CRCS Releases Disciplinary Reports

COBLESKILL - On Monday evening, CRCS held a second monthly meeting to discuss disciplinary reports from each of the four schools.

After the Board had expressed their curiosity for a deeper dive into the referral process and how the schools deal with student behavior, the four principals compiled a comprehensive presentation on their statistics over the last five years and the challenges they had to face.

Generally speaking, the data put forth confirms the long-held suspicions that student behavior has worsened since the beginning of the pandemic, as referrals have only increased with time across all schools.

This is exemplified the best with the high school, as Principal Brett Barr explained that there were 384 referrals in 2019-2020, while the latest school year has had 506.

The 2022-2023 high school year saw an outlier of 679, showing quite a drastic increase, however Mr. Barr explained that this was nothing more than a fluke of settling back into normalcy.

As the younger grades, Ryder and Radez have both reported that their top infraction is Hands On behavior, which could be explained as horseplay before a full-blown fight. This is often remedied by recess detention, and frequently solves the problem before further action is needed.

As the students grow older, there’s a shift away from physical fighting to insubordination and disruption of education, with some emphasis on peer to peer conflict over social media.

Mr. Barr decried the use of social media, noting that its removal would solve the majority of problems that the high school faces. He further stated that issues do not arise on campus, but rather at home while students are using social media, which they then bring into the school the next day.

While they were on the topic, Board member Aimee Yorke asked Mr. Barr to speak on how some parents are making claims that their children are being bullied, a long-standing point of contention within the district.

“People have the right to post what they want,” Mr. Barr said. “Just because someone posts something, it does not make that accurate.”

He went on to say that while the district works with students to put some problems to rest, it falls on parents to be a “proactive part” in stopping screen time and taking away social media.

As the report concluded, each of the principals stated that they are in constant contact with their teachers and staff to thoroughly document and record each infraction as it arises, so that they may be better equipped to handle future problems should they need to.

The Board was thankful for the report, with many offering their thanks to the principals. “In ten years, I don’t recall receiving reports like this,” said Susan Strasser, followed by a commendation from Board President Bruce Tryon.