City school board to delve into corporal punishment

Published 8:31 pm Sunday, January 14, 2018

Discussion will pick back up this week from Elizabethton City Schools officials in regards to corporal punishment.
The City Board of Education will meet inside Central Office Tuesday, Jan. 16, at 6:30 p.m. with a relatively light agenda but will discuss the usage of corporal punishment as a means of discipline for students.
Documents provided by Central Office indicated three board policies will be up for a first-reading approval Tuesday, including the usage of corporal punishment, code of behavior and discipline procedures.
Over the course of recent BOE meetings, member Susan Peters has made the recommendation for the district to ultimately remove corporal punishment from policies.
According to the proposed corporal punishment policy, “any principal, assistant principal or teacher may use corporal punishment in a reasonable manner against any student for good cause in order to maintain discipline and order within the public schools.”
Principals have made the case during previous meetings to inform board members that “paddling” as a measure to discipline hasn’t been an issue.
In other business, officials will receive an update to the start of the new year with Elizabethton High School Principal Josh Boatman providing a report from the school.
To start off the new year, City Council recently approved budget amendments for the school system to begin looking at the possibility of continued renovations at T.A. Dugger.

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