School: parent OK with paddling

Sally Sexton CNHI The Weatherford Democrat Thu Feb 09, 2012, 08:00 AM CST

AZLE — A representative with the Azle Independent School District confirmed Wednesday that the paddling of a 6-year-old Cross Timbers Elementary student last Thursday was justified per school policy.

The student was disciplined via corporal punishment Thursday, and principal Dee Gilley notified the parents prior to the paddling, Azle ISD spokesperson and director of curriculum Tanya Anderson said.

The Parker County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 1700 block of Tanglewood Drive Saturday afternoon in reference to a possible injury to a child, though abuse was not substantiated, according to sheriff’s department records.

Investigators spoke with staff in the emergency room of Cook Children’s Hospital Saturday, where the student had been brought with bruising to the buttocks and wrists. No charges were filed, and the sheriff’s office declined to release the name of the complainant.

“We have been in communication with the father, and he has indicated that [the school] did not act inappropriately,” Anderson said.

Corporal punishment is legal under Texas law, and is allowable within Azle ISD, but prior parent notification is required, according to Anderson.

“We use it only in extreme circumstances, which is not very often,” Anderson said.

Parents or guardians do have the option to exclude their child from paddling in writing.

The campus principal was responsible for administering the punishment along with a witness, which is usually the assistant principal, according to Anderson.

“I haven’t heard any parent complaints about whether or not they want paddling in school, but our policy is very consistent with other districts,” Anderson said.

In fact, those policies match many of the other Parker County districts’ in regards to parent notification while rarely resorting to corporal punishment.

“We do use it here, but we always make sure to notify the parents prior,” Springtown superintendent Mike Kelly said. “Who knows the child better than their own parent? We try to work together and evaluate whether [paddling] is the best action toward each child, or if they would respond better to something else.”

Brock, Weatherford, Millsap and Peaster districts also have policies in their student handbooks where corporal punishment, among other things such as time-outs, the removal of extracurricular activities or suspensions, as a method of discipline.

“It’s still around, but it’s not used a much as it used to be,” Kelly said.

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