Class Assignment 3/4

School on Saturday Could Be in Future for Portsmouth Students

Students in Portsmouth Public Schools who have disciplinary problems may find themselves going to school on Saturday occasionally next year.
The policy, proposed by School Board Member Tim Steele at yesterday’s meeting of the Portsmouth School Board, is an effort to reduce the number of in-house suspensions, which require students to spend a school day under close supervision of a faculty member in an empty classroom. In 1995, 154 students received in school suspensions.
Under the proposed policy, instead of the suspensions, students would show up for special sessions run from 8 a.m. until noon on select Saturdays. The project would cost an extra $3,000 a year to pay for staffing.
The majority of those present voiced opposition to the proposal. Parent Peggy Bacon went so far as to say she wouldn’t enforce it.
“I know my son isn’t perfect, and I know he’ll probably wind up on the Saturday list at some point, but I’m not going to force him to go,” she said. “I just don’t think it’s going to make any difference, and the parents are going to pay for it- in higher taxes as well as in ruined Saturdays.”
However, the proposal did gain some support. Resident Bob Farley of 64 Elm St. spoke in support of the proposal.
“Parents aren’t teaching their kids any discipline, so the kids have no respect for the rules,” he said. “Maybe if they have to miss a few Saturday morning cartoons they’ll start wising up.”
The issue even drew 5 high school students to the meeting.
Senior Lisa Gallagher noted that she’d never served a detention and didn’t intend to break her streak, but was against the proposal anyway.
“I don’t like this idea,” she said. “I think it’s just being done to make life easier for the faculty, so they don’t have to deal with detentions during the week.”
She also noted that students would likely just skip the session. Steele made it clear that that behavior would not be tolerated.
“If a student skips Saturday school, he or she will not be allowed to return to school until the detention has been served,” he said.
One of the largest disciplinary problems at the school is smoking, according to Steele.
“There are other problems,” he said, “but smoking is by far the biggest one.”
After 30 minutes of discussion, the board voted 5-3, with one member abstaining, to table the issue until the School Board’s next meeting on March 7. The Board requested that Steele return with figures on the number of in-school detentions so far this year.