The following email was sent to Colin McEvoy, author of the article, "Corporal punishment still allowed under out-of-date Easton Area School District policy," which was published on January 5, 2009 in The Express Times.
Dear Mr. McEvoy:
I am writing to you regarding an article published in The Express Times on Monday, January 5, 2009. The byline reads "Corporal Punishment Still Allowed Under Out-of-Date Easton School District Policy."
While we appreciate The Express Times sharing this issue with the public, we are concerned that the public will have the wrong impression about the district's corporal punishment policy as the accompanying byline is seriously misleading and is in no way factual.
Corporal punishment has been banned in PA under PA Code 12.5 Corporal Punishment (The Pennsylvania Code, http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/022/chapter12/s12.5.html).
Since state law "trumps" any school district policy, this means that Easton Area School District's policy is out of compliance with state law, not that this particular district has exemption from following state law simply because their policy indicates otherwise.
To reiterate: This does not mean that this school district is permitted to use corporal punishment on their students, as your byline indicates. Rather, should school staff use corporal punishment on a student in its district, the district should expect to face consequences.
As indicated in the article, a big problem with the district's policy being out of compliance with state law is that staff may believe they are permitted to use corporal punishment, when they are not. And, as the article suggests, this leaves the district vulnerable to possible (sure to be expensive) lawsuits and/or sanctions. Therefore, it behooves Easton School District to update its policy to come into compliance with state law as soon as possible.
Perhaps a better byline would have been "District's Corporal Punishment Policy Violates State Law" or even "District's Corporal Punishment Policy Out of Compliance with State Law." as those bylines reflect a more accurate version of the facts.
Please consider printing a correction to this story.
Best regards,
Jennifer Searcy
Founder/Director of Public Policy and Affairs
The Coalition for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports
http://tcfpbis.blogspot.com
http://tcfpbis.webs.com
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