Meeting practice

Instead of sleeping in and watching their favorite cartoons, rebellious youngsters may have to start spending their Saturdays in detention. 

            Portsmouth High School’s move to initiate a Saturday morning detention period has riled up children and parents alike.  No more Bugs Bunny and no more lazy, news paper-reading, coffee-drinking mornings.

            The School Department is now pushing to hold delinquent students on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon several weekends a month.  Parents like Peggy Bacon are unhappy with the interruption to their weekend rituals.  “The parents are going to pay for it—in higher taxes as well as in ruined Saturdays”.

            Bacon is right about the taxes.  This new rule will cost about $3,000 per year for staffing, according to Tim Steele, School Board member. 

            Even students with clean academic records think the idea is wrong.  Lisa Gallagher, a senior student who has never served a detention, argued, “what if someone skips the session?  What are they going to do, make them stay all weekend?” 

            In response, Steele explained that any student who misses a Saturday morning detention will not be allowed in school until the detention is served. This is a direct contradiction to his earlier comment in the meeting that proposed students will miss less class time by attending these detentions rather than receiving in-house suspensions, which restrict students from attending class or doing their work.