Some students of the Portsmouth school district could find themselves in class on Saturday mornings with a vote from the school board.

At the Portsmouth School Board meeting Monday night member Tim Steele made a motion to approve a new rule requiring students who have disciplinary problems during the week to attend a special Saturday morning school session.

Parent Peggy Bacon is against the proposal. “It’s bad enough to get my son off to school Monday through Friday. Why should I have to worry about Saturday as well?”

Others, like resident Bob Farley think the proposal is a good idea. “The kids have no respect for the rules. Maybe if they have to miss a few Saturday morning cartoons they’ll start wising up.”

The session, which is being proposed as a way to reduce the number of in-house suspensions, would run from 8 a.m. until noon several weekends during the year and cost $3,000 a year for staffing.

In-house suspensions require a student to spend a school day under close supervision of a faculty member in an empty classroom, and miss the class work they would have received. The proposed Saturday morning session would allow the students to attend their classes.

The number of in-house suspensions is high, with 154 students receiving them in 1995. This is due in part to the number of students caught smoking. Currently, students smoking inside or outside the school are automatically given in-house suspensions.