Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series about discipline in Maine schools.

When Brianna Twofoot taught school in rural Mississippi, she cringed when the principal paddled students who misbehaved.

She’s thankful that corporal punishment isn’t allowed in Maine, one of 29 states that have banned physical punishment in schools.

What worries Twofoot, who is field director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union, are the vagaries of Maine laws on school discipline that jeopardize students’ rights to fairness, privacy and due process.

She points to the statute that authorizes school boards to expel students who are “deliberately disobedient or deliberately disorderly.”

“What does that mean?” Twofoot asked rhetorically. “There’s a lot of discretion there. Some laws seem purposely vague, so what happens in individual districts and even schools is inconsistent. Their policies should be clear so students can be successful in following them.”

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Twofoot is a member of a panel that is reviewing Maine laws and school policies on discipline — especially those pertaining to expulsions, suspensions and truancy — and their impact on graduation rates. The panel is expected to recommend changes this fall.

Not everyone on the panel thinks Maine laws on school discipline are vague or inconsistent.

Melissa Hewey, a lawyer with Dummond Woodsum, the firm that represents 95 percent of Maine’s 179 school districts, is one panel member who believes the laws allow school officials to act appropriately.

“I see the law as allowing for discretion,” Hewey said. “Each school district is different. If you try to legislate specifically, then you take away discretion.”

Reducing discretion could lead to unfairness in doling out discipline, Hewey said, because school administrators wouldn’t be able to consider mitigating circumstances that sometimes influence their decisions.

Still, most people on the panel agree that many people would benefit if Maine’s laws on school discipline were more clear, Hewey said. When laws are confusing, school employees and officials may choose inaction if they are worried about running afoul of the law.

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“Fear of liability sometimes gets in the way of people doing what they think should be done,” Hewey said.

Under Maine law, a teacher or administrator may use “a reasonable degree of nondeadly force” to control or remove a student who is creating a disturbance.

It cannot be intentional or reckless force that creates substantial risk of injury or extraordinary pain.

State education regulations stipulate that school employees cannot use aversive treatment to modify or change a student’s behavior. That includes the application of unusual, noxious or potential hazardous substances, stimuli or procedures to a student. Prohibited actions include hitting, pinching, slapping, spraying water or noxious fumes and forcing students to endure extreme physical exercise or wear embarrassing costumes or signs.

Student behavior codes and punishments vary across Maine. Many districts have general policies, including likely punishments, for acts of violence, threats, bullying, hate crimes and possession of tobacco, alcohol, drugs or weapons.

Some districts get more specific. Scarborough has a detailed chart of unacceptable behaviors — from throwing food to gambling to making a bomb threat. It lists various disciplinary responses for primary, intermediate, middle and high school students and for first, second and subsequent violations.

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Cape Elizabeth students who violate that district’s substance abuse policy may be suspended or expelled, removed from team or club leadership positions and lose eligibility for National Honor Society, college scholarships and other awards. The level of punishment depends on the number of offenses and whether students get counseling and do community service to make amends.

Twofoot worries about such variations among district policies. She understands that public schools are challenged to educate students from increasingly complex socioeconomic backgrounds. She believes a move toward consistent, logical consequences for bad behavior will help more children succeed in Maine schools.

“All children have a right to learn and be safe in school,” she said.

 

Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6328 or at:

kbouchard@pressherald.com

 


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