Discipline, not Selah principal, topic of 'coffee chat'

SELAH, Wash. — Parents hit the wall Wednesday in Selah.

This time the theme was discipline in the school district.

And, this time, the discourse was measured, collegial and interactive.

During Superintendent Debra Howard’s monthly “coffee chat” with parents and other residents Wednesday, no one brought up the high school principal’s possible reassignment next year, a subject that has created heated discussion over the past month.

However, the topic of how discipline is handled in the school district, particularly at the intermediate school, engaged about 40 people for nearly two hours.

The intermediate school has more than 750 pupils in grades 5 through 7.

Both Howard and Todd Hilberg, assistant principal at the intermediate school, fielded questions about the discipline program called “Make Your Day.” On its Web site, Make Your Day is described as a schoolwide citizenship program that allows “teachers to teach and students to learn.”

Judging from the types of anecdotes told and questions posed, many parents feel the program is “unfriendly, regimented, militaristic and not nurturing,” as Kelliann Ergeson described it.

Drawing particular criticism was the practice of telling a student to stand against the wall in the classroom — often nose to the wall — for infractions such as pulling a paper out of a backpack or passing a pencil to another student.

Many parents at the meeting said Step 1, the first level of punishment meted out, is the major issue.

“Step 1 is not working. Let’s find something else,” urged Shayne Brader. “We’re not teaching life skills.”

Shannon Lovelass wondered if parents are becoming increasingly frustrated with the program. “How many students are leaving the district because of the steps process?” she asked. “How much faith is being lost in the district?”

Several parents suggested that the intermediate school should involve parents, as well as teachers and students, in reconfiguring the program.

Both Howard and Hilberg were receptive to the idea.

“Certainly we need more conversation around this, and we need some consistency across the system,” Howard said.

“I know there’s a lot of frustration out there,” Hilberg conceded. “The first piece will be to get the teachers involved and informed. The second will be getting the parents.”

They invited parents to join a committee to re-evaluate the discipline program.

After the meeting, Ergeson said she was pleased that the parents and district officials had the discussion.

Parent Judi Lewis explained why she thought the subject of the high school principal, Joe Jones, didn’t arise. “We all had strong feelings about discipline,” she said. “The principal is an important issue, but that’s for another time and place.”

The next coffee chat with the superintendent, the final one of the year, will be May 6.