapid response to it was probably because you have a lot of athletes that want to stay eligible.”
Athletes already knew they would receive a mandatory six-week ineligibility for a suspension of three days or more. Last year, teachers began issuing a citizenship grade each quarter that was affected by students’ unexcused absences or tardies. After two unacceptable citizenship grades, students become ineligible for extra-curricular activities, including sports.
GHS instituted “tardy sweeps” after morning brunch and afternoon lunch breaks that resulted in students returning to class, school officials said. The campus became a place where students knew they could not hang out while class was in session.
“It’s not fun to be tardy by yourself,” Assistant Principal Greg Camacho-Light said. “We have to motivate enough people so that, if you’re tardy, there won’t be anyone to hang out with.”
With more students in class, student behavior in general and other discipline issues improved as well, he said.
The number of referrals issued to students last year decreased 7 percent, GHS reported. Work details, assigned to students who miss detention, were down 9 percent. But more students went to work detail, thereby avoiding suspension: 81 percent, versus 50 percent in 2002-03.
The total number of suspensions last year decreased 10 percent. Students may be suspended if they miss detention or work detail, or if they commit a more serious offense, such as bringing weapons or drugs onto campus or fighting.
“I think, lots of times, discipline infractions are often connected to each other,” Principal Bob Bravo said. “Usually, when you bring one discipline infraction down, you’re often going to pull other infractions down with it.”
That translates into a change in campus culture. Students have often referred to that change in reference to not only the tardy policy, but the dress code as well. This year’s salutatorian even brought up Assistant Principal Mani Corzo’s strict enforcement of the dress code in her graduation ceremony address.
“I want to give credit to our students for working so well with us and cooperating to change the culture of our school,” Corzo said in a prepared statement. “I have felt the difference this year and we will continue working together to improve our school environment.”
Next year, GHS plans to further improve student discipline by decreasing the number of suspensions while still holding students accountable for meeting behavior standards. GHS will hold a Saturday School – students will spend a Saturday in the classroom – for students who miss work detail.
“The purpose of Saturday School is really to see if we can hold students accountable but find more ways in which they don’t have to miss school,” Bravo said. “There was Saturday School in the past, but we’re going to try a few things differently to see if it works out.”
For example, if a student misses Saturday School, he or she will then attend on-campus suspension instead of an at-home suspension. Either way, they will be on campus and under supervision.
What is most important, school officials say, there will be an increase in learning opportunities and student achievement.
Given the positive discipline numbers for the 2003-04 year, Camacho-Light says the school is “happy with the results, but we’re not satisfied.”
The next step will be to implement the heavier consequences next year.
“We’re going to take measures in terms of what needs to be done to get students in class to be learning,” Camacho-Light said. “That’s the message with Saturday school, with the in-class suspension, and we’re going to follow through with that.”
In a statement, Bravo said the numbers “indicate that we are turning the corner on campus behavior and that more and more students are conducting themselves properly and professionally.
“When our administrative team came in two years ago, we were told that student discipline had eroded and we needed to turn things around. Last year we needed to issue a lot of suspensions and it is good to see that our efforts are beginning to bear fruit as we expected.”
Lori Stuenkel covers education for The Dispatch. She can be reached at 847-7158 or ls*******@************ch.com.
