Firm hand, good results

DPS suspensions dropped sharply in past five years

By Nancy Mitchell, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published April 25, 2008 at 11 p.m.

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Barry Gutierrez / The Rocky

N. Bernard Henry, a Montbello High School resource officer, cautions students Omar Fierros, 18, and Jenny Araiza, 15, to stop horseplay during lunch hour. Henry tries to know the students and be involved in the community.

Barry Gutierrez / The Rocky

N. Bernard Henry stands amid the bustling students between periods, keeping an eye out for trouble.

Barry Gutierrez / The Rocky

N. Bernard Henry

A Montbello High School student reported his Blackberry stolen on Thursday, and within 15 minutes, Dean of Students Earl Howard III hit classroom 202 with the force for which he is revered and feared by thousands of teenagers.

"Ladies and gentlemen, empty your backpacks on your chairs and pull your pockets out of your pants so I can see them," said Howard.

"We have a phone missing. If you give the phone to me, there will be no repercussions. If I find it on you, that is theft, and you know what that means. You could be suspended."

He moved quickly and efficiently through the room and, when no phone was found, he turned to the students who were stuffing their books and papers back into place.

"I apologize for the inconvenience," Howard said, "and I am sorry for interrupting your learning."

He pulled aside the student with the missing phone for a few words. As he said later, the boy should have known better than to have the phone out in class.

Then Howard swept back into the hallway at a school once known for violence and now better known for restored order and for pushing kids toward college.

At Montbello and across Denver Public Schools, state statistics say discipline problems are at their lowest point in at least five years.

One example - the number of DPS students referred to police dropped by 1,000 to 347 in 2006-07. That's fewer than half the number of kids in Cherry Creek schools referred to law enforcement in the same year.

Police raise issues

DPS Superintendent Michael Bennet doesn't try to take credit for the decline, which precedes his tenure of 2 1/2 years.

He notes that district officials are emphasizing alternate means of disciplining students, working with them in school rather than kicking them out for days.

State numbers also appear to reflect that approach, showing in-school suspensions are up by 1,742 over five years while out-of-school suspensions are down by 4,472.

The trend is fueled by DPS' increasing use of restorative justice, where offenders and victims talk through problems and reach consensus on punishment.

But an attempt to revise the DPS discipline policy last fall, formally incorporating restorative justice, has been stymied.

Police Chief Gerry Whitman questioned whether the proposed policy's emphasis on handling problems in schools, rather than involving police, violated state crime reporting laws.

He also was concerned that the policy focused more on the rights of student suspects than student victims.

So in November, Denver school board members yanked the proposed policy to work out those concerns.

And then, in December, the principal of a northwest Denver middle school was interviewed by police about why she did not report a case of sexual contact between students.

Skinner Middle School Principal Nicole Veltze said she told the victim's mother about restorative justice.

"The mother told Veltze that she wanted to file a police report," according to the interview notes kept by Detective Kimberly Bowser. "Ms. Veltze advised the mother that if they were going to do the Restorative Justice program, she would ask her not to contact the police until after the meeting."

Veltze has since been charged with failure to report child abuse. Among the evidence collected by police - a DPS powerpoint on restorative justice.

A mural on the wall in the offices of Padres y Jovenes Unidos traces the community group's push for restorative justice in DPS.

Pushing for change

That push began in 2003, when students began researching why black and Hispanic kids bore the brunt of disciplinary measures - suspensions, expulsions - in city schools.

It continued through 2005, when they presented the report, Education on Lockdown: the Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track, documenting the increasing numbers of students being ticketed by police in schools.

It ended in 2007, when the discipline policy changes they advocated were put on hold.

"We want to move forward," said Marcos Nunez, the group's director of organizing. "I think the community has been extremely patient on this. It's in DPS' best interest to provide a policy that's fair, keeps kids in schools and moves away from incarceration."

Nunez, like others who support restorative justice, can cite numbers that they say show that it works. Montbello Principal Antwan Wilson has estimated its use has cut his out-of-school suspension rate by 40 percent.

Even those with questions about restorative justice don't necessarily dislike it.

Whitman said that, with some exceptions such as child abuse, "it's a school and a parent decision if something is reported" to police. He believes it's better for families if schools have some different disciplinary options, not just the law.

"If you lay the options out, they will probably pick not involving police," he said. "My push is to involve the victim in all of that."

Whitman has been working with Padres Unidos and with DPS on the proposed discipline policy, and said they're "not very far off."

DPS leaders say they hope to bring the policy back to the school board for a vote within a month.

But not everyone believes the decline in discipline figures is good for all kids.

A teacher disagrees

One middle school teacher, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution, questions whether principals are being pressured to lower suspension rates.

She has a student who has more than 10 discipline referrals this year but has never been suspended.

"I don't think that's uncommon or just at my school," she said. "I have kids who are losing writing ability and reading ability because I have spent so much time in the last year managing behavior."

A Rocky Mountain News analysis of 688 school incident reports from May 2006 to March 2008 found that teachers contend with plenty of verbal - and even physical - abuse.

Thirty-one reports documented teachers and other school staff members being bitten, kicked, pushed, scratched and slapped. They were stabbed with paper clips, tripped and pinched on the rear end.

In one case, a grade-school student urinated in his teacher's water bottle when she left the class. She found that out after she took a sip.

Thirty-one more reports document teachers being threatened by students and parents. Three fifth-graders plotted to kill a gym teacher, for example, while another student threatened to cut heads off with a chainsaw.

But it's unclear whether those incident numbers are going up or down.

