RALEIGH
North Carolina school districts where corporal punishment is allowed would have to give parents the option of exempting their children from such a penalty in legislation that cleared the House on Monday night.
The measure, approved by a vote of 91-24 and sent to the Senate for consideration, also would require school officials to make a "reasonable attempt" to contact a parent before such punishment is used.
The bill doesn't go far enough for some House members who have wanted in recent years to ban spanking in North Carolina's public schools. Fifty-five of the 115 districts allow corporal punishment, and at least eight of them allow parents to exempt their children, said Rep. Martha Alexander, D-Mecklenburg, one of the bill's primary sponsors.
"This is a consensus bill. We all agree that we need to have safe learning environments for our students," Alexander said during debate. "This bill is not whether or not corporal punishment is appropriate or not, but whether parents are allowed to participate in this important decision."
Each local school board adopts their own rules on punishing students for misbehavior, with some minimum guidelines established by the state. Giving parents the chance to "opt out" of physical punishment isn't required.
That would change in the House bill, telling districts that spanking can't be administered to a student if a parent has asked in writing it not be done. Parents must be given a form they can fill out when their child enters school each year to decide. Alerting parents before a spanking occurs ensures that they know their children are acting up in school, too, said Rep. Laura Wiley, R-Guilford, a former teacher.
Several House members, including Alexander, worked to pass a complete school spanking ban in 2007, arguing the punishment was ineffective and could lead to injuries for a child. But the bill was defeated on the floor, as many colleagues said local districts should be able to decide for themselves whether spanking is a useful method of punishment.
Rep. John Blust, R-Guilford, who voted against the bill Monday night, said the practical application of the legislation would be to "diminish and ultimately end the use of corporal punishment."
The bill also would require school districts to report annually to the Department of Public Instruction how many students had received corporal punishment.
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