Havre schools doing well on discipline, assistant principals say

The Havre School Board heard reports Monday saying most Havre students are doing well as far as discipline issues.

“In Havre, even the bad kids are good,” Havre High School Assistant Principal Pax Haslem.

He said the students who have disciplinary and and attendance issues are a small percentage of the student body and their problems are usually not about school but from things happening at home. He added that the school is working to better reach these students and help them succeed.

Haslem said that in other schools where he has worked the behavioral issues are more severe than at Havre and he is pleased with the progress the school is making.

At Havre High School, 93 percent of students with behavioral issues make up only 5 percent of the student body, he said. The majority of the disciplinary issues are done by a small number of students who have two or more referrals. He said the school is working with a number of these students and has spoken with parents and teachers and have gotten those students counseling. 

Forty-nine percent of all disciplinary referrals are related to disrespect and defiance, he said, adding that schools always run into this issue and it is important that schools work to teach students to be respectful and obedient. Haslem said 15 percent of referrals are attendance violations and 13 percent are related to cell phone issues. 

Havre High has changed how it is handling cell phones in the past year, he said. Students are allowed to have cell phones but if the teacher tells the student to put the phone away that is their warning. If the student refuses then the school speaks to their parents and confiscates the phonee.

He added that the school is also taking a different approach to vaping and tobacco products, with the school resource officer giving them a minor-in-possesion citation. A student 18 and older is cited for intent to distribute. Haslem said that the courts will determine if the student was actually attempting to distribute but the school doesn’t want older students to distribute illegal items to younger groups. 

The school is also working with Bullhook Health Center to get addiction counselors in the school, he said. He added that the school has at least two addiction counselors in the building at all times to work with students with parents permission.

He said that the school has about six students meeting with the counselor once a week. 

The program is also extended to students who may not have an addiction issue themselves but may have addiction problems in their families, he said.

He said Havre High is also working on attendance, adding that 53 students have already violated the 10-day rule and lost credits for the year, and it is troubling. Eight of those students are seniors and may not be able to graduate. 

He said he has warned those students and the school is still working with them to see what can be done.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, 207 students at the high school have perfect attendance, he said.

Havre Middle School Assistant Principal Jeremiah Nitz said the middle school has been doing well with decreasing the number of disciplinary referrals. This week in 2017, the middle school had 183 referrals, in 2018 the school had 132 and this year has had 98 referrals. He added that the school has seen a 26 percent reduction from last year and a 47 percent reduction from two years ago.

“It’s pretty astounding,” he said.

He said people may think the decline is due to smaller class sizes but that is inaccurate. The eighth grade class has had 4.8 percent of its student body having behavioral referrals, 4.1 percent of sixth grade class and 2.4 percent of seventh grade class. 

The middle school has some good students and the school has done a lot to try alternative methods to help students behavior, he said. He added that one of these methods are an all-year physical education class for students.

The school has also gotten paraprofessionals to come and help at-risk students, he said. Nitz said that the paraprofessionals focus on students’ classwork, behavior and goals. They act kind of like parents who are able to be in the school with students and engage hands-on with students behavior.

“(The students) feel important, they feel empowered and they are starting to see success in areas where they maybe never had success before,” Nitz said. “When you're feeling successful it’s a lot harder to misbehave.”

He added that all the school’s efforts are contributing to the success of its students. 

He said that the administration is also working to be more available for the students by doing walkthroughs and greeting students.

The middle school has 94.38 percent student attendance each day, he said. Although this is a very good number, he wants to see that number rise to 95 percent. The school Attendance is 0.7 percent higher than last year, but every student matters and more students in attendance correlates to better success of their students, he said.

The board also approved out-of-state travel for four of Havre High School students to attend the All-Northwest Honor Choir in Spokane, Washington, next year. Superintendent Andy Carlson said that it is a pretty awesome achievement, especially because two of the students being freshman.

Athletic Director Dennis Murphy said that the students had to make audition tapes and apply, competing against students from a number of other states in the northwest region, including Alaska and Hawaii. He said that the event will be at Spokane from March 11 to March 15.

“It’s a great learning experience for our kids,” he said.