KENNEWICK — Students in Kennewick could soon find themselves serving suspensions at school instead of being sent home.
The Kennewick School Board plans to spend about $210,000 to create in-school suspension rooms at each of its middle and high schools over the next two years.
Sending students home for a day or more can get parents’ attention and also keeps them from disrupting other students. But it also can put a student at risk of falling behind academically and can give misbehaving students exactly what they want — a day out of school, the Tri-City Herald reported Monday.
A study recently published in the American Journal of Public Health found that marijuana use was higher in schools in Australia and Washington state where suspended students are sent home.
“It seems like we’re doing it more for the school than the student,” Kennewick board member Ben Messinger said at a recent meeting.
The school board recently agreed to hire more paraprofessionals — such as teachers or other educators — to work with the students in designated in-school suspension rooms.
“Sometimes you just need a place for students to cool off,” Assistant Superintendent Ron Williamson said.
In-school suspension is already being used at Kennewick High. A paraprofessional supervises the students in the room while doing other clerical work.
“It doesn’t work if the student doesn’t have meaningful work to do,” said Kennewick High Principal Van Cummings.
Randy Hoover, a physics teacher at Kennewick High, said the model in place at Kennewick High works for some kids, but not for students who routinely break the rules.
“Often times it ends up becoming their classroom,” Hoover said. “I’m not sure if it modifies their behavior the way we want it to.”
The program would be for students who were suspended on more minor offenses, such as truancy, smoking on school grounds or arguing with a teacher. Out-of-school suspensions will remain for more serious rules violations, such as fighting or having drugs, officials said.
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