By VICKI URBANIK

The number of Duneland students who got into trouble to the point that they were placed on probation or otherwise facing expulsion in the 2006-07 school year totaled 103, an increase of 16 from the year before.

Mark McKibben, Duneland’s director of special services who also serves as the hearing officer in expulsion cases, presented his annual due process report to the Duneland School Board Thursday.

A total of 103 students were referred to him as hearing officer in the 2006-07 school year, either because there was a request for an expulsion hearing or because the students were placed on “Form 16,” which is a probationary status. A student on Form 16 is technically expelled but is allowed to stay in school and continue his or her education as long as they avoid other violations.

In the previous school year, 87 students were in due process and referred to McKibben.

McKibben said that of the 103 cases he handled last school year, 73 students were on Form 16. Of those, 24 committed another violation and then faced expulsion. The remaining 49 completed the terms of their probation with no other violation.

Of the 30 expulsion meetings that were scheduled, 17 students failed to show up and were automatically expelled. Of the remaining 13, eight students ended up getting expelled, bringing the total number of expulsions to 25, four more than in the previous year.

The remaining five students in expulsion meetings didn’t get expelled but were placed on probation, and none of those committed another violation. McKibben said he believes it’s the first time in all his years as hearing officer that no further violations occurred at that stage in the disciplinary process.

Of the 103 students in due process, the grade breakdown was as follows: 6th grade, one student; 7th grade, six; 8th grade, three; 9th grade, 29; 10th grade, 20; 11th grade, 24; and 12th grade, 20.

The students got into trouble for the following reasons: Disruptive behavior, disobedience or similar behavior, 39; fighting, 5; violations of the Positive Life program due to tobacco, alcohol or drug use or possession, 25; theft, 1; weapons, 3; truancy or tardies, 30. McKibben noted that all the weapon violations involved knives, including pocket knives.

McKibben praised the Form 16 program and the ability to let kids stay in school. He said the probationary program is probably the reason why he’s having fewer expulsion hearings than when he first began at Duneland.

ISTEP Comments

Duneland Assistant Superinten-dent Monte Moffett said the favorable ISTEP scores released by the state on Wednesday are a credit to Duneland teachers. The ISTEP scores show that Duneland students met or exceeded the state average in all grades, and in most grades, the test results were about the same or better than in the previous school year.

Moffett noted that the special education scores have always been a concern, but he pointed to one grade in particular. In ninth grade, 41 percent of the students in special education passed the English/language arts portion of ISTEP, which was 21 percent above the state average.

He said although Duneland would like an even higher passing score among the special education students, the teachers should be commended for their efforts. “When you look at the work those teachers are doing, they’re exceeding the state average by 21 percent,” he said.

Moffett also commended Duneland parents for their high participation during recent parent-teacher conferences. At the K-6 grade level, the participation was 97%, a very slight decrease from the previous year.

WIS Presentation

Giving a presentation to the school board Thursday were students from Westchester Intermediate School who read their literary works. WIS Principal Tim McGinty attributed increased ISTEP language arts scores in part to a writing program known as the Six Plus One program, which encourages students to write with more detail.

Introduced by teacher Stephanie Bernier, the WIS fifth graders who read their works, which included persuasive letters to Santa, were Ryan Dempsay, Amanda Isbister, Christian Draves, Carter Brunt, Kelsey Scott and Lucas Cota.

Posted 12/14/2007