Beaufort County schools could have a new student code of conduct in August. What to know
When Beaufort County students begin school in the fall, they could be coming back to a new, district-wide code of conduct that differentiates discipline depending on the grade students are in.
Right now, the school district has a “one-pager” for discipline that lists different infractions and suggested consequences that’s applied across elementary, middle and high schools.
“It was basically a checklist; it was one-size-fit-all,” H.E. McCracken Middle School teacher Karen McKenzie said. “We didn’t feel like it was fair for all students in the district.”
The 172-page proposed code, created by district teachers, principals and administrators, outlines separate tiers of infractions, along with suggested interventions that change if a student is repeating the behavior.
McKenzie led the charge to write the code after being named the district’s Teacher of the Year in 2018. In May 2019, she presented a survey to board members that showed 85% of teachers supported a district-wide discipline matrix.
“Behavior is the biggest issue I have seen while working for this district,” one teacher wrote in the survey. “There seem to be very little action for negative behavior. Referrals are kicked to the guidance department very frequently, but the behavior stays the same.”
N’Kia Campbell, the district academic initiatives director, said Wednesday that an “eye-opening” moment in creating the proposed code was a role-playing scenario in which two groups had to punish a student for the same offense.
One group gave the student detention.
The other gave the student five days of out-of-school suspension.
“We’re not taking anything away from administrators,” Campbell said. “They still have flexibility in the window of the matrix, but the goal is that we’re consistent. If something happens in one high school, that consequence needs to be similar at another high school.”
The school board’s academic committee — chaired by Tricia Fidrych, with Cathy Robine and Mel Campbell — heard a presentation from district administrators and teachers on the code Wednesday, and unanimously voted to send it to the full board for adoption.
The board will discuss the proposed code of conduct at its meetings Tuesday and Wednesday.
What’s in the code of conduct
The code has three levels of infractions:
- Level I: Behavioral misconduct
- Level II: Disruptive conduct
- Level III: Criminal conduct at level three.
Some of the offenses are classified differently at different grade levels: Kindergarten through second grade, third through fifth grade, sixth through eighth grade and ninth through twelfth grade each have their own discipline matrix.
“If a kindergarten student bites someone, that’s viewed a lot differently than if an eighth grader does it,” McKenzie said.
Level I offenses are like “parking tickets,” chief instructional services officer Mary Stratos said. They include in-classroom offenses such as cheating, horseplay, disrupting class, dress code violations, cursing and tardiness.
Suggested consequences at Level I include a call to a parent, a verbal or written warning and a detention.
While Level I infractions don’t result in a formal write-up or intervention by a principal, they’ll be documented by teachers in the educator’s handbook, McKenzie said.
If a student commits a Level I offense three times, it can be reclassified as a Level II two offense.
Level II offenses are “directed against persons or property,” and “tend to endanger the health or safety of oneself or others in the school.”
Some potentially criminal offenses — such as fighting, threatening and stealing — are set at Level II. Other offenses include biting, contraband, bribery, and truancy.
Suggested consequences range from parent contact to detention, in- and out-of-school suspension, referral to an alternative school such as Right Choices Academy, expulsion and law enforcement contact.
Level III offenses “result in violence” that poses “a direct and serious threat” to safety, per the code.
They generally result in the immediate removal of the student from school grounds and intervention from the school resource officer or other law enforcement agencies.
Offenses include alcohol and drug possession, aggravated assault, bomb threats, sustained bullying, gang activity, weapons on campus and sexual harassment or assault.
Consequences include out-of-school suspension, referral to an alternative school and expulsion.