SchoolMatters Blog

Moran & Littlepage address athletic staff

Last night at Monticello High School I had an enjoyable dinner with ALL our Albemarle County athletic directors and coaches.  It was a first of its kind back to school briefing for our athletic staff and featured a great presentation by UVA Athletic Director Craig Littlepage.  Writing in today's Daily Progress, Matt Deegan does an excellent job capturing the theme of the evening and the important remarks made by Mr. Littlepage and Superintendent Pam Moran.

Littlepage told two coaching stories about everyday interactions with his student athletes.  He described little comments he made to a player or conversations that were overheard by players that he didn't think much of at the time.  The two students both contacted him years later to describe how life changing his remarks had been for them.  Our coaches have an awesome responsibility and level of influence over our students.

“The smallest things and sometimes the most innocent things we do are being witnessed at times when we don’t even recognize it,” said Littlepage, who was an assistant basketball coach at UVa from 1976 to 1982 and again from 1988 to 1990. “We can be such a tremendous influence by the way that we can consistently model the behaviors that we want our student-athletes to exhibit each and every day.”

Dr. Moran also set the tone for the upcoming school year following up on a personal letter she had sent all athletic staff over the summer.  She described a new set of behavior expectations for our students and our staff and challenged them all to be positive role models for our student athletes.

Albemarle Superintendent Pam Moran reinforced how coaches shape students in ways classroom teachers cannot.

“Teachers have great influence, principals have great influence,” Moran said before a room full of county coaches. “But one of the things I know is that 20 or 30 years from now, kids remember the types of coaches they had, and they remember the good and the not-so-good. What I want to do is set an expectation that when our kids walk off our fields, what they will remember about you is that you built great character in them.”

Tonight I head to Western Albemarle High School for the back to school meeting for parents of Fall athletes.  I look forward to seeing our staff respond to the challenge presented by Moran and Littlepage.  Parents have a very important role to play as well, and tonight will be an opportunity to start getting them engaged in these new expectations.

Brian Wheeler

Board alters training rule for students

5/25/07 * Daily Progress [full story]

Albemarle County students who participate in athletics and after-school activities are role models, and they should be held to a pledge that penalizes underage drinking and drug use off school property, Superintendent Pamela Moran told the School Board on Thursday.

The majority of School Board members agreed, voting 4-2 to pass a revised training rule that offers more counseling for violators and dials down the policy’s punitive aspects that had some parents labeling it as overbearing.

Revisions to the athletic training rule

The Albemarle County School Board will be discussing revisions to the Athletic Training Rule at this Thursday's meeting.  A year after the tragic death of Albemarle HS student Nolan Jenkins and the arrest of dozens of our students for underage drinking at two parties, our staff have come forward with a revised policy, not just for athletics but for all extracurricular activities, that I think is a tremendous improvement.  I want to thank the Superintendent's committee that worked so hard on these recommendations and who carefully weighed all the legal, health, and instructional issues.

Download the recommendations

One aspect of the policy that has improved is that we now have a set of graduated consequences that I think will lead to better behaviors, more involvement by parents, and create the opportunity to connect students with intervention resources.  A first offense is now a two week suspension from the activity/sport AND  participation in a drug/alcohol counseling program can get the student reinstated.  There is also an incentive to self-report violations, "students who voluntarily request assistance from school officials in connection with an alcohol, drug or tobacco incident may receive reduced disciplinary consequences under this regulation at the discretion of the principal."

Again, I think this represents significant improvements over current policy.  I'd appreciate any feedback from the community in advance of the meeting as that will help inform our discussions.

You may e-mail me at bwheeler@k12albemarle.org, or the entire School Board at schoolboard@k12albemarle.org

Brian Wheeler

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Here are some highlights from the staff's recommendations which I have copied from the staff report.

Background
The identified beliefs of our Division- in young people, excellence, respect and community- define the important core values that must be inherent in any changes to policy, procedure, and practice, within the parameters of law.
....
Students learn to meet expectations when they are held to high standards by parents, teachers, coaches and mentors who teach the importance of integrity, apply consequences when necessary, and intervene to provide support if students’ behavior is outside acceptable boundaries. The growth and development over time of young people depends upon committed adults who invest time in teaching and modeling the behaviors and dispositions of good citizens.
....
Students who participate in athletic and other extracurricular activities also are held through policy, procedure and practice to a high standard of conduct on and off school grounds because they serve as role models for others and they represent their school community in competitions and other public activities.

