An increase of fights at Muncie Central High School prompted administrators to make some changes.
The school district moved away from the old zero-tolerance policy, which stated any student involved in a fight was arrested and suspended.
Superintendent Steven Baule said that isn’t always the option. “Some students don’t view suspension as a punishment,” Baule said. “But as a nice vacation.”
The revisions to the student handbook give administrators the ability to send fighting students to priority school at the Youth Opportunity Center. Instead of serving a suspension at home, students will be placed in an alternate learning environment that focuses on personal growth and development.
The new policies allow administrators and police to exercise far more discretion. The goal, Baule said, is to allow officers the same amount of discretion that they have on the street.
Baule said the increase in fights can be attributed to a specific group of students at the high school. He says he never wants to paint those students with a large brush.
“Issues of fighting or discipline are simply a symptom of a bigger problem,” Baule said. “We have kids who do not feel connected to the community. The don’t feel connected to the school, and so we have to build those positive relationships.”
Priority school is a step in developing those relationships. Baule hopes to further that goal by introducing more positive role models from the Muncie Boys and Girls Club into the school setting.
The school system’s administration worked with school resource officers, local police and the prosecutor to create the new guidelines.
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