NoVA Parents Groups Oppose Bill Calling For Uniform Punishment Of 'Disruptive' Students

VIRGINIA — Parents and teacher groups in Northern Virginia are opposing a state education bill they contend would disproportionately affect students with disabilities, students of color and those who are low-income.

HB 1461 would require the Virginia Department of Education to establish a uniform system of discipline for “disruptive” behavior, removing control from local school districts and school boards.

“Every student is unique in their strengths and needs, and every ‘disruptive’ behavior has a unique cause. School staff should follow best practices to address challenging behaviors, not be forced to respond to every situation in an identical manner,” the groups said in a statement Wednesday.

The bill was pre-filed in late December, prior to a Jan. 6 incident in Newport News, where a 6-year-old boy was accused of shooting his first-grade teacher. Before the shooting, the boy also reportedly choked another teacher "until she couldn’t breathe" at the elementary school and tried to whip other students with his belt, according to legal records obtained by The Associated Press.

The chief patron of the school discipline bill is Del. Bill Wiley (R-29th District) of Winchester. In the Senate, Jill Holtzman Vogel (R-District 27) of Warrenton is the chief patron.

The bill passed the House of Delegates in a 52-46 vote on Jan. 31. The bill is now being considered by the state Senate, where it was referred to the Senate Education and Health Committee.

The bill states that the Virginia Department of Education must establish a "uniform system of discipline for disruptive behavior and the removal of a student from a class that includes, among other things, criteria for teachers to remove disruptive students from their classes, including a requirement for a teacher to remove a disruptive student from a class if the disruptive behavior is violent."

The Department of Education also would be required to establish a stakeholder work group to make recommendations no later than Nov. 1 about the feasibility of implementing a uniform system of classroom discipline in public elementary and secondary schools across the state.

Under the bill, the work group would look at whether teachers should be required to remove a student from a classroom if the student "repeats or continues nonviolent disruptive behavior after the teacher provides two warnings to the student, giving due consideration to the need for appropriate exceptions for students with disabilities."

Among the groups opposing the bill are the Fairfax County Special Education PTA, Arlington Special Education PTA, Prince William County Special Education PTA, Alliance Against Seclusion & Restraint, Arlington Education Association, Arlington Schools Hispanic Parents Association, Black Parents of Arlington, Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, Virginia Autism Project and Fairfax County NAACP.

In a letter to the Senate Education and Health Committee, the groups said the bill mandates student removal from class for subjective interpretations of "disruptive" or "violent" behavior without addressing the underlying cause of the behavior. The new mandate would create "a negative cycle that leads to learning loss and increased behavior problems which, in turn, have been proven to worsen outcomes for students," the groups said.

Descriptions of "violent" classroom behavior used to justify restraint and seclusion of disabled students have included behaviors as mild as ripping up papers, shouting, or throwing a pencil or a toy, according to the groups.

"Extreme punishments are already being inflicted upon students with disabilities whose behavior is not dangerous but rather is a form of attempted communication, dysregulation, or a manifestation of their disability," the groups said.

The last day for committee action on bills in the current session of the General Assembly is Feb. 23. The General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn on Feb. 25.