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school systems convicting with no appeal


Trigger Mike

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i have 2 in middle school.  my 12 year old 6th grader has gotten in trouble a lot this year.  not for anything really bad just stupid stuff like throwing up his hands in the air in confusion when a teacher told him he could not stand up while waiting for his mom to pick him up when the teacher the day before let them.  what they do is if a student complains then they assume guilt and my son gets detention or lunch detention or in school suspension.  he has good grades, couple of A's mostly Bs and a c in math.  this tells me he's an average child and not really bad.  the principle states she has no option but with each complaint in school suspension kicks in no matter the offense.  the other day him and a buddy were hummin a country song in the hall and 3 (teacher changed her story to now say 5 other kids) came and accused him of making sex noises.  he denied it but was given 2 days recess detention.  then two weeks later a girl was telling another boy she got paid to have sex.  my son and his friend heard it as she talked loud and so my son asked $200? and that earned him after school detention.  i told the teacher no, he was falsely accused the other day so he gets a free pass and besides his crime is butting in a conversation that was not his business.  the principle called and now sys he gets 3 days in school suspension that the teacher was being nice giving him after school detention. he will serve it after the state mandatory test next week.  i have time to try and work this out.  they have a month left.  other parents have also complained their child is being convicted and sentenced on the say of other children.  is there a way to get this stopped?  is there a recourse?

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Mike, I would get on the phone to the school Superintendent's office or School Board President or whoever is in charge of that school and I state my case to them. I would tell them, in these words, "My child is being harassed and he is in a hostile learning environment brought about by school staff". I wouldn't be mean or sensational when I talked to them and I would use the term "my child" a lot. 

 

I attended a school like this in 9th grade. It was weird to me as I was doing nothing wrong. But my last name wasn't, I shall say, not lower European enough. My parents did nothing except tell me to deal with it. It affected me greatly.

 

As much as I would like to say "Kick A** and take names" as I despise bureaucrats I would go the route that scares bureaucrats to death. I would go after them from above.

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i am calling the school board as soon as they open.  i do not like it that the teacher told me "had he not admitted it he would have only gotten recess detention but since he admitted it he got after school detention."  this tells me he was considered guilty regardless of what he had to say.  that is just wrong to me.  most of the year i told him to behave and also asked the principle to show him mercy but as the school gets close to the milestone test they are ramping up it seems again.  they had laid off him a few months.  i want him to know I'm in his corner.  

 

meanwhile he is stuck in the middle getting worse punishment because I'm protesting.  i told him to go behind my back to the teacher and tell her his dad is really mad and going to keep complaining and could he please serve recess detention in lieu of in school suspension so his dad would not know he served it.  he just wants it to end.  i get that but i want the way they run things to change as do other parents I've talked to.  I'm hoping they will let him while i keep complaining.  that is if i can't get them to drop it

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52 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Mike, I would get on the phone to the school Superintendent's office or School Board President or whoever is in charge of that school and I state my case to them. I would tell them, in these words, "My child is being harassed and he is in a hostile learning environment brought about by school staff". I wouldn't be mean or sensational when I talked to them and I would use the term "my child" a lot. 

 

This. Turn the tables on the harassing teacher through the proper channels. 

 

Not everyone who is employed as a teacher should be nor are some people who are employed as teachers good with working with kids. Some teachers can use behavior modification, just as some kids actually need it. 

 

Involving the top brass should get the teacher's attention.

 

The bigger part of this problem are the ignorant "zero tolerance" policies that schools use to eliminate all critical thinking from so called discipline case kids. This removes any rational thought and decision making from a teacher's ability to deal with real problems. But, some people employed as teachers cannot deal with or choose to not deal with any behavior that does not follow their personal (subjective) idea of good or normal student behavior. Zero tolerance policies then become a crutch for that type of educator.

 

Good luck. 

 

 

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I called the board of education.  the poor lady who answered the phone heard my complaint though i do not cuss or call names i was vocal.  she said the superintendent is at a school olympics this morning and took a message and also sent me to his voice mail.  i complained about the sentencing a child based solely on testimony of another child without evidence and sneezing 5 times gets you ISS every time you sneeze after that.  if this fails i have the state web site pulled up to go to them next.  i figure i may lose which is why i told my son to offer to serve recess detention to help him get back to being a child

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I am sure your child is innocent.

 

However in my son's case he went to a tough middle school. He started getting into trouble and seemed to have problems with one particular teacher.

 

Our solution was simple...

