On-Campus Suspension Program Throws the Books at Goof-Offs

John, a 13-year-old student at Buena Park Junior High, wasn’t very upset when he was suspended for one day last year after being rude to the secretaries in the front office.

The suspension meant a day alone at home for the seventh-grader, playing Nintendo video games, eating what he wanted and listening to the radio.

This year, his punishment for a similar offense was not so much fun.

Under the school’s new program for suspensions, John spent the day doing schoolwork in a windowless room the size of a walk-in closet.

To discourage students from watching the clock, the time has been permanently set at 6 o’clock. A Code of Conduct sign hangs on the wall. Lunchroom privileges are taken away, and the students are accompanied everywhere--even to the bathroom.

Under the watchful eye of a school employee, John made his way through a thick stack of assignments and pledged to stay out of trouble.

“The worst part about it is that I can’t talk,” John said. “I am just sitting here in a chair and facing the wall.”

Since Buena Park Junior High started the program in September, suspensions have dropped by 50%, from 80 to 40, said Assistant Principal Steve Johnson. And by keeping students on campus instead of sending them home, the school can maintain its average daily attendance--the crucial figure that determines how much money each school receives from the state.

In the last five years, at least eight Orange County school districts have started in-house suspension programs, and several others are considering the idea.

“Instead of suspending students to be out on the street, it is something more constructive,” said Mitch Thomas, principal of Los Amigos High School in Fountain Valley, which started a program this year.

Although the program varies slightly among the districts, most schools set aside a special room on campus for suspended students. A teacher’s aide or substitute teacher is hired to oversee the students.

Westminster School District has modified its program this year to include counselor Pamela Kehl. After having a program based on punitive measures for several years, Kehl said, the district decided to place more emphasis on modifying behavior.

“Punishment for punishment’s sake doesn’t change behavior in the long run,” Kehl said. She spends time trying to teach the students what they could do differently the next time, so they don’t have to return to the in-house room.

Students are assigned in-house suspensions for minor behavior problems, including fighting, truancy and disrupting class. More serious offenses, such as possession of drugs or weapons, still result in an off-campus suspension, officials said.

At the Santa Ana Unified School District, the “opportunity class,” as the in-house suspension program is called, is the last disciplinary action before a student is sent off-campus.

“The idea is to bring about a change in the students’ behavior without removing them from the classroom,” said Ernie Gomez, director of child welfare for the district.

School officials also are pleased about the financial advantages of in-house suspension programs. Most of the in-house suspension programs are self-supporting because of the money the school gains by bolstering attendance figures.

“School districts are really strapped for money,” said Seren Schaich, an accountant who specializes in educational funding. “They are looking for more innovative things to try.”

At Orange Unified School District, which has one of the oldest programs in the county, officials estimate that it takes only five students to pay the salary of a substitute teacher to staff the suspension room. And with three months to go in the school year, the program at Buena Park Junior High already has generated enough money in the form of increased attendance figures to pay for itself, Johnson said.

The in-house suspension program at Buena Park Junior High has drawn praise from parents, teachers and even a few students.

Anita Giesen, president of the Home School Assn. at Buena Park Junior High, said the program is particularly supported by working parents who don’t want their children staying home alone all day.

“All parents are very much behind this,” Giesen said. “The students are not rewarded a day off for bad behavior.”

Home economics teacher Diane Fancher has noticed a decline in discipline problems among her students.

“This whole year has been better,” Fancher said. “I have had students who have been in the room, and they don’t want to go back.”

And among the students, everybody knows the suspension room is bad news.

“They say you can’t talk, and there is a real strict lady in there,” said eighth-grader Joon Hahn.

Student Jamal Allen even has kind words for the program.

“It’s a good thing,” Allen said. “It scares people because they have to lose their lunch period.”