Disciplinary problems still plague Rochester schools post-pandemic

It’s well established that disciplinary problems continue to plague many schools, even three years after the interruption of in-person classes during the pandemic. Yet the ongoing behavioral problems outlined at the latest Rochester Public Schools Board meeting reveals the extent of disciplinary issues still confronting staff and students in the state’s seventh largest district with 17,500 enrollees.

“We know a lot of kids coming back from the pandemic have struggled to reacquaint themselves with long-established norms of behavior in school,” said Rochester Public Schools Superintendent Kent Pekel at a recent school board meeting. “That is a conclusive finding across very diverse schools in the United States. It’s time now to turn from identifying the problem to identifying those solutions.”

In the newly completed academic year, Rochester schools had a goal of reducing the number of students with level 2 infractions, which administrators define as requiring intervention beyond the classroom, while stopping short of suspension. Examples include fighting, disrespectful language, drugs and alcohol.

But the number of students cited for those infractions rose from seven percent of students in 2022-23 to more than eight percent in 2023-24.

–1,604 students (8.4%) were involved in some sort of level 2 infraction.

–“Interruption to the learning environment” accounted for the most level 2 infractions in both years, totaling 2,028 incidents compared to 1,484 in 2022-23.

–686 students (3.6%) received an out of school suspension.

–274 students (1.4%) received an in-school suspension.

The city’s four middle schools recorded the most disciplinary problems among the district’s 29 schools by far. Yet the Post-Bulletin notes there were also significant differences in behavioral infractions between middle schools.

Whereas Willow Creek had 109 infractions of “interruption to learning/environment” in 2023-24, Dakota had 975 within the same category. Dakota had 312 infractions of “physical aggression/contact/damage,” in 2023-24 compared to 32 at Willow Creek. Dakota had 102 infractions of fighting in 2023-24, compared to 21 at Willow Creek.

RPS Chief of Schools Jacque Peterson said the school is still working to establish its culture and expectations. She also said may be more of a given kind of infraction at a specific school if the building’s administration is trying to focus on a particular issue.

Some of the discrepancy may well be the result of differences between administrators in which infractions get reported. Repeat offenders also account for a disproportionate number of infractions. Still, just a few years after having one of the worst records for student disciplinary problems, Willow Creek Middle School has become something of a ray of hope.

Despite the contextualization regarding the situation at Dakota, Pekel said the work at Willow Creek needs to become a model for other schools throughout the city.

“We put in a series of changes in the leadership team and the entire staff really came together around a positive vision of school climate and behavior and dramatically reduced disciplinary infractions over the course of two years,” Pekel said. “We have to have what happened at Willow Creek happen at more schools.”

Some reason for optimism, as school officials continue to deal with a disciplinary problem partly of their own making.