 

My wife and I took turns dropping in unannounced to his classes. We checked in at the office, went to the classroom and just sat quietly in the back of the room. We didn't announced who we were or what student was ours. Just sat quietly in the back of the classroom. The reaction of my son was priceless. All of the other kids started looking around and he gave himself away with the look on his face. After a few unannounced visits the problems he was having became fewer and he lived with the knowledge that if we got reports of him getting into trouble his mother and I would take the time to visit the school ourselves to see what was going on.

 

Incidently the school Administration and teachers were very supportive of us coming to the school without a appointment and visiting him in his classes.

 

Maybe my attitude is different than yours because I remember some of the stuff I did when in middle school,:rolleyes:

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Several years ago my son got suspended from high school for a week (was allowed to go to an alternative school for the week).  When I asked about an appeal I was told I could appeal the suspension BUT it would be several weeks before the hearing and he would not be allowed to attend school (or the alternative school) until after the hearing.  XXX???

 

Catch 22.  He could either be suspended for a week and be allowed to keep up with his classes OR he would not be allowed to attend class or keep up with his work for several weeks until a hearing could be held to decide if he should be suspended.  I don't know if he would have had to serve a week of suspension after a hearing found him worthy of a suspension or if they would have credited him with "time served".  Either way, if found "not guilty" he would have still been several weeks behind in his classes.  Obviously actually educating people was not a concern there.

 

How's that for screwed up?

 

FWIW he had no other disciplinary incidents before or after.

 

Angus

 

p.s.  The incident that caused the suspension didn't even happen on school grounds and was the result of a carload of other students following him home to his bus stop.

 

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If other parents are having the same issue you need to get them involved as well.  Then is becomes more than a he said / she said situation and can show a pattern of abuse of authority be a teacher or teachers

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Our daughters (twins) graduated HS in 2013. I was a thorn in the school boards side for a number of years until some of the socialist jackwads finally got voted out. Our girls attended the same school district from 1-12 grades except for mid 4th-mid 5th grades when we made a horrible mistake of moving to Texas and enrolling them in an "Exemplary" district. I should have known there was a problem when in the Texas 4th grade they were using the same text books our girls were using in 2nd and 3rd grades in Colorado.

 

I had many battles with a few teachers but thankfully most of the principals were on my side. More than once I was in the school fighting for my kids against some idiotic, social-engineering garbage.

 

I would not want to have young kids in most public schools these days.

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it really is hard fighting city hall.  they treat you like they have you by the nose and that you are merely a subject of their power.  i intend to be a throne for the remaining month.  there is a Christian school nearby and i already signed the forms for next year for all 4 of my children.  Im tired of the way my son is treated.  my daughter is an 'A" student so they leave her alone but when another girl wrote her love notes and started telling people her and my daughter were a couple and the "L" in LGBT i was a constant visitor for that as well to end, but the school did nothing other than transfer my daughter to another team.  I am tired of that kind of behavior as well plus one of the other 13 year old girls is pregnant.  

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Another thing that I would do is find out which state representatives are on the education panels in your state and get them involved if you get nothing from the superintendent.

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1 hour ago, Lost Trail said:

Our daughters (twins) graduated HS in 2013. I was a thorn in the school boards side for a number of years until some of the socialist jackwads finally got voted out. Our girls attended the same school district from 1-12 grades except for mid 4th-mid 5th grades when we made a horrible mistake of moving to Texas and enrolling them in an "Exemplary" district. I should have known there was a problem when in the Texas 4th grade they were using the same text books our girls were using in 2nd and 3rd grades in Colorado.

 

I had many battles with a few teachers but thankfully most of the principals were on my side. More than once I was in the school fighting for my kids against some idiotic, social-engineering garbage.

 

I would not want to have young kids in most public schools these days.

 

And here we have a winner. Ding ding ding!

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When dealing with these folks go to them in person;  face to face is best.  Bend over backwards to be calm and courteous.  Put your cell phone in your shirt pocket and start the appropriate APP to record the conversation before entering the office.  Forget phone calls and/ or emails to get the results you want.

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i agree J-Bar.  i have left the superintendent 2 messages and an email as he is out of the office this morning.  I have met with the principle in person before many times about one child or the other.  I have found that an online private school will take him but treat him as if it is january and not april but that equates to working through June from now instead of the end of May since it is just the core subjects and none of the fluff.  obviously not a good solution but one that is out there if i can't get satisfaction.  

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my 13 year old daughter came home Friday and said, "DAD!  Did you tell the principal that you were firm and determined about Josiah not serving the detention?  I said yes.  She added she was in the hall changing class and saw the Principal talking to the asst principal and my daughter said she(the principal) was laughing and telling the asst principal that the parent had said he was determined and firm on it and kept laughing at the parent for saying that and then looked at my daughter as she walked by.  the asst principal seemed embarrassed about it all.  my daughter knows i use terms like firm when Ive had enough or determined when I will insist upon a change in direction immediately knew the principal was talking about her daddy.  

