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So, since yesterday I’ve spoken multiple times with my child who is a student of WHS about the incident on Friday. My child said that there is little to no action against students who break rules. My child told me that within the last few weeks a student made a racial epithet, some NHS kids were vaping in the NHS room, kids were smoking pot on the grounds and two kids were seen, pants down, having sex in a stair well. All of these were witnessed by school staff and each of the students were given a slap on the wrist, told to not do it again and get back to class. Excuse me but who runs the discipline at the high school? Are we in a culture that suspensions are so poorly accepted by parents that to avoid confrontation administration has lowered the bar so as not to offend? I would gladly be head of discipline but a lot of our local snowflake parents who believe their kid can do no wrong would not be happy with the punishment I would hand out. Come on Westfield, we’re better than this. The Westfield News reached out to Westfield schools administration and received the following response:
Beginning in July 2014, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) recognized that the exclusion of students from school, particularly suspension, diminishes student academic progress and significantly increases student dropout rates. As a result, Massachusetts General Law now mandates that… “in every case of student misconduct for which suspension may be imposed, a principal shall exercise discretion in deciding the consequence for the offense; consider ways to reengage the student in learning; and avoid using long-term suspension from school as a consequence until alternatives have been tried.” Since this law came into effect, the Department annually identifies schools with the highest percentage of student suspensions and requires these schools to participate in trainings to “rethink” student discipline. This is not to say that suspensions are no longer issued for inappropriate behavior. In fact, because of the suspension data collected by the state since 2014, Westfield High School (WHS) has been participating in required DESE discipline workshops.
While we are not able to comment on individual student disciplinary consequences, the administration at WHS investigates all allegations of misconduct and consequences are issued in accordance with state law and district handbooks. Some incorrectly assume that consequences are not being given because school districts are legally prohibited from openly discussing individual student discipline. Unfortunately, this also leads to false rumors that consequences have not been given. All students that pose a threat to the safety of other students and staff are removed from the school environment. As a matter of protocol, all threats to student safety are also referred to the Police Department.
