Alternatives To Suspension
The district has a new Discipline Policy which focuses on alternatives to suspension. At Lincoln, our strategies for alternatives to suspension include counseling, instruction on communication strategies, given alternative assignments (making verbal or written apologies, restitution, reflection essays) and progressive discipline. Progressive discipline allows students to receive appropriate consequences in a sequential order. This allows students to learn through such consequences as counseling, assignment of detention and a parent conference before a suspension is applied.
Counselors and school deans keep anecdotal data in an electronic file. A case file is also kept on each student who visits the dean’s office and a cumulative on every student in the counseling office. The case file has an anecdotal page, copies of referrals, suspensions and other critical paperwork. The cumulative record has student grades and records from elementary school through the present. Files are reviewed by appropriate staff when making discipline decisions regarding our students.
Sometimes students do things that involve school police or LAPD. Such activities can result in your student receiving a citation. A citation is a notice of a violation of law accompanied by a promise to appear in court. A student that receives a citation must appear with their parent (if they are under 18) on a particular day and time and at a particular court. The day, time and address of where to appear are on the ticket. If your student receives a citation it is important that you appear with them. Failure to do so could result in a judge issuing a $10,000 bench warrant for the parent’s arrest. This means that if the parent is stopped for a minor traffic violation, for instance, they could be arrested and put in jail until someone puts up $10,000 to bail them out.
Students can receive tickets for such things as: coming to school late ($500.00), having a marker ($200 per marker), fighting ($450.00) or having drugs ($400.00) and Graffiti (up to $10.000.00 restitution). When appearing in court, a judge decides whether the student is innocent or guilty of the violation and whether or not the student will receive community service, probation, or direct the parent to pay the fine.
We hope that this information has been helpful to you and that you have a better understanding of what happens when your student is sent to the Office of the Dean of Students.