Discipline and attendance report provided at district meeting

PASO ROBLES — A comprehensive list of maintenance needs was presented to trustees at the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District (PRJUSD) for the district’s campuses. The Tuesday night meeting on Feb. 27 compiled an evaluation of needs amongst the facilities.

The plan covered the Winifred Pifer, Kermit King, Glen Speck, Virginia Peterson, Pat Butler elementary, and Daniel Lewis and Flamson middle school campuses. A plan for the high school campus will be provided by early April.

PRJUSD Director of Maintenance Operations and Transportation Kelly Stainbrook created an extensive spreadsheet detailing life expectancy and replacement costs of major components along with budget considerations. It is a live document that is actively updated. Her report showed that many of the carpets at the campuses have never been replaced and, while in decent condition, are past their life expectancy.

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“We have units that have way outlived their experience, and we have been fortunate,” said Stainbrook. “I would probably say that most of that is due to our maintenance, whether it is preventative or reactive.” 

Trustee Kenney Enney requested a list from staff of units to prioritize for replacement. 

A monthly enrollment and discipline report was provided for trustees on Tuesday. The period includes data from Jan. 15 through Feb. 9.

According to Director of Student Services Tom Harrington, the attendance rate was 92.98 percent, up from last month, which equaled about $46,000 more this year than the same month last year. Students in the district competed in an attendance competition earlier this year where the students with the highest attendance received movie passes. 

Along with attendance, a discipline report was given. While suspensions are down, infractions remain steady with other means of correction or interventions to change behavior.

“Research shows that suspension does not change behavior,” explained Harrington. “Interventions are the key to changing behavior, and changing behavior is not a sprint, it’s a marathon.”

For the 2023-24 school year through Feb. 21, there was 380 incidents of inappropriate behavior reported in the district. The second most reported is inappropriate physical conduct at 310. Both are up from last year, which showed 317 for inappropriate behavior and 227 for inappropriate physical conduct.

Inappropriate behavior is the No. 1 incident type throughout the district. This description, though, could mean very different incidents that occurred. Harrington notes that this spring, staff is working to define the infractions further to provide more accurate discipline data.

Trustee Dorian Baker also requested staff to provide data on whether these infractions are the same students being disciplined.