The Pittsburgh Public Schools board will reconsider a controversial policy removed earlier this year amid complaints from principals they're struggling to adequately address disruptive behavior.
School board member Terry Kennedy introduced a resolution Wednesday that would reinstate the policy, which allows schools to impose more severe punishments for students who have three or more minor offenses.
"In the areas where we have the most problematic behavior, nobody is learning," Kennedy said. "That is a big problem. That cannot wait."
The board initially voted to remove the policy over concerns it unfairly targeted minority and disabled students.
Kennedy's proposal sparked lengthy debate at Wednesday's meeting.
Board member Pam Harbin said she's opposed to reinstating the policy and feels the board didn't do enough to address the needs of students as they returned to the classroom after months of learning from home.
"The policy change that you're asking for is not going to give care and healing to students," she said. "It's giving punishment to students."
She suggested more investment into staffing and resources instead.
"If we need more staff in our buildings, let's fix that," she said. "We need to invest. If it's five to seven percent of our students, and let's just say 1,000, that's 1,000 students that we're saying 'we don't have the resources to educate you.'"
But Kennedy said she wants an immediate solution while continuing to work through long-term fixes.
"At what point do the rights of the students who are misbehaving become more important than the rights of the students who are behaving and want to learn?"
The proposal will be up for debate during a public hearing Monday.