By NEIL ZOLOT
NORTH READING — The School Committee approved some changes to the High School Student Handbook, which will eventually be incorporated into School Committee and School Department policies, at their meeting Monday, July 24.
“We’ll need to tweak our policies and changes will be made at the middle and elementary school level,” Superintendent Dr. Patrick Daly explained. “It’s all part of the same process.”
The most significant change is deprioritizing suspension as a disciplinary tool. High School Principal Anthony Loprete said the changes will ensure “alternative remedies have been considered prior to suspension.”
That will bring the town into formal compliance with Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 71, Section 37H ¾, which also applies to expulsion and reads: “All school principals and designees and the Superintendent and designees when acting as a decision-maker at a disciplinary hearing or appeal to consider student discipline other than offenses involving drugs, weapons or assaults on school staff and felony offenses, shall, when deciding the consequences for the student, consider ways to re-engage the student in the learning process.
“The principal or designee shall not suspend the student until alternative remedies have been employed and their use and results documented, unless specific reasons are documented as to why such alternative remedies would be unsuitable or counter-productive or the student’s continued presence in school would pose a specific, documentable concern about the infliction of serious bodily harm or other serious injury upon another person while in school.”
The local policy adds: “Alternative remedies may include, but shall not be limited to mediation, conflict resolution and collaborative problem solving.”
Daly elaborated, “The school should consider other action before suspension.”
The superintendent also said the policy at the state and local levels will “address disparate responses across the state,” in reference to students of color, among other groups, being suspended or expelled at above average rates.
Daly and Loprete stated the School Department is already engaging in this practice. “We’re doing this already,” Daly said. “It’s something teachers are doing – dealing with conflict in their classrooms before it reaches the level of suspension. This is to update the policy to follow our practices.”
“We’ve used mediation strategies consistently prior to this,” Loprete added.
Final exam exemptions for seniors
Another change will permanently adopt the two-year program for exemptions for seniors from final exams. “Students who meet the criteria shall be eligible to be exempt from final exams in appropriate courses,” the handbook now reads. The criteria includes a 93% scoring average, having no more than three unexcused absences, and meeting expectations for school conduct.
In the 2021-22 school year, 162 seniors took 1,285 final exams. In 2022-23 174 seniors took 1,395. Exemptions were granted for 391 or 30.4% of final exams in 2021-22 and 670 or 48% of final exams in 2022-23.
A total of 110 students (90.1%) were excused from at least one exam in 2021-22, while 159 students (91.4%) were excused from at least one exam in 2022-23.
Students ineligible from exemption due to attendance issues fell from 25 (15.4%) in 2021-22 to 11 (6.3%) in 2022-23.
Similarly, students ineligible due to disciplinary issues fell from 15 (9.2%) in 2021-22 to just 3 (1.7%) in 2022-23. “I’d like to think motivation is part of all this,” Loprete told the committee.
Loprete also reported some students have asked him if the threshold could be lower than 93 percent. “If we offer a student not to take an exam it’s because they have mastered the material,” he said. “If we go lower than 93%, I don’t think that would remain.”
School Committee Chair Scott Buckley suggested 90% be the level used. “You could argue you’re close to mastering the material at that level,” he feels.
A survey of a small sample of the Class of 2023 indicated 22 students (61.1%) strongly agreed the exemption policy is fair and makes sense. The same number of students strongly agreed it was positive for their mental health while 27 students (75%) strongly agreed it should be adopted permanently.
Among teachers, 27 (40.5%) agreed the policy is fair and makes sense while 18 (42.9%) strongly agreed. A total of 19 teacher (45.2%) agreed it should be adopted permanently and 15 teachers (35.7%) strongly agreed.
“Some teachers like it, but some disagree with it,” Loprete conceded.
Academy honesty and AI
The new Academic Honesty policy adopted involves artificial intelligence. It reads simply: “Use of AI software or technology as a substitute for one’s own work is prohibited.”
Sound system gifts
In other developments, the School Committee accepted gifts of $10,000 from the North Reading Music Boosters and $5,000 from the Friends of the Hornets for work on the sound system at the High School’s Performing Arts Center.