RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s state school board is considering a stand against using physical pain to enforce discipline even as the number of children paddled in public schools falls fast.

The State Board of Education plans to vote Thursday on a statement opposing corporal punishment, which is still allowed in a dozen or so of the state’s 115 districts. The state board’s resolution doesn’t include asking the General Assembly to outlaw the practice that fell by half in the last academic year.

A report last month found the number of uses of corporal punishment fell to 404 statewide during the school year that ended in May, down from 891 cases in the 2010-2011 academic year. That was the first time all uses of corporal punishment were required to be reported.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)