Wake Co. Looks To Shake Up Student Discipline Policy

In Wake County, the school board is appearing to ease up on its zero tolerance discipline policy, the News & Observer reports. The board will vote Tuesday night on a policy that gives principals more flexibility in doling out discipline. Currently, many conduct violations automatically result in suspensions of more than 10 days. For example, an elementary student who accidentally brings his father's book bag to school with a knife inside automatically gets a long-term suspension. "Safety remains our priority," said John Tedesco, a school board member. "But we have to realize that, except for the extremely violent cases, part of being a child is making mistakes. When they make mistakes, we want to work with them instead of dooming them for the rest of their lives. When they're suspended for the rest of the school year, they fall behind and drop out and go into the school-to-prison pipeline." Click here to read the rest of the story.