Kim Ursetta, president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, said discipline is on the table in ongoing contract talks with DPS. She declined specifics.

Several teachers interviewed said their school discipline policies are inconsistently enforced. Not so at Montbello.

There, Howard, a former teacher, describes a clear discipline ladder with escalating consequences.

Kids don't get kicked out of school - "That's what they want," he said - until they've reached a pretty high rung academically.

The one thing a student can do to earn an automatic suspension, in his book, is cuss out a teacher.

He likes restorative justice as a strategy, particularly for kids who fight. The goal with any discipline approach, he believes, should be to understand why they're acting out.

"This is our future," he said, as students milled around him. "If we turn our backs on the future, what is there?"

mitchelln@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5245

Behind school doors

Trouble is down in DPS, according to numbers compiled by the Colorado Department of Education for the past five years. Fewer students are being suspended. Far fewer students are being referred to police.

District officials say it's partly due to efforts to work with students at school, rather than sending them home. Often, students in trouble must stay in "pass rooms," where they work alone on their assignments until they're allowed to return to their classes.

To get a picture of what is happening in the city's 140 schools among more than 72,000 students, the Rocky Mountain News requested school incident reports filed between May 2006 and March 2008.

The 688 reports, in which all individuals' names were deleted, depict a district that is largely safe and a work force trying to keep up with an increasingly diverse student body. What follows are a sampling of the reports:

9 reports of suicide threats

"Student adviser was alerted by a teacher that a 6th-grade female had a knife at school . . . An 8-inch butcher knife was found in the student's backpack . . . She stated she wanted to harm herself with it after school. She was immediately placed under the care of a social worker . . . The student was transported to Children's Hospital."

43 reports concerning drugs, alcohol, or tobacco

"Student A was coming into the building and dumped two bags of marijuana in the trash can. Teacher A saw this and confiscated the drugs . . . Suspended 3 days, cited by police."

15 reports of parent misbehavior

"Parent came into school without stopping at front desk, went to classroom and took child from classroom. She proceeded to take her son to the boys' room . . . and pulled out very large belt to spank him. Staff could hear the child screaming. Secretary went to bathroom and argument ensued. Principal called 911 . . . Parent apologized for disruption at school but believes in punishing her children by whipping them."

171 reports of assaults or fights

"Two female students were involved in a fight across the street at a park. The offender had been threatening the victim at home, on the phone and at school, but no school personnel were aware of the situation until after the altercation. The offender hit the victim 20 to 30 times in the face . . . There were several witnesses and a friend of the offender even video-taped the event."

Resolution not indicated.

15 reports concerning allegations of staff misconduct

"A teacher reported to the principal that a substitute teacher covering the kindergarten class had grabbed a student by the arm."

50 reports of detrimental behavior

"Student once again refused to work in class. He became loud and disrespectful to the point that other students told him to stop. Third suspension this school year. . . . Suspended for five days and a ten-day extension with an expulsion hearing was requested."

58 reports of weapons, real and toy

"A teacher's assistant was standing at the top of the stairs. She heard a student say, "Oh man I dropped my knife." She saw a knife . . . she put her foot on the knife. She then called Security A over . . . Security A picked up the knife. Student will be suspended."

8 reports of suspected child abuse

"Student reported to teacher that her parents were fighting a lot. She saw her stepdad hit her mom in the stomach. She also stated that he hit her older brother so hard he had to stay in his room for a day."

70 reports of threats against staff, students or schools

"My student teacher was walking my class to the computer lab. A student was being disruptive in the hall. The student teacher gave him a verbal warning, his behavior did not change. The student was given a consequence (a check on the clipboard indicating time owed on Friday). The student mumbled under his breath, "I'm going to kill you." I immediately went to the principal. This is the third incident in which this student threatened someone."

Resolution not indicated.

Discipline trends in DPS

In-school Out-of-school Police Year Incidents suspensions suspensions referrals * 2002-03 18,007 3,683 14,172 1,347

* 2003-04 18,073 4,504 13,423 1,399

* 2004-05 18,504 4,855 13,473 1,212

* 2005-06 17,651 6,142 11,244 526

* 2006-07 15,334 5,425 9,700 347

* Change -2,673 +1,742 -4,472 -1,000

• April 26, 2008

  9:29 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Retread writes:

  They need to turn these schools into giant bootcamp facilitys, or bring in the military. These kids are raised by animals..If you can call it raised...

• April 26, 2008

  9:47 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  SockRayBlue writes:

  Retread

  That a bit unfair and mean. The Montbello kids are like any other group of teens in the Metro area. The parents are at work, or whatever, and the kids fend for themselves in a teen world. Face it...peers are more important than parents when you're a teen.

• April 26, 2008

  9:47 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Intrigued writes:

  Well, what is to be expected with today's generation? Children are being raised more by TV and video games than by their parents. Not to say that it's ALL bad...but we could probably do without most of what is out there. Maybe the Mormons have the right idea...no TV, more chores.

• April 26, 2008

  10:17 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  beentheredonethat writes:

  Spend a day in Montbello and a day in Cherry Creek and say that both groups of teens are alike. If they were, Montbello wouldn't be fighting an uphill battle that rates news coverage. Not too many unwed parents are arguing over which gang their baby will claim at Cherry Creek. At Montbello, it's dangerous NOT to have some sort of gang affiliation. The same tactics that work for college-bound kids of college-educated families simply don't work for disenfranchised kids of struggling families, who can make more money selling drugs than at any other type of job. And even caring, college-educated families can end up with monsters, as we well know. If Wilson and his crew have even half the Montbello student body taking their studies seriously, they have performed miracles.

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