Training Rule Executive Summary
The proposed revisions include these changes:

• Extension of the procedure to all students who participate in high school extracurricular activities and athletic programs. The procedure does not extend to co-curricular activities for which students receive grades and credits towards graduation.
• The provision of an intervention option for students whose behaviors violate the regulation supports and reinforces their participation in this intervention program. The intervention program addresses risk behaviors involving the use of illegal substances/underage drinking. This option provides a tiered approach for first, second, and third offenses.
• Recognition that students who self-report the need for assistance in addressing issues of underage drinking and/or use of illegal substances should be encouraged through the regulation so that parents and school staff can partner to provide that support.
• Alignment of the regulation with Virginia Code governing parental authority regarding underage consumption of alcohol while under parental supervision has been addressed.
• Maintenance of behavioral consequences for violating the regulation recognizing that logical and natural consequences send appropriate message about expectations and values for student conduct.
• Students and parents will continue to sign a contract in which they agree to abide by the regulation, student self-reporting of violations, and that they understand the consequences of violating the regulation. Parents will not be compelled through their signature to report violations of the regulation by their children. However, it is noted that parents who work with school staff to ensure that their children demonstrate integrity of behavior form partnerships that model good character and citizenship.

Code of Conduct for Athletics and other Extracurricular Activities

VI. Alcohol, Drugs and Tobacco [only excerpts shown]

1. First offense in student’s high school-level participation:
a. A minimum of two (2) weeks suspension from participation in athletics or other extracurricular program, including practice and competition...;

b. A student who agrees (with parental consent) to participate in a drug/alcohol counseling and/or assessment program offered at school or at a school-approved community agency may be reinstated to the athletic team or other extracurricular program at the end of the two (2) week period. Any student who does not agree to participate in such counseling and/or assessment program shall be suspended from all athletic teams or other extracurricular programs for thirty (30) days of participation or for the remainder of the season or program, whichever is longer.

2. Second offense in student’s high school-level participation:
a. A minimum of four (4) weeks suspension from participation in athletics or other extracurricular program, including practice and competition...;

b. A student who agrees (with parental consent) to participate in a drug/alcohol counseling and/or assessment program offered at school or at a school-approved community agency may be reinstated to the athletic team or other extracurricular program at the end of the four (4) week period. Any student who does not agree to participate in such counseling and/or assessment program shall be suspended from all athletic teams or other extracurricular programs for thirty (30) days of participation or for the remainder of the season or program, whichever is longer.

3. Third or subsequent offense in student’s high school level participation:
a. Full suspension from all athletic activities and competitions and other extracurricular program for a 365-day period;

4. In cases involving a first or second offense only, students who voluntarily request assistance from school officials in connection with an alcohol, drug or tobacco incident may receive reduced disciplinary consequences under this regulation at the discretion of the principal, provided that the request must come from the student or his/her parents/guardian no later than the first school day after the incident involving the unauthorized use of alcohol, performance enhancing drugs, inhalants or controlled substances of any kind or tobacco.

Work session on student behavior management strategies

The Albemarle County School Board is holding a work session this evening on student behavior issues.  The basis for the discussion will be a set of reports from the Student Behavior Management Committee which was formed in the Spring of 2006.  Note: The discussion about the Athletic Training Rule and drug/alcohol use has been postponed to our May 10, 2007 meeting.  This evening's meeting should be a very informative session for the public to observe.  For those following our work in this area, I would encourage you to download the report and consider providing us feedback at the meeting during public comment or by e-mail anytime (schoolboard @ k12albemarle.org).

School Board work session
April 26, 2007, 6:00 PM, County Office Building, Room 320
Public comment will be taken after the work session at around 8:30 PM.
Download Student Behavior Report

For the past couple of years, the School Board has asked that we review our approach, both as a Board and as a school division, with respect to student disciplinary matters.  Initially those concerns centered on our disciplinary hearings (which are closed meetings) and on implementation of restorative justice practices.  In the aftermath of the numerous underage drinking arrests last school year, the scope of this staff committee's work was expanded to consider our overall student behavior management strategies and procedures, including the Athletic Training Rule and the Student Code of Conduct.

In meetings last June and July, the School Board held discussions with staff about how to approach this review during the 2006-07 school year.  That committee's work over the past year is being presented at this work session.  Here are several important statements to give you a sense for the committee's work and recommendations:

"As a result of its broad research and analysis of Division student disciplinary and academic data, the committee evaluated student behavior management strategies that would form an improved continuum of K-12 prevention and intervention services and provide a more systemic response to the needs of students within their learning community."

