TIFFANY L. PARKS
Daily Reporter
Before the close of the calendar year, a bill that would eliminate zero tolerance policies in Ohio schools gained some traction in the legislature.
Senate Bill 167, sponsored by Sen. Charleta Tavares, had its first hearing before the Senate Education committee.
The bill was filed into the General Assembly in August.
“SB 167 will require each school board to adopt a policy that allows for many factors to be considered prior to the suspension or expulsion of a student,” Tavares, D-Bexley, said in sponsor testimony for the measure.
“This policy shall establish alternative strategies, including prevention, intervention, restorative justice, peer mediation and counseling.”
If enacted, SB 167 would revise current law to state that school boards shall eliminate any policy of zero tolerance for violent, disruptive or inappropriate behavior, including excessive truancy, as it existed prior to the effective date of the proposed amendment.
In campaigning for the bill, Tavares said zero tolerance policies often punish a student with a behavioral problem twice by both expelling that student and preventing that student’s education during the expulsion.
“The intent of SB 167 is to provide support for students with behavioral problems and to ensure that such students get the help they need in school. The right to education is a human right that should not be taken away from students unless states ‘take all appropriate measures to ensure that school discipline is administered in a manner consistent with the child’s human dignity,’” she said, referencing 1989’s Convention on the Rights of the Child.
“This is not the reality for thousands of children in the United States. This reality alone should serve as a basis for developing school discipline policies that respect children’s dignity and preserve their right to an education, reserving suspension and expulsion only for the post serious, dangerous situations.”
Under Ohio law, each school district must have a policy of zero tolerance for violent, disruptive or inappropriate behavior and must establish strategies to address such behavior that range from prevention to intervention. SB 167 would remove this requirement.
Tavares said students who are expelled from school are less likely to graduate and noted that Delaware, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Rhode Island are a few of the states who have enacted legislation to amend its zero tolerance policies.
“This bill encourages each school district to consider many specific factors before suspending or expelling a student and to utilize prevention, intervention, restorative justice, peer mediation, counseling or other approaches to address student misconduct,” she said.
Under the proposed legislation, the only circumstances under which expulsion remains mandatory are those that involve a student who is found to have brought a firearm to school or possessed a firearm at school.
“This legislation is not to give a child a free pass to be disruptive in the classroom,” Tavares said. “This legislation will allow the teachers, principals and guidance counselors the opportunity to take a holistic approach when addressing the issue with each child.”
The bill has not been scheduled for additional hearings.