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GREENSBORO — The Guilford County Board of Education could need millions of additional dollars if it follows through on committee recommendations to improve student behavior.

How much should be spent to improve the climate? Join the discussion at the Debatables blog.

The 23-member school climate task force presented its report to the school board Monday, and several of its proposals require an increase in employees.

Recommendations included reducing the number of students in elementary, middle and high schools; adding social workers; restructuring in-school suspension programs; and establishing a centralized mediation center to handle student disputes.

Other recommendations included adding security staff to schools; using standard modes of dress districtwide and reducing class sizes in traditional schools to 17 students.

The task force presented two reports Monday. Some members wanted to emphasize training for employees, while others focused on student responsibility.

The school board requested cost estimates for the recommendations from senior administrators.

"It's all nice to do all this if you don't have to recognize where the money is coming from," board member Anita Sharpe said.

Sharpe was particularly critical of the report, saying it was biased and proposed steps that the district couldn't legally take.

"If you're going to present a case to me, present all sides of it," said Sharpe, who represents a constituency that believes in zero tolerance when it comes to misbehavior in the classroom. "And in my opinion, this does not."

The board asked the task force last year to recommend ways to improve student behavior and discipline. Some board members, including Amos Quick and Alan Duncan, see discipline as one of the biggest educational challenges the school system faces.

The past school year has seen a number of fights among students, including two incidents at Grimsley High School. One student was badly injured in a September assault, and a December brawl resulted in 21 students facing criminal charges.

The task force started meeting in July with with parents, school employees, law enforcement and other groups. Members completed their report last week, about a month behind schedule.

"At the end, we felt we needed more time, but we didn't have more time," said Terrina Picarello, co-chairwoman of the task force.

"We had to just stop where we were."

Surveys with parents, teachers and students found inconsistencies in how misbehavior is punished and fear among some teachers to report their concerns to administrators and board members.

"From teacher to teacher, there seems to be different rules within the same hallway even," Picarello said. "For kids, it's kind of confusing because it makes for an unpredictable environment."

Contact Morgan Josey Glover at 373-7078 or morgan.josey@news-record.com