The RIH Board of Ed suffered another setback in their quest to establish an in loco parentis relationship outside of school functions.
The adopted policy, which was publicly discussed over the course of a year, empowered the school to discipline students with suspension of extra-curricula activities if accused of illegal conduct regardless of where or when the conduct may have occurred. The policy was challenged in an administrative hearing that called the policy unconstitutional, and that decision was recently upheld by the NJ State Department of Education Commissioner Rochelle Hendricks. ( readers can click here for previous article with excerpts and link to full decision)
The RIH school board has the option to continue to fight this recent decision with further appeals, but continued budget cuts of state aid and ire over continually rising taxes is expected to play a factor in how much the school can afford to spend on legal fees.
The debate over the Out Of School Conduct Policy regularly drew parents to RIH Board of Ed meetings to voice their opposition to what they perceived as the school usurping parental authority. There was also strong opposition based on the belief that punishments would be imposed on students prior to any finding by a court that they were actually guilty of anything. The Journal reported on the debate in a series of articles.
Judge Rules School Policy Unconstitutional; Out of School Conduct; Rights, Rules, Responsibility; Judge, Jury and Education
There were supporters of the measure who felt the policy provided educators with an additional tool to help students avoid illicit or illegal behavior, but attendance at RIH Board meetings was sporadic and minimal at best. This lack of involvement by parents supporting the new code left the board with a policy that many in the community saw as lacking public support.
Another demographic whose voice was not heard was that of the students themselves. Many parents argued before the school board in opposition, but there were few if any students who voiced an opinion on the policy. While the recent administrative and judicial developments may bring an end to the Out Of School Conduct Policy, it may also allow time to consider the entire process and why the students, critical stakeholders, were relatively silent on a subject their parents felt so passionately about.