Washoe County School District trustees unanimously approved an updated version of their student behavior manual with one trustee absent. The changes were prompted by an increase in violent behavior following the COVID-19 pandemic and to bring the district into compliance with new state laws passed in 2023.
The manual now includes guidance on how school administrators should take the age of students into consideration and delineates different consequences for repeated misbehavior.
“Great job on the improvements that you made with this and the voices you brought in,” said Board President Beth Smith, as she complimented district staff on the changes. “Personally, I think this is going to be the best behavior manual in the state, and we always have more work to do.”
District staff consulted with school site teams and the teachers’ union on the updates. The manual also includes state-mandated punishments for all Nevada school districts, such as a suspension or expulsion for students over the age of 11 who assault teachers, bring a gun to school, or distribute drugs.
“Ultimately, we came to a good collaboration on this project. We feel that it reflects the balance that we need to see between progressive discipline and restorative practices,” said Calen Evans, president of the Washoe Education Association. “We feel like it does reflect a lot of the needs and issues that our school sites and our educators have been talking about.”
While the new rules are now in effect for this school year, the district still needs to train school staff.
“I am also very excited for this manual to be approved so that I can start training all the staff and the families,” said Lindsay Kendrick, the new district director of student behavior and support.
The district will also finish translating the manual and related documents into Spanish, but no date for completion was given during the meeting.
The image in this story is a screenshot from the Washoe County School District’s Board of Trustees meeting that was live streamed on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. Click here to view the recorded video on YouTube.
Jose Davila IV is a corps member for Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project.