Classes started Monday for the 1,900 students in Cassville R-IV School District, about an hour west of Branson and some 15 miles from the Arkansas border. During open house, families were notified that the school board had adopted a policy in June allowing "use of physical force as a method of correcting student behavior." Parents were handed forms to specify whether they authorize the school to use a paddle on their child, the Springfield News-Leader reported.

Formally known as corporal punishment, the disciplinary measure usually involves striking students on the buttocks with a wooden paddle. In Cassville, staff members will employ "reasonable physical force" — without a "chance of bodily injury or harm" — in the presence of a witness, according to the new policy. A teacher or principal must also send a report to the superintendent explaining the reasoning behind the punishment.