Chapter 5 Responsible Action as a Construct for Ethical Leadership: Investigating the Effect of School and Community on Police Involvement in Student Disciplinary Affairs

• Date: 25 July 2011
• Published date: 25 July 2011
• Pages: 75-97
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3660(2011)0000012008
• Author: Mario S. Torres,Nicole Poenitzsch,Jeffrey Burke

CHAPTER 5

RESPONSIBLE ACTION AS A

CONSTRUCT FOR ETHICAL

LEADERSHIP: INVESTIGATING

THE EFFECT OF SCHOOL AND

COMMUNITY ON POLICE

INVOLVEMENT IN STUDENT

DISCIPLINARY AFFAIRS

Mario S. Torres, Nicole Poenitzsch and Jeffrey Burke

ABSTRACT

Findings from a prior study confirm schools are relying more extensively

on law enforcement to police student behavior (Torres & Stefkovich,

2009). The same study suggests further that decisions to report student

offenses to law enforcement may be motivated in part by school poverty

and school minority student concentration. These findings are concerning

in light of the NAACP’s suggestion that disciplinary action may be overly

harsh in schools serving large populations of children of color. Minimal

research however has examined the effect of policy interventions (e.g.,

prevention training) and community involvement (e.g., engagement) in

Leadership in Education, Corrections and Law Enforcement: A Commitment to Ethics,

Equity and Excellence

Advances in Educational Administration, Volume 12, 75–97

Copyright r2011 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited

All rights of reproduction in any form reserved

ISSN: 1479-3660/doi:10.1108/S1479-3660(2011)0000012008

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minimizing the likelihood student offenses are criminalized. Using the

NCES School Survey on Crime and Safety (2000), policy involvement in

student discipline is explored by schools’ action in mitigating/resolving

problems through prevention, alternative resolution, and external

involvement. Implications for ethical leadership and responsibility are

explored.

Concern about safety in public schools derived from the national attention

given to incidents such as school shootings in Pearl, MS (1997), West

Paducah, KY (1997), Jonesboro, AR (1998), Springfield, OR (1998), and

Littleton, CO (1999), has corresponded with an increase in schools reliance on

municipal law enforcement to influence student behavior (Travis & Coon,

2005). Torres and Stefkovich (2009) suggest that an issue largely overlooked

in the context of increased security in schools, is the extent to which law

enforcement participates in searches of students and the implications such

actions carry for student civil liberties. Torres and Stefkovich (2009) indicate

that administrative decisions to report student offenses to law enforcement

may be motivated in part by school poverty and school minority student

concentration. Such findings appear to have immediate and far-reaching

consequences for students with respect to Fourth Amendment protections as

well as lifelong opportunities (Torres & Stefkovich, 2009). Rationale provided

in the cases of New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985),Vernonia v. Acton (1995),Board

of Education v. Earls, (2002),andSafford v. Redding (2009) has established a

foundation for understanding of the relationship between the student and the

school with respect to disciplinary consequences and students’ entitlement to

be free from unreasonable searches. Given the extent of the potential

detriment to students who are unjustly subjected to violations of their Fourth

Amendment rights (Torres & Stefkovich, 2009), additional research is needed

to investigate the effectiveness of policy interventions (e.g., prevention

training) and community involvement (e.g., engagement) in minimizing the

likelihood student offenses will be criminalized.

Toward this end, the following chapter probes two related but distinct

questions: (a) To what extent do school and community factors influence the

reliance upon police in student searches? and (b) What is the impact of

schools’ action in mitigating student discipline problems through preven-

tion, alternative resolution, and external involvement on their decision to

involve law enforcement in student disciplinary offenses? To understand the

legal implications of police involvement in schools, a brief introduction to

student privacy is needed. Four U.S. Supreme Court cases have clarified

MARIO S. TORRES ET AL.76