Fenty Staff Commits “Level I” Infraction

Mayor Adrian Fenty's staff is lucky they were turning their draft paper on school governance in only to their boss. Had it been delivered to an 11th-grade social studies teacher in the D.C. Public Schools, the author would be in real trouble.

Since the Fenty crowd is so fond of borrowing from the policies of other organizations, LL suggests a quick look at how DCPS views plagarism.

A check of the D.C. Municipal Regulations on disciplinary actions for schools lists plagarism as a "Level I Infraction," along with distributing profane materials and smoking. Even if Fenty has no plans to call someone in to his office and hand down a suspension, the mayor might be wise to assign the offending staffer the recommended "peer counseling, mediation, and/or conflict resolution."

Not that the Fenty crowd would look at any policies of the D.C. schools for inspiration.

The full text from Chapter 5 of the DCMR after the jump.

2503 GROUNDS FOR DISCIPLINARY ACTION

2503.1 Level I Infractions – The following infractions shall be grounds for disciplinary options set forth in § 2501.1 and/or class exclusion or suspension for a period of ten (10) school days or less pursuant to § 2502. When possible, peer counseling, mediation, and/or conflict resolution should be provided in regard to Level I infractions. A subsequent Level I infraction within the same school year may constitute a Level II infraction and/or grounds for an involuntary transfer pursuant to § 2107 or § 2108 of these rules:

(a) Acts that cause or attempt to cause damage, or to destroy, or to deface school property or property belonging to another student, DCPS personnel or other invitee;

(b) The documented, repeated failure to comply with the orders or directions of a principal, teacher, or other authorized D.C. Public School employee acting within the scope of his or her employment, where failure to comply with the order constitutes a disruption or obstruction of any mission, process, or function of the D.C. Public Schools. A student shall be considered to be in violation of this section when the student has been personally reprimanded for a specific proscribed behavior at least two (2) times within a year. The incidents of non-compliance with orders or directions need not have been of the same type offense;

(c) Smoking of any substance on school properties or at any DCPS sponsored or supervised activity, except the smoking of controlled substances pursuant to § 2504.1;

(d) The possession or distribution of profane material, and/or use of profane language when such activity is committed during school hours on school premises, or, on transportation, on school premises or at a school sponsored activity regardless of the time of day;

(e) Trespass in a school building, on school property, or at a school sponsored event. Trespass includes presence in a school building, on school property, or at a school sponsored event while under a current exclusion or expulsion order, unless said presence is for the purpose of participation in established before-school, after-school, or recreational programs or for other authorized purposes unrelated to the exclusion or expulsion order;

(f) Cheating or other evidence of academic dishonesty, including but not limited to plagiarism; [emphasis added]