Trustees OK Policy Linking Parental Visits to Suspensions

Parents whose children are suspended from school could be required to spend part of a day observing their child in the classroom under a new policy approved Monday by the Los Angeles Board of Education.

The new policy was dictated under a state law passed last year that was authored by Assemblywoman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) and sponsored by United Teachers-Los Angeles, but it requires formal approval of the local board of education.

The board approved the policy Monday by a 6-0 vote. Board member Julie Korenstein was absent.

Teachers advocated the policy because it is frequently difficult to get the parent of a suspended student to attend a school conference.

Specifically, the law allows a teacher to require the parent’s attendance at school, after the student has returned, if the suspension was due to the student committing an obscene act, using profanity, disrupting class or defying school authorities.

Trying to Force Parental Responsibility

“What we’re trying to do is force some sort of parental responsibility when kids act up in school,” UTLA President Wayne Johnson said. “It may awaken some parents” to their responsibilities when their child misbehaves to the point of being suspended.

There is no penalty if a parent refuses to comply, which Johnson acknowledges is a weakness of the law.

“It’s a philosophical statement,” he said. But being able now to cite a state law when asking the parent of a suspended student to come to school will make a difference in many cases, he added.

Under district guidelines that will be issued to schools shortly, the classroom visit must last at least 20 to 30 minutes, said Donald V. Bolton, district administrator for student attendance services.

After the classroom visit, the parent would meet with the principal or a counselor to discuss the child’s difficulties in school.

The law also amended the state labor code to prohibit employers from penalizing parents who ask for time off from work to visit their child’s classroom.

The policy applies only to suspensions requested by teachers and not by the principal, Bolton said. Teachers may suspend a student for two days, while a principal may suspend for up to five days.

Other reasons for suspending a student under the state education code include assault, use or possession of a weapon, possession or sale of drugs and cigarette smoking, but the parent visitation law does not apply to those offenses.