In the wake of a new state law, in-school suspension now feature a new name and tougher requirements since the beginning of this school year.

According to NNHS Dean of Students Jeffrey DiOrio, students who are sent to “In-School Interventions” will have to create a schedule for the day including tasks for each period. The hope is students will be more productive during their punishment.

“Students will get information on their behavior, reflect on their actions, and come up with things they want to do in the future,” DiOrio said.

The new law was put in place to make out-of-school suspensions a last resort. School staff and administrators are urged to thoroughly consider whether the student poses a large risk to the safety and/or learning environment of the school before deciding to suspend a student. These decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis.

DiOrio said students and staff may not notice too much of a change in the number of suspensions at NNHS because there were not many suspensions to begin with. In fact, over 90 percent of the suspensions that occurred last year would still be valid under the new law.

“The law removed other schools’ ability to remove students for minor offenses, but we don’t really do that,” DiOrio said. “Last year, less than 60 students at NNHS were suspended, compared to other schools, where up to 1,000 students are suspended each year.”

Those who are still required to serve an out-of-school suspension may see a decrease in the length of the punishment.

“We’ll have to decide what kind of threat to the school environment the person is on day 10 of their suspension versus day nine,” DiOrio said. “The main goal for this change is to turn students into better human beings.”