Task Force Call for Tougher School Discipline Gets Cool Board Reception

A special task force report recommending that the Los Angeles Unified School District adopt a tougher discipline policy received a chilly reception Thursday when it was presented to the school board.

Some board members and community residents expressed concern that its conclusions might be too harsh and could unfairly stigmatize some students. They also criticized the composition of the task force.

The report charges school district officials with maintaining lax discipline that has failed to stem campus violence, and urges the mandatory expulsion of students who bring weapons to school and the establishment of separate learning centers that would isolate students accused of lesser offenses, ranging from fighting and assaults to “disorderly conduct” and “aggressive behavior.”

Some of its recommendations were loudly jeered by a large contingent of parents and community activists from East and South-Central Los Angeles, who later complained that they would lead to the “warehousing” of many minority students.

“Where are our concerns? Why is there no one on this task force from Watts?” one woman asked.

The task force was formed last year by West San Fernando Valley board representative Julie Korenstein, after a junior high teacher at a Valley school was stabbed by a student who had been transferred from another school as a discipline problem.

Board members did not formally comment on the report, but some expressed skepticism of the high incidence of violence it presented and indicated that the report faces tough sledding when it comes to a vote before the board.

“We should not lose sight of the fact that we are talking about children, young people who are acting out behavior because of problems in their lives. They are not criminals,” board President Jackie Goldberg said earlier this week, after briefly reviewing a draft of the report.

“Of course, we need to be sure our schools are safe, but we must get help for the children who need it or else we are incarcerating them for life.”

The board will discuss the report at another hearing in a few weeks, but does not expect to vote on its recommendations for several months.