Board To Discuss Classroom Conduct

Friday, January 12th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) â€” First, she proposed school uniforms. Then she pushed adopting a cleanup bell, giving students a few minutes between classes to pick up after themselves.

Now, school board member Katherine Smith has proposed requiring students in the Anaheim Union High School District to stand when adults enter a classroom and address them as ``sir'' or ``ma'am.'' Board members also are considering having teachers call students by Mr. and Miss.

``What's wrong with being respectful?'' Smith asks.

The board is set next week to discuss the proposal. Smith is still working on some details, but the board could implement the policy next fall at one test school or apply it to all entering seventh-graders in the 25-school district.

While some applaud the proposal, calling it a way to return to civility and formality in the classroom, others say the idea is disruptive, old-fashioned and restricts free speech.

Several of Smith's fellow board members said it could pose problems because teachers can't even force students to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

``It sounds great. But it's not realistic,'' said board member Benny Hernandez, a sixth-grade teacher.

Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said the proposal appears legal.

``But not everything that is legal is a good idea. It doesn't sound like freedom and individuality,'' she said.

Student reaction has been mixed.

Anaheim High School senior Ryan Paterson, 17, said some students are too casual, calling teachers ``dude.''

``I think that would keep students more respectful and on their toes to do what's right,'' he said.

But Nicole Venturelli, 16, thinks such a policy would cause division between students and teachers.

``It would only cause more defiance against them,'' said the Katella High School junior. ``It wouldn't gain our respect, but our contempt.''

Although teachers would like to see more civility in the classroom, many say they already have the respect of their students.

``It's not a blackboard jungle, being fearful of hideous comments being made,'' said Carol Comparsi, a high school teacher and president of the Anaheim Secondary Teachers Association. ``Of course teachers want to be respected. But how does standing designate respect?''

During a recent teachers' union meeting, Comparsi said many were concerned that such a policy would interfere with classroom instruction.

``What happens when there are lectures going on or students are working on group tasks? Do you just stop?'' she asked.

Smith, who says she came up with the idea after visiting a private school, said she does not plan to attach any punishment to the policy.

``If there's a couple of people who don't want to stand, it's their loss,'' she said.

Anaheim's respect proposal appears to be the first on the West Coast, but it has already taken hold in the South. Last year, Louisiana passed a ``respect'' law, followed by South Carolina in November.

Anaheim's proposal is the latest in a string of policies either considered or adopted by the 30,000-student district to make schools safer, more civil and financially stable.

``I see the way children are raised today. There needs to be a respect for themselves and others,'' Smith said. ``For many of the students, this is their last stop before entering the real world. I just want them to be prepared.''

In the past decade, the district has adopted a dress code, a policy implemented at five of the schools, and a moment of silence, which is being challenged in court.

The district was the first in the state to raise the graduation grade point average to 2.0 and implement a cleanup bell.

In 1999, the district approved a plan to ask the Immigration and Naturalization Service to count the number of illegal immigrants its schools and bill the United States government for the cost of educating them. The feds declined to pick up the tab.

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On the Net:

Anaheim Union High School District: http://www.auhsd.k12.ca.us