Fix School Discipline Toolkit for Educators | Page 18

stage of their lives.
Jeanney Munoz, 12th Grader: Before no one really
cared about school. When I first started in 9th grade,
I really didn’t like coming here and it was always
dirty. You could just walk out of class and no one
would care where you went. Last year, when Mr. R got
here, it got so much better. You could actually use
the restrooms. Now, this year, people care more and
teachers care more too.
Were there any setbacks when you were first
began PBIS implementation?
Principal Rubalcaba: We experienced some
pushback from some teachers and staff when we
first brought SWPBIS to the entire school. I can give
you an example that exemplifies how we do things
differently now: A student urinated in the corner of
the locker room. Before SWPBIS, the student would
have been suspended for two to three days. Instead
of suspending the student, we called the parent
and asked how we should address the situation.
The parent suggested that we have the student
clean up the entire locker room. After all of this, the
student apologized and said, “Mr. R, there was no
honor in what I did. I embarrassed myself and my
family.” Since then that kid made the Honor Roll
and National Honor Society. I asked teachers if this
was okay or if we should had suspended him; and
many of them got it. Of course, there was still some
pushback from teachers who were accustomed to
traditional discipline practices but people, for the
most part, are working hard to make this work. Last
year we had 3 suspensions and this year we have
had only one so far. Additionally, there have been
less fights, graffiti, and paperwork. People have been
saying that kids are better this year. But it’s not the
kids, it’s us; we are focused on positive intervention
and prevention.
How has climate at Azusa High School changed?
Metztlie Cisneros, 12th Grader: There is more
student involvement and the reputation of our school
is better. There is more school spirit. Mr. R. got into
it too. At pep rallies in the past, we actually had to
be quiet. This year, we could be rowdy and we got to
smash a pie in his face and do the ALS Ice Bucket
Challenge. We also learned about ALS (amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis). It’s nice to just see how Mr. R
has school spirit too. Our school used to have the
reputation of being the “ghetto’ school and people

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How we can fix school discipline

would say, “Why are you going to Azusa, you should
go to Gladstone.” But now I know a lot of people who
want to transfer to Azusa High from other schools.
Everyone really appreciates what Mr. R has done for
the atmosphere of Azusa High, including my mom.
Travon Browne, Custodian: In the past years, it
would take us almost two hours to pick-up after
lunch. There was trash and debris everywhere and
the restrooms were a disaster and all tagged up. We
just couldn’t get kids to pick up after themselves.
Principal R told me that the trash wasn’t going to be
a problem anymore. I didn’t really believe him.
Principal Rubalcaba: On that first day, I asked the
rest of the administrative team to pick up trash and
walk around during lunch in order to model the
expectations. During lunch, we walked around and
we talked to students asking if they were done eating.
If they were, we would take their trash and throw it
away. After the first couple of days, we didn’t have to
walk around cleaning up after the students; we had
successfully modeled what we wanted to see.
Mr. Brown : On that first day, it was crazy, there was
barely any trash around and cleaning up took only
30 to 40 minutes! We are all working together and
now we have time to focus on larger scale things, like
painting and maintenance.
Carlos Cuevas, Custodian: Everyone is now
treating campus more like a home. We praise
students who are doing well with clearing up after
themselves or picking up trash on the ground. We let
the children know that we appreciate it and reinforce
positively.
Ms. Dahm, English Teacher: PBIS has really
impacted how I deal with behavior. I’d been having
this issue with a student who came in tardy routinely.
I finally got fed up when she came in late this last
time. I asked her to wait outside the classroom where
I asked her what she thought it said to me and the
other kids when she came in late. I said, “Don’t you
think it’s disrespectful to me and your classmates
when you come late?” She said, “I’m not being
disrespectful.” I explained that it was disrespectful
when we all made the effort and got to class on time
but she came whenever she felt like it. She had an
‘aha’ moment, and we haven’t really had problems
ever since.
Not only are students held accountable under this
system, teachers are also held accountable for their