Madison school board to revisit zero tolerance policy
Expulsions revisited
Expulsions revisited
expulsion. I just think those things need to be looked at a little more closely than they are right now.”
“I do think there are a lot of students who want to be in school, who do think school is important, who think getting an education is important and their
families say how important it is for their child to be in school and be in a safe environment, but they made a mistake at that point in time,” Winston said. “That
needs to be rectified some other way. But I think it can be rectified in ways other than expulsion. We suspend students for a couple of days. We also have
restorative justice programs. And we can look at other alternative programs. I’m just looking forward to this administration really looking at some of these key
elements and saying ‘What can we do besides just expelling students?’ Our policies need to be written in a way that factor in staff people and how they feel.
What’s interesting is that a lot of times when we expel students, the staff people will write the board and say ‘Please don’t expel this student because they need a
second chance, they are an excellent student or excellent person. Unfortunately, at that point in time, they just didn’t do what they needed to do.’ So even for
staff, looking at the policy is a good thing. Expulsions don’t just affect the student. It also affects the staff and people’s morale.”
The zero tolerance policy came about, in part, because it was felt by many in the African American community that school staff was using bias when
deciding which students to expel. “Zero tolerance isn’t working either,” Winston said. “Each student who walks through the doors of this district is different.
Students have different relationships with staff people. They have different ways of thinking. And I just think those things need to be factored in when you are
looking at the big picture of a student who is about to be expelled. You have to look at the big picture and not just ‘Okay, this is what happened here.’ We do
have to look at intent and we do have to look at students’ contribution to the school. I’m not saying no student needs to be expelled. There are times when
expulsion needs to happen. But I don’t think it needs to happen as much as it is right now. I think a larger conversation needs to happen. And right now, we are
not achieving the results that originally put zero tolerance into effect and so, I think we need to look at it again.”
In February 2009, the Madison school board voted 7-0 to direct the MMSD administration to look at the district’s expulsion policy and to give the Madison
school board recommendations on adjusting the policy by June. “The rules need to be looked at so we can look at different alternatives for different things that
happen with our students,” Winston said. “I wish it could happen tomorrow, but I know it isn’t. It’s frustrating. And I know if it is frustrating for me as a school board
member, it has to be frustrating for assistant principals and other school staff. They have to work through this every single day.”
“I do think there are a lot of students who want to be in school, who do think school is important, who think getting an education is important and their
families say how important it is for their child to be in school and be in a safe environment, but they made a mistake at that point in time,” Winston said. “That
needs to be rectified some other way. But I think it can be rectified in ways other than expulsion. We suspend students for a couple of days. We also have
restorative justice programs. And we can look at other alternative programs. I’m just looking forward to this administration really looking at some of these key
elements and saying ‘What can we do besides just expelling students?’ Our policies need to be written in a way that factor in staff people and how they feel.
What’s interesting is that a lot of times when we expel students, the staff people will write the board and say ‘Please don’t expel this student because they need a
second chance, they are an excellent student or excellent person. Unfortunately, at that point in time, they just didn’t do what they needed to do.’ So even for
staff, looking at the policy is a good thing. Expulsions don’t just affect the student. It also affects the staff and people’s morale.”
The zero tolerance policy came about, in part, because it was felt by many in the African American community that school staff was using bias when
deciding which students to expel. “Zero tolerance isn’t working either,” Winston said. “Each student who walks through the doors of this district is different.
Students have different relationships with staff people. They have different ways of thinking. And I just think those things need to be factored in when you are
looking at the big picture of a student who is about to be expelled. You have to look at the big picture and not just ‘Okay, this is what happened here.’ We do
have to look at intent and we do have to look at students’ contribution to the school. I’m not saying no student needs to be expelled. There are times when
expulsion needs to happen. But I don’t think it needs to happen as much as it is right now. I think a larger conversation needs to happen. And right now, we are
not achieving the results that originally put zero tolerance into effect and so, I think we need to look at it again.”
In February 2009, the Madison school board voted 7-0 to direct the MMSD administration to look at the district’s expulsion policy and to give the Madison
school board recommendations on adjusting the policy by June. “The rules need to be looked at so we can look at different alternatives for different things that
happen with our students,” Winston said. “I wish it could happen tomorrow, but I know it isn’t. It’s frustrating. And I know if it is frustrating for me as a school board
member, it has to be frustrating for assistant principals and other school staff. They have to work through this every single day.”
By Jonathan Gramling
Johnny Winston Jr., a member of the Madison Metropolitan School
District, knows that some students deserve to be expelled and he supports
that. But there are other gray, more complex areas where he feels that
the Madison schools’ policy of zero tolerance ends up being a disservice
to the student, the staff and the school administration. And the current
expulsion policies inordinately affect African American students. During
the 2006-2007 school year, of the 31 students expelled, 21 or 67
percent were African American even though African Americans
represent only 22 percent of the student population.
“Students have bad days, staff has bad days,” Winston said during an
interview with The Capital City Hues. “There are also circumstances that
happen, which need to be recognized. Expulsion should be the last
resort that we place on a student or that the transgression was so great,
there is no other alternative but to expel the student. But when I see the
students we are expelling these days, I just see there are too many gray
area situations that happen. A gray area is two students are fighting each
other. A teacher or staff person steps in those students and gets hit
upside the head. The student didn’t mean to hit the teacher. They were
trying to hit the other student. But now we’re talking about a 400 level
Johnny Winston Jr., a member of the Madison Metropolitan School
District, knows that some students deserve to be expelled and he supports
that. But there are other gray, more complex areas where he feels that
the Madison schools’ policy of zero tolerance ends up being a disservice
to the student, the staff and the school administration. And the current
expulsion policies inordinately affect African American students. During
the 2006-2007 school year, of the 31 students expelled, 21 or 67
percent were African American even though African Americans
represent only 22 percent of the student population.
“Students have bad days, staff has bad days,” Winston said during an
interview with The Capital City Hues. “There are also circumstances that
happen, which need to be recognized. Expulsion should be the last
resort that we place on a student or that the transgression was so great,
there is no other alternative but to expel the student. But when I see the
students we are expelling these days, I just see there are too many gray
area situations that happen. A gray area is two students are fighting each
other. A teacher or staff person steps in those students and gets hit
upside the head. The student didn’t mean to hit the teacher. They were
trying to hit the other student. But now we’re talking about a 400 level