Solon High School implemented new policies in the beginning of the school year that administrators are hoping will assist in reducing suspensions.

A part of the new suspension policy is the new 60% rule. Prior to the 2025-26 school year, the previous policy guaranteed credit given for assignments missed during suspension upon return. In the first draft of the new policy, students could only receive 50%, but to ensure students are still able to pass the class, the credit line was adjusted to 60%.

The administrators of the high school, including Vice Principals Carla Rodenbucher and Suzanne Chin, were a part of a board that updated the suspension policies over the summer. Chin said the 60% rule was an aspect that was heavily debated.

“I do think it’s going to be a big deterrent for kids not to do things,” Chin said. “I think a lot of you guys have to report on college apps if you are suspended. That has to be in the back of your head: ‘what I’m going to do?’ Is it worth me having to explain to a school I want to get into about being suspended?”

Chin said that the change in policy was brought about due to the high percentage of students getting suspended for vaping, along with physical violence and plagiarism.

“As a school, we educate you guys,” Chin said. “You learn about [vaping] in health class in the middle school, you guys learn about it in health class here. You know the risks of it. I think it’s probably a conversation that goes back 50 years.”

Chin said that plagiarism has also become a prevalent issue recently, especially with the advent of AI. Teachers have noticed students completing assignments unethically. Chin said she hopes that this new policy will help students do their work on their own.

“You have to do the work,” Chin said. “Even if you’re going into the workforce, we want to make sure you know that there are some rules that you need to abide by.”

According to Chin, this new plagiarism policy has been effective so far, as fewer suspensions have occurred this year compared to previous years.

To eradicate the main causes of suspension, Solon Middle School has also changed its policy to align with the high school’s.

“A lot of the suspendible offenses that we had at the Middle School [are] also suspendible offenses here because we wanted the kids to be consistent and not have to worry about, what can I do and what can’t I do?” Chin said.

In addition, Rodenbucher said another part of the new policy was a verbal clause. According to the handbook, “students shall not intimidate, insult, annoy or attack using physical, verbal, written or electronic action.” If violated, students now may face suspension.

“The kids that are egging people on to do something, and they’re the prime person who’s doing it, we are giving consequences now too,” Rodenbucher said. “I think that’s going to be very helpful because a lot of times, why kids end up fighting is because somebody’s always stirring the pot behind the scenes.”

The Guidance Office offers mediation between students to help resolve issues without having to resort to physical violence. With the tightened policies, Rodenbucher said she sees more kids helping others.

“I do see more kids bringing [other] kids down to the guidance [office] so that they can calm themselves down so they don’t get into that [fight],” Rodenbucher said.

Senior Lily Rohrich said she thinks intervention plans might be more effective than suspension, as  she said she thinks students use suspension as a way to get out of schoolwork.

“A lot of kids look for ways to get out of school, so being suspended is a way to get out of school, and I think it motivates the wrong type of thing,” Rohrich said. “[Being suspended] increases hatred towards school and not wanting to do work.”

Rodenbucher is still conflicted if the new policy will be effective this school year.

“Verdicts out,” Rodenbucher said. “We won’t know the effectiveness until the end of the year.”