BY BERNIE MIXON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NORTH COLLEGE HILL - Corporal punishment will stay out of the classroom following a vote Monday night by the North College Hill Board of Education.
The board followed the recommendation of a Secondary Local Discipline Task Force - including two school board members serving as co-chairmen - which voted in October not to bring the paddle back into the classroom.
Despite the recommendation, it was up to the full board of education to decide whether to use the discipline tool. The board voted 5-0 during a meeting at Clovernook Elementary School.
"I don't believe violence will solve anything," said Ron Harmon, board president. "Smacking or beating on kids is violence." Nationwide, 21 states allow the local education authority to establish discipline policies that may include corporal punishment, according to The Education Commission of the States.
In 22 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, use of corporal punishment in public schools is banned. In seven states and the Virgin Islands, corporal punishment is permitted, but must adhere to state and local policies and guidelines.
In 1993, the North College Hill district banned corporal punishment as a discipline method. Under legislation that took effect Sept. 1, 1994, corporal punishment was abolished in all Ohio public school districts unless a district follows a task force's recommendation for its use.
In the 1995-1996 school year, 48 Ohio districts used corporal punishment, according to the Ohio Department of Education.
During that time, seven districts locally - Georgetown, Fayetteville-Perry, Western Brown, Talawanda, Blanchester, East Clinton and Franklin - used it.
At public meetings held here in September and October, North College Hill parents overwhelmingly voiced their disapproval to using the paddle in the schools. Few parents were in favor of it. Some parents said while they disapproved of corporal punishment, they urged greater parental responsibility and working with teachers to solve discipline problems in the classroom.
