Corpun file 6972 at www.corpun.com

The Houston Chronicle, Texas, 22 July 1993

Katy ISD ends paddling as acceptable discipline

By Staff

KATY -- Katy Independent School District trustees voted unanimously Wednesday to end paddling as acceptable discipline.

In a special session on corporal punishment, there was no debate on the basic issue, but arguments flared over the circumstances that led to the board's vote in May against spanking.

At that time, two pro-paddling trustees were absent, giving opponents a 3-2 majority. They then pushed a surprise motion for the board to retire paddles formally and completely.

The Wednesday vote was required officially to change the district's policy on paddling. The entire board went along, albeit some members begrudgingly.

Trustee Stanley Thompson decried what he termed "political maneuvering" by board members opposed to paddling. The trustees in the minority had effectively "disenfranchised two of my fellow board members on a major policy issue," Thompson charged.

Trustee Ken Burton, one of the paddling opponents, fired back, "When the board meets and a quorum is there, I think I should vote my convictions -- not look to see who is absent."

Corporal punishment has been a hotly contested -- but largely symbolic -- issue in the district. Last year, there were only two reported cases of paddling.