"The committee wants Albemarle County Public Schools to offer a proactive, comprehensive management approach to creating a climate of high expectations that is driven by core values, upholding the philosophy that our schools are institutions of learning. To ensure our vision that al learners embrace learning, excel and own their future, we must create a culture where expectations for student behavior and motivation are high and expectations are consistent among schools. These expectations must be communicated clearly and in multiple ways to school staff and families. In a proactive approach to providing students with support to reach the expectations, we must also coordinate and partner with community resources, preparing students to become productive citizens and to creating a culture of hope for the future."

"The committee has looked at two strategies not currently in our schools that show promise for enhancing our practices with behavior management. The first is a prevention measure, Restorative Practices and the next is an intervention strategy, the Second Chance Center. Restorative Practices for schools has three basic principles: that wrongdoing is a violation of people and interpersonal relationships, those violations create obligations and the central obligation is to right the wrong. Instituting a pilot for Restorative Practices during the 2007-08 school year would require training for the pilot schools and an implementation plan that would involve staff and students. The Second Chance Center would be for students who are suspended more than three days. At the Center they would have the opportunity to learn skills that would promote better behavioral choices in school and to continue to make academic progress while out of school on suspension."

Brian Wheeler

Rutherford Institute comments on Training Rule

The Rutherford Institute issued a media release and sent a letter to the Albemarle County School Board today regarding our Athletic Training Rule.  In the letter, John Whitehead, President of the Rutherford Institute, states that, "the Training Rule as it has been structured poses a serious risk to the rights of parents and students and constitutes an unwarranted invasion into the privacy of families."

As one School Board member, I can't yet really comment on the legal points made in Mr. Whitehead's letter.  Certainly the School Board's Attorney will advise the Board as to the merits of those arguments.  I can repeat what I have said publicly about the Training Rule:

• The Athletic Training Rule in use for 2006-07 was revised by school staff (coaches, Athletic Directors, etc.) and it is not a policy approved at the School Board level.  The Student Code of Conduct is an example of a policy approved by the School Board.
• We need to work on an improved set of graduated consequences in the Athletic Training Rule.
• We need to figure out what policies should be in place that apply to all students, not just athletes.
• I am open to any ideas about how we can improve our policies to best achieve our goals.  Public feedback on this issue is very important.
• Our students are asking the School Division to be proactive addressing this issue and working with parents to help improve student behaviors on and off-campus.

I think there are a number of reasons why the Athletic Training Rule should now be reviewed by the School Board, including some of the points I have raised above.  The School Board intends to hold a work session on our policies and educational initiatives related to behavior management, drugs, and alcohol on April 26, 2007.

Mr. Whitehead's letter concludes as follows:

"While we support the spirit of this effort to discourage underage drinking and drug use, any legislative effort to combat it must be done within a constitutional framework. Thus the Rutherford Institute is prepared to offer its assistance to the school district in revamping the Albemarle County Public Schools' Athletic Training Rule..."

Brian Wheeler

Daily Progress examines our Athletic Training Rule and alchohol/drug use

3/4/07 * Daily Progress [full story]

The pledge

When it comes to underage drinking, Albemarle County holds its student-athletes to a higher standard than non-athletes and a higher standard than dictated by Virginia law.

Student-athletes must sign a training pledge before each season promising that they will not use tobacco, alcohol or drugs. Under the same pledge, parents must agree to inform coaches and principals if their children violate the contract.

The pledge applies to behavior both on and off school grounds during each season - whether on a bus ride back from a game or at a Saturday night house party - prompting a debate among parents and school administrators as to where the school division’s boundary line lies in monitoring its students.

Area police, prosecutor talk underage drinking

1/9/07 * Daily Progress [full story]

For the last 16 years at Albemarle High School, someone from every graduating class has died from an alcohol-related auto accident.

Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Camblos, two county police officers and the Western Albemarle High athletics director fielded questions from parents Monday night at Western Albemarle High in the spirit of finding ways to prevent such tragedies in county schools.

Camblos addressed parents frankly, reminding them that they can be sentenced for up to a year in jail for each child they serve alcohol to who is younger than 18.

“I’m not going to tell you as a commonwealth’s attorney what you should or shouldn’t do with your child in your own house,” said Camblos, a father of two county high school graduates. “I don’t ever want to have to look at another picture like I have had to see over the last few years - it averages one or two a year - of children who have been in car accidents who are no longer with us. And some of them were drinking alcohol that was supplied by adults.”

Last May, 17-year-old Albemarle High School lacrosse player Nolan Jenkins died in what police believed was an alcohol-related accident. Police went to a party Jenkins allegedly had attended and ticketed 11 teens with underage possession of alcohol.

