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SF Principal: Fixing Discipline Rules Is ‘Not a Far-Out Idea’

SF Principal: Fixing Discipline Rules Is ‘Not a Far-Out Idea’

Principal Paul Jacobson has seen positive changes on behavior (photo: San Francisco Chronicle)

The principal of Rosa Parks Elementary in San Francisco says moving away from harsh discipline is “not a far-out idea.”

“I’m not hippie-dippie,” Principal Paul Jacobson told the San Francisco Chronicle. “It’s not that we’ve suddenly become lenient,” Jacobsen said of the new approach. “We just recognize we aren’t going to be able to punish away the problems.”

It’s part of San Francisco schools’ move to “restorative justice,” where students confront the impact of their behavior on others rather than “harden up” under harsh discipline, as Jacobson said.

The result: suspensions dropped from 20 last year to just 3 in 2011-2012, with only a few months of school left.

OK, Principal Jacobson won’t say it, so we will: That is far out!

Click here to read the story at sfgate.com