I send the student to the principal. She sends him right back.  I send the student again.  She sends him back again.  I don’t see any improvement!

Classroom teachers have enjoyed the “right” to send students out of the classroom for disciplinary reasons since the beginning of recorded time.  But the legislature decided to codify this in Texas many years ago.  Now, S.B. 107 makes a subtle change in the dynamics between teacher and principal.

Current law says that when the teacher sends the kid to the office “the principal shall respond by employing appropriate discipline management techniques consistent with the student code of conduct.”   T.E.C. 37.002(a).   The new law, which goes into effect this school year, calls for the teacher to send the student to the CBC—the Campus Behavior Coordinator, rather than the principal.  And it says that the CBC (who will very likely be your principal or assistant principal) is to employ techniques “that can reasonably be expected to improve the student’s behavior before returning the student to the classroom.  If the student’s behavior does not improve, the campus behavior coordinator shall employ alternative discipline management techniques, including any progressive interventions designated as the responsibility of the campus behavior coordinator in the student code of conduct.”

This makes it sound like the CBC needs to have a toolbox of techniques available.  Moreover, they must be “reasonably” expected to bring about a change in behavior.  Think about this as you develop changes to your code of conduct this summer.

DAWG BONE:  CBCs ARE GOING TO NEED SOME TRAINING!