EDUCATION SPOTLIGHT: Student Achievement Soars as Discipline is Restored in Brevard Public Schools

survey: 99% of bus drivers reported feeling confident in handling disciplinary events

Eighteen months ago, teachers, bus drivers, and district staff were resigning, the discipline committee was disbanded, 86% of drivers felt unsafe driving their bus, referrals were not being processed, and the overall mood of Brevard Public Schools staff was hopelessness.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Recently released data shows discipline has been restored and Brevard Public Schools student achievement is soaring. After years of disciplinary struggles, the power is finally back in the hands of the teachers and staff that make up Brevard Public Schools.

Eighteen months ago, teachers, bus drivers, and district staff were resigning, the discipline committee was disbanded, 86% of drivers felt unsafe driving their bus, referrals were not being processed, and the overall mood of Brevard Public Schools staff was hopelessness.

The mood this year is vastly different because of the efforts of a new school board, superintendent, and district staff who have made protecting the student’s educational environment a priority.

Brevard Public Schools Board Member Matt Susin, who at the time as chairman led the charge to clean up discipline discussed the change by saying, “I am so proud of this board and superintendent for tackling this tough, controversial issue to protect our student’s educational environment. Our number one goal – student achievement is now soaring with our most recent scores because we are holding these students accountable, and the teachers, bus drivers, and staff are supported.”

In a recent survey, 99% of bus drivers reported feeling confident in handling disciplinary events on the bus, and 86% expressed that reporting incidents to supervisors was more streamlined and efficient. This is in stark contrast to a survey during the previous year in which 86% of the drivers felt unsafe driving their bus.

“The biggest change this year is that our teachers feel more supported,” said Brevard Federation of Teachers Union President Anthony Colucci.  “I want to compliment this board, and this superintendent, for setting the tone that we are going to take discipline seriously within Brevard Public Schools, and it has worked its way into the classroom.”

During that tumultuous 2022-2023 school year, upon taking over as chairman Susin called for an emergency audit of the discipline policies and procedures and immediately made changes to the discipline policy.

With the approval of the audit committee, and school board, BPS’s auditor RSM moved forward and conducted the audit providing the district with deficiencies and a plan to move forward.

While the audit was being conducted the school board moved quickly to ban cell phones, move to a zero-tolerance discipline policy, give more decision-making authority to the principals, implemented a respectful dress code, and banned students who dressed like animals.

The conclusion of the audit coincided with a change in superintendent and district leadership.

Then new BPS Superintendent Dr. Mark Rendell restructured support systems at the district and incorporated many of the recommendations from RSM.

These recommendations along with others included 24 hour referral processing, expanding the Student Information System to track student discipline, creating a drug diversion program, reviewing Alternative Learning Centers to decrease the student population while increasing the ALC program’s effectiveness, implementing supports for students to transition them to being productive citizens.

Rendell believes these changes have helped restore order.

“We are the only district I know of that expects a discipline referral to be processed within 24 hours. We monitor the numbers weekly and address any inconsistencies. This supports the hard work of teachers and staff. I believe they know that if a student misbehaves, we will administer consequences,” he said.

At a work session on June 18, the new discipline data was reviewed and compared to data from the previous school year. The numbers were astonishing, leading with the number of days of “In School Suspension” and “Out of School Suspension” decreased by 8% resulting in 3,403 fewer days of missed instruction.

Over 1,000 less instances of “willful disobedience,” 263 fewer students were sent to an Alternative Learning Center, and 312 students opted for the drug diversion program. Overall number of referrals went up as cell phone violations and tardy’s increased as the district dug in to hold the students accountable.

These numbers coincided with a presentation from staff showing the achievement numbers soaring. If the state keeps the same grading as the previous years, BPS will be an A school district for the first time in many years and will have no D or F’s schools for the first time in four years.

Other improvements included every English ELA third grade through 10th grade making gains, all elementary math grades increased, and core classes such as Biology, Civics and U.S. History all showed improved.

Current school board chair Megan Wright believes this is a step in the right direction.

“The institution of the new policies and procedures has placed us on the right path for adjustment,” said Wright. “I am looking forward to watching misbehavior data points decrease while watching student academic success increase.”

School board officials said stand firm in their dedication to furnishing our students and staff with top-notch educational and work environments.

“Our focus remains on safeguarding classrooms as secure spaces for learning,” said Wright. “This steadfast commitment propels us to enhance our discipline procedures continually, recognizing that a secure learning setting forms the bedrock of academic achievement.”

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