Misbehaving students unsatisfied with school behavioral restrictions may find themselves getting an extra helping of what they don’t want –school. On Saturday.

Monday, The Portsmouth School Board tabled a motion that would require students with in-school suspension to serve their time several Saturday mornings during the school year. School board member Tim Steele said his motion would prevent students from missing regular class, causing trouble with make-up work and school supervisory personnel.

Parents were divided on the issue.

“I work six day a week – including Saturday morning,” said Peggy Bacon, mother of a student she suspects might be affected by the policy. “I just don’t think it’s going to make any difference, and the parents are going to pay for it –in higher taxes as well as ruined Saturdays.”

But resident Bob Farley liked the idea: “Parents can whine all they want … [they] aren’t teaching their kids any discipline, so the kids have no respect for rules. Maybe if they have to miss a few Saturday morning cartoons they’ll start wising up.”

Steele said bathroom smoking is the disciplinary problem his proposal would be primarily combating: “there are other problems, but smoking is by far the biggest one.”

The issue will be further discussed during the next school board meeting, March 7.

In other news, the Middle school, which along with other city school buildings has seen a 25 percent drop in rental value, has been vandalized with graffiti. The rental committee suggested marketing the buildings more aggressively in newspapers.