Freshman and sophomore classes have racked up 700 referrals (yes – you read that right: 700).  Junior and senior classes have reached  about 300 referrals. 

Mrs. Tricia Reeves, Dean of Students, said “Most of the referrals are due to tardiness, and disrespect.” 

After the class meetings with Admin on November 4 in the theater, one might have thought referral number would calm down, right? Nope – wrong. 

Mrs. Reeves stated “Some referrals have slowed down while others seem to be increasing. Fights and verbal altercations seem to have slowed. Usually at the beginning of a school year, when kids are getting back in the routine, we have more of these behavior issues.” 

Mrs. Reeves added “The students have not been in close contact with others over the summer except for family and probably close friends, and making the adjustment back can sometimes take a little while.” 

“On the other hand, by the second semester the newness of the school year has worn off and students begin to get a little too comfortable and begin to pull phones out and are not as polite to teachers and staff as they once had been,” Mrs. Reeves stated

Did the class meetings help at all?

Mrs. Reeves stated “I am not sure if the meeting deterred any deviant behavior. However, I feel like it did allow the admin to reiterate the rules. This, in turn, allowed Mr. Koehnke and I to assign discipline without feeling like the student didn’t know the rules. The meeting left the student body without an excuse for not following the instructions.”  

Mrs. Reeves stated “Altercations are usually over one of two things; 1, a boy, or 2 a girl! Other reasons for fighting are, ‘He/she was staring at me,’ or ‘He/she was talking about me’.” 

Most of the problems are coming from the younger students and even the junior class.  Then there is the senior class.  Seniors are the class with the lowest number of discipline problems. 

Mrs. Reeves said “The senior class has the best behavior. This is due to the fact that a lot of maturing has taken place over the last four years. Oh, what a difference a few years makes.”  

As 2021 comes to a close, and the first semester wraps up, staff and admin are looking ahead, hoping to see the students take a big step in the right direction.