I’m trying to figure out when exactly we stopped protecting our
students in a school setting. When did one students rights supersede another?
When did we, as parents, decide that it’s perfectly acceptable to not challenge
the status quo with school boards? What exactly is it going to take to get
someone to sit up and take notice that it is not acceptable to put things in
writing as far as steps taken in behavior correction?
I ask this because a friend of mine is dealing with an issue
that has become all too common in our schools. Violence, or the threat of
violence, has become so commonplace that until the unthinkable happens, nobody
questions the status quo. Her son and several of his classmates were told by
another student that they planned on bringing a gun to school and shooting them
and some of the teachers because they were mad at them. Her son, when asked
about his day at school, told her what was said. She reacted like any parent
and contacted his teacher to inform her of what was said and to question if she
had noticed anything odd in class.
What she learned is that on the particular day in question the
regular teacher was out because of illness and they had a substitute. The
teacher said she would question the sub and find out what, if anything, had
happened at school that day. My friend then was told that the school
administration had been made aware of the situation and she would be contacted.
Okay, that’s all well and good, or so she thought until she got the phone call
from the school principal.
The call started off with, “Your son is not in any trouble.”
Well, that’s good to know since he had done nothing wrong. The principal went
on to say that they had talked to the student and that they had taken some
course of action. What my friend asked was this, “Can you tell me what your
course of action is when another student makes a threat such as this?” And what
she was told was that they cannot discuss what, if any, type of punishment was
given to a child that isn’t hers. Now, being the good parent that she is, she
clarified that she was NOT asking about that child, but that she wanted to know
what measures the school had in place to protect other students and what steps
they have in place to deal with things like this. She was referred to the
school board.
The school board informed her that they have NO written
instructions as to what actions are taken IF something like this was
threatened.
What?!
They gave her this little gem of information, “You can look up
Onslow County, Section B, Policy 4302, and that is the same information we have
for all of our schools and it spells out how we deal with situations such as
these.” Let me share this with you all so you can see why we’re as upset with
this as we are.
In case you don’t want to click on the link, here it is…Section
B of Policy 4302 states:
2. Serious
Violations
Serious
violations of the Student Code of Conduct may result in any of the
consequences
that may be imposed for minor violations. In addition, serious
violations
that threaten to substantially disrupt the educational environment may
result in
long-term suspension, and serious violations that threaten the safety of
students,
school employees or school visitors may result in long-term suspension or
expulsion.
Certain violations involving firearms or explosive devices may result in a
365-day suspension.
That’s it ladies and gentleman…this is ALL they have in writing
for “serious violations” and nothing else.
Just as a reference point, here is a copy of how the local
school district has theirs set up:
Techniques
The following discipline management techniques may be
used—alone or in combination—for behavior prohibited by the Student Code of
Conduct or by campus or classroom rules:
1. Verbal correction, oral or written.
2. Cooling-off time or “time-out.”
3. Seating changes within the classroom.
4. Temporary confiscation of items that disrupt the
educational process.
5. Rewards or demerits.
6. Behavioral contracts.
7. Counseling by teachers, counselors, or
administrative personnel.
8. Parent-teacher conferences.
9. Grade reductions for cheating, plagiarism, and as
otherwise permitted by policy.
10. Detention.
11. Sending the student to the office or other
assigned area, or to in-school suspension.
12. Assignment of school duties such as cleaning or
picking up litter.
13. Withdrawal of privileges, such as participation in
extracurricular activities, eligibility for seeking and holding honorary
offices, or membership in school-sponsored clubs and organizations.
14. Penalties identified in individual student
organizations’ extracurricular standards of behavior.
15. Withdrawal or restriction of bus privileges.
16. School-assessed and school-administered probation.
17. Out-of-school suspension, as specified in the
Suspension section of this Code.
18. Placement in a DAEP.
19. Placement and/or expulsion in an alternative
educational setting.
20. Expulsion, as specified in the Expulsion section
of this Code.
21. Referral to an outside agency or legal authority
for criminal prosecution in addition to disciplinary measures imposed by the
District.
22. Other strategies and consequences as determined by
school officials.
Her school district has SIX pages to spell out their code of
conduct. The local school district has TWENTY NINE (29) pages to JUST their
code of conduct. The infractions to draw one or more of the actions listed were
THREE pages in length.
I’m at a loss. A child threatens to bring a gun to school and
shoot people because they don’t like them and there is nothing in writing that
informs parents as to how these types of situations are handled. And when this
student brings a gun to school and shoots people, WHAT are they going to say to
the parents? Sorry…we didn’t have a plan in place…our bad.
UNACCEPTABLE!!
Question your school board! If you want to see a change made…GO
MAKE IT! You have a voice…USE IT!
Oh, and in case you all were wondering, this lovely child that
made these threats were simply told to “Be a good boy and don’t say things like
this.” Um…excuse me?
Sure, he just learned that he needs to keep his thoughts to
himself, that way when he DOES bring the gun to school, nobody will have any
forewarning of it.
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