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Sometimes one has to say to oneself "Is this the hill I want to die on" A child won't die from serving a detention and it will definitely be a learning lesson about how a liberal, administrator top heavy bureaucracy like the public school system works, or I should say does not work. 

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T.M.,

 

You are whistling in the wind with phone calls and being demanding. School officials get phone calls like yours all the time about unfair their child is being treated and how they want something done. In my previous career the quickest way not to get what someone wanted is when they came to me and demanded something. It is amazing how long and slow it takes for something to happen when it is necessary to make sure policy is being exactly followed to the dot on the I,

 

You can declare thermonuclear war on the school. It will take years of combat, many hours of your time, numerous phone calls and meeting with school officials, court orders to get evidence and video tapes released, filing lawsuit, court procedures and much money.

 

Or just pay a unannounced visit to the school. Be polite and ask to sit on the class(es) that your son is having a problem with. This will give you first hand observation of how the teacher runs her classroom and treats her students. It will also put the school officials and the teacher on notice that you are concerned enough to take time out of your day to get personally involved.

 

Personal story is I once got swats from a teacher for something I was set up for by a girl in my class. I learned several important lessons about life from that experience;

1. People make judgements without all of the evidence.

2. Girls can get away with murder.

3. Being punished unfairly did not ruin my life.

 

Oh the other thing is it made me a bit of legend in class for surviving the swats without crying or breaking down. 

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well I plan on going to visit the superintendent in person.  a former school board member i know suggested i need to.  i know i will lose and obviously it is easier for him to serve it.  what I'm hoping for is that my son learn that sometimes you have to fight a losing battle for principles sake.  right now if he thinks he will lose a fight he doesn't fight.  i want hi to see that i do care when he is constantly attacked by an adult.  i want him to learn how to properly fight a battle as in he can see that i am not attacking any individual only a policy and the way it is implemented.  i want him to learn that if i do succeed and the former board member said there is a chance that battles are not easily won.  besides next year i am moving him to a Christian school.  

 

all the while i am defending him i am addressing the things that got him into this mess.  he is not totally innocent.  i just want the school to stop deciding to impose a sentence without hearing from the offending party.  The teacher telling me he was already facing recess detention before she even talked to him and then upped it to after school detention did not sit well.  plus this school has a policy that if you get in trouble 5 times every time after that regardless of the offense is 3 days in school detention .  i want that changed.  it should be based on the offense.  i guess i don't mind dying on this hill.

 

 i have that habit.  once serious xm sent a collection agency after my wife for $37 because we had cancelled the card and not cancelled the service first.  after the collection agency chewed out my wife for being a dead bet etc i made a decision to die on that hill and called the collection agency every single day for 3 weeks and asked for a supervisor each day and told them each day i plan o calling you every day and run up your phone bill and waste your time until we get this resolved.  after a while i got a letter stating the debt had been forgiven.  i didn't die after all.

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You need to do your homework..  Are other kids getting the same treatment? Attend a school board meeting and express your concerns.  Explain the lack of communication after multiple emails and voice message also bring up the fact that they were discussing private student information in public!

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I did not get a reply by this morning from the superintendent so i called his secretary asking for a meeting time and when she did not answer sent an email as well.  The superintendent called me back.  I explained how I did not think it was right that another child can get my son in trouble and my son be sentenced before the teacher even talks to him and that i did not like it the school has a policy that if you get in trouble 5 times every time after that is automatically 3 days in school suspension regardless of the offense and i did not like it that they increased his punishment to 3 days ISS because i stood up for him.  I asked if i could meet with him to discuss it and even the teacher who said "i was only going to give him recess detention until he admitted he said $200 (to the girl who said she had been paid for having sex and another boy was trying to guess how much) so then i gave him after school detention.  he said "oh no, let me call the school today and call you back, Im heading to Savannah to a meeting right now"  I asked him what is wrong with my son saying $200?  that was all he said.  i added the punishment he got the other day for humming and being accused of making sex noises was unjust since I am a preacher in town and he does not know those sounds.  I added since he admitted saying "$200" that further proves to me he is innocent on the sex noises charge that he denied.  i added that when he first did not call me back and since the staff had laughed and mocked me in front of my little girl i was beginning to think they were going to cast me aside.  he said no.  I will call the school today.  he asked that I give him time.  I told him that i would.

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