Panel: Strict school discipline should be scrapped

Ivan Moreno:

Colorado lawmakers and police said Monday that strict disciplinary policies at schools created after the Columbine High School shootings should be scaled back or scrapped and that administrators should have more control over student punishment.

The state laws put in place after high-profile cases of youth violence have tied the hands of school administrators with zero-policy standard, said members of a panel looking at school discipline trends. In turn, the officials are left with no choice but to refer a high number of students to law enforcement for minor offenses that pose no threat to school safety, they said.

"Zero tolerance has outlived its shelf life and is often inappropriately and inconsistently applied," John Jackson, the police chief for Greenwood Village, wrote in a memo by the panel. He suggested that officials come up with a better definition for what's considered a "dangerous weapon" on school grounds.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at September 15, 2011 1:49 AM
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