Giving Compass' Take:

· Indiana's Tindley charter schools have been known for their strict discipline policies and high suspension rates, but that will be changing in the upcoming school year. Tindley CEO Kelli Marshall talks with Chalkbeat about the new demerit system approach the schools will implement come the next year.

· How will this new system affect the actions and behavior of Tindley's students?

· Read about the shift in classroom discipline standards.

Earlier this year, La Wanda Girton’s son was facing a three-day suspension from Tindley Accelerated School for handing a pencil to another student.

A teacher was trying to settle down the class, she said, and told the students to be quiet. But when Edwin, a sophomore, lent a pencil to a classmate in need, he said, “Here you go.”

Tindley’s network of six charter schools has long been known for strict discipline policies imposed alongside rigorous college prep. But after 14 years and some of the highest out-of-school suspension numbers in the state, the Indianapolis charter network is relaxing its controversial, unapologetically tough approach to discipline in the upcoming school year, Tindley CEO Kelli Marshall told Chalkbeat, in an effort to reduce suspensions and better serve students and families.

“Things are changing,” Marshall said. “Maybe we have to loosen some bolts a little.”

In the next school year, Tindley will move away from automatic suspensions for minor infractions, such as chewing gum and repeatedly coming to class unprepared, Marshall said. Instead, the network will adopt a demerit system, where students accumulate points for misbehaving and face suspensions after reaching a certain number of points.

Read the full article about school discipline by Stephanie Wang at Chalkbeat