Not long after that, police broke up a Crozet party, ticketing 16 teens with underage alcohol possession.

....

Brian Wheeler, a School Board member and parent of a WAHS student, said the board is still tweaking the underage drinking policies and is seeking feedback from parents.

“In my mind, as one School Board member and as a parent, I’m not happy with the consequences that are in the training policy,” Wheeler said. “I’m not convinced yet that that’s giving us the behaviors we’re expecting and the standards we want to have for our children.”

Student conduct policies update

The 2006-07 school year commences in Albemarle County Public Schools this Monday when our students return.  Our staff are hard at work making their final preparations for their arrival.  The School Board and staff worked over the summer reviewing student conduct policies and staff recommendations for a full program of continuous improvement efforts with respect to student conduct and behaviors involving alcohol/substance abuse.  As a result, we are starting the year with several items I want to bring to the public's attention.  Speaking as one board member, I think these are all positive developments, but as outlined in the first list of recommendations below, we expect further improvements will be made after additional investigation by staff and other experts.

1) Staff recommendations included the following items which will be acted upon throughout the 2006-07 school year:

• Review, and revise in 2006-07 as necessary, our existing curriculum for alcohol, tobacco, and drug abuse and, identify and use resources and strategies that extend relevant substance abuse instruction beyond the tenth grade, addressing all students in grades 11 and 12.
• Identify and partner in 2006-07 with organizations that share with us a mission of eliminating underage drinking so that we can better use their services to further engage students in learning activities that more systemically educate parents and students about the dangers and implications of underage drinking (MADD, etc.)...
• Review Sports Done Right, a University of Maine Sport and Coaching Initiative, and other instructional resources designed to support coaches to engage in consistent best practices for implementation across all three high schools...
• Review best practices associated with other school divisions’ training and extracurricular participation rules and change as appropriate so that Albemarle County Training rules and extracurricular activity participation guidelines ensure consistency across schools and clearly address consequences for underage drinking on or off school grounds and during or not during school activities. Consider the possibility of requiring students participating in other extracurricular activities to sign participation agreements.

2) The School Board unanimously approved a revision to the Student Conduct Policy (Policy JFC) to clarify that disciplinary action may be taken for behaviors occurring off school grounds in certain situations as permitted by state law.

3) In response to the School Board's policy decision, staff updated the Standards of Student Conduct which is signed by both students and parents.  It now begins as follows:

From: Albemarle County Public Schools, Parental Responsibility and Involvement Requirements, Student Conduct, 2006-07

"The Albemarle County School Board has adopted policies to encourage good citizenship, reasonable standards of behavior, and a favorable atmosphere for learning.  The standards are published here to help parents, students, and school personnel to know some of the more obvious types of misconduct.  The list of types of misconduct is not exclusive nor a limitation upon the authority of the School Board or school officials to deal with conduct which interferes with the proper functioning of the schools.  At certain times as permitted by law, students may also be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including suspension or expulsion, for misconduct that occurs off-school grounds."

4) Staff also have revised the Athletic Training Rule for the 2006-07 school year to ensure the same policies are in effect at all our high schools.

Brian Wheeler

Schools consider discipline changes

7/14/06 * Daily Progress [full story]

The Albemarle County School Board is considering changes to its policy on disciplining students who get in trouble off school grounds.

At a meeting Thursday night, the board discussed changing the student code of conduct to redefine when administrators can punish students for incidents that occur off-campus, including underage drinking arrests.

The proposed changes would allow administrators to punish students for incidents that occur off campus if any of the following conditions apply:

• There is a connection between an incident and school operations;
• The conduct has a “detrimental or harmful” effect on the welfare or safety of the school or students;
• An incident causes “substantial or material disruption” to the schools’ operation.

The board took no action Thursday, but will revisit the issue and likely vote on it at its next meeting, in August, said School Board member Brian Wheeler.

Lisa Moorefield, the mother of two Western Albemarle High School graduates, said during the meeting that she supports the spirit of the changes, but dislikes the ambiguity of the language.

No change to code of conduct

7/13/06 * WCAV TV [full story]

The Albemarle County School Board did not make any changes to its code of conduct Thursday night. The board said it will wait to make a decision until its meeting in August.

But the board did discuss some options. They proposed requiring all students involved in extra curricular activities to sign a pledge not to use alcohol or drugs. As of now only athletes sign that pledge.

New policies may also allow the school to discipline students for off-campus behavior, but the board chair said it was important to understand that the school acts as an educator, not as parents.