Talk to the press, get kicked out of school
Teen suspended after discussing racial tension at Blount school
Updated 29 April, 2004: Expulsion hearing results in early return to school. Details at bottom of post.
William Blount High School in the Blount County School District was locked down earlier this month when administrators found a hit list and a wall covered with racial graffiti. Last week Bridget O’Neill, a junior, was interviewed by News6 about the racial tension at the school. During the interview she told the station that she had seen one of her classmates make a racial sign. The school retaliated by suspending her for “disrupting the classroom and providing false information about the sign”.
Her parents say the next morning [after the interview], the principal [Christy Martin] pulled Bridget into the office demanding to know why she talked to the media and who made the sign.
“She was screaming at her she was stupid,” says Bridget’s mother, Diane O’Neill. “They threatened to expel her for the rest of the year because she wouldn’t give the name. Then she threatened to call the police. And she was like, ‘why?’ She said, ‘Well, I’m going to have you arrested for standing in the way of justice.’”
Bridget faces an expulsion hearing this Thursday.
School Administration:
Director of Schools Alvin Hord
Assistant Director of Schools David Cook
Blount County School Board:
Chris Cantrell
John Davis
Charles Finley
Don McNelly
William Miller
Donald L.Talbott
Mike Treadway
UPDATED 29 April, 2004
Girl’s Warning Gets Her Suspended
Not only did they not expel her, they allowed Bridget to return to school early (she served 9 days of suspension instead of 10).
School officials relented at a disciplinary hearing on Thursday  nine days after she was suspended  and decided to allow her to return to class. O’Neill said she’s behind in her school work but she’ll be allowed to make it up.
She’s hoping, however, that her parents will move her to another school, she said.
Her suspension and discipline hearing were ostensibly for “disruption of class”. Administrators received several calls from parents after the interview aired and this was disruptive.
“They said they had two or three students and two or three parents come in there,” O’Neill said. “But kids have been going in and out since the hit list came out and discussing it and how scared everyone was. So I didn’t do any thing more. I just told the truth on the news.
“It’s freedom of speech and I’m sorry I disrupted class but it was after class and I still stand for what I said,” she said.
I wonder if O’Neill’s problems with the school administration come from her very un-PC view that racism is a multi-racial problem that will require a multi-racial solution.
“I think there are more issues with the people and it’s not just the rednecks,” she said. “It’s African-Americans doing it, Latinos, Mexicans, Yankees were all doing it. They should focus more on the fights that have been happening in the past year and stop focusing on the little things.”
“From what I’ve heard so far today by being at the school, there were gestures written on the wall that said, ‘All n*****s die on April 13th’ and there was a hit list that was written underneath that.”
the principal pulled Bridget into the office demanding to know why she talked to the media and who made the sign.
…
Then she threatened to call the police. And she was like, ‘why?’
was the principal concerned because she talked to the new or for not reporting the person who made the sign? It sounds like she should have let the police handle this one.
I don’t understand. Why was the kid suspended?
For disrupting school. Saying things to the press about your school is apparently very disruptive.
Wow! From the background in the picture of Bridget, this school really does look like a prison - barbed wire and everything!
The school has a huge liability issue when this happens. I believe the friend of the last school shooting is still in federal prison for exchanging emails and not reporting him. The school has an owness to report threats to authorities. You’d think advertising it on TV might have been considered a report, but really it’s the police who are responsible to pursue that if they believe it’s a credible threat.
Ah, yes, the budding fascists who control schools.
I’m betting the school was more concerned about its reputation than about what the girl saw. Of course, they resorted to ham-fisted threats to try to get what they wanted.
Clearly this school is behind the times. They should have offered a “reward” to this young lady in return for ratting out her friend, like they do in that Georgia school district that made the headlines last month.
Seriouly, with all the time and money that is spent on in-service for teachers and administrators why can’t they spend a little time on how to act and react in situations like this. While kids doing dumb things is common and has been going on for at least as long as there have been kids, the ways adults are handling them just seems to be getting worse and worse.
Silly me, I thought the “reward” program was limited to that one Georgia district. According to an article in Skye (link below) “About 2,000 schools and colleges across the US have adopted so-called Student Crime Stopper programmes.”
(http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91059-13335991,00.html)
As a part-time employee of Blount County Schools and a graduate from William Blount High School, I feel that Dr. Martin handled the situation well. The reports in papers and journals do not tell the full truth, and while I’m not at liberty to disclose full details, I can clear up a few. In regards to the reward comment, there have been several rewards. The sheriff’s department offered a $500 reward for information regarding the hit list and a former WB alum posted another $500 on to that. That makes $1000 for any type of information about the hit list. Bridget mearly had to say what she knew and she would have probably received it.
Secondly, Bridget was not suspended because she talked to the media. I can not say the real reason, but know that WB is not imposing on students’ first amendment rights.
Further investigation of the goings-on at William Blount would lead you all to know that the authorities were brought in. There were approximately 50 deputies at the school with metal wand detectors prior to Bridget’s comment.
William Blount is an extremely safe school. It is not controlled by “fascists.” It is because of such actions taken by the administration that William Blount is even operating. When I was a student, I never felt unsafe. The administration and faculty are wonderful, and sometimes the good things that happen at William Blount are overshadowed by the bad.
And yet again, a local resident and school employee comes forth to defend tyrannical conduct on the basis of “double secret” evidence that they refuse to share. Smells rotten to me.
Sorry, Amber, but that dog don’t hunt. The news article mentioned that a letter was sent home saying that she was disruptive and for giving false information. So we already KNOW that the school is denying it’s about the interview. If you cannot give evidence contrary to the news article, do you think we’re just going to take your word for it? Hello? You work for the school! Of course you want us to think everything’s peachy-keen!
The article doesn’t say that Bridget was wanting reward money, by the way, so I don’t understand your comment about that, other than that you took Bumper’s comment literally instead of detecting the sarcasm. His comment is based on an earlier post on this blog about schools paying kids to rat out their classmates.
Those of us that have read the news articles are aware that there were deputies involved. Does that give the principal the right to intimidate and suspend a student? I’m glad that you feel safe at your job; students and staff have that right. But students’ First Amendment rights should not be trampled on to achieve that. “A society (in your case, your school administration)that will trade a little liberty for a little order will deserve neither and lose both. ” (paraphrased Ben Franklin).
On a side note: Tucson Unified School District also provides rewards for information leading to…. well leading to whatever I’ll never understand. For example, when the Vice Principal’s motorcycle was knocked over in the parking lot, a reward was offered for information leading to an arrest. After the VP had a lead he stated that he would get a couple thousand dollars for repairs and then not press charges (great guy huh?). Amazingly this same administrator failed to act when a male student repeatedly spit on a female classmate (it’s a ZERO tolerance district and the example for assault in the guidelines is spitting). Sorry for the rant but that kind of crap bugs the hell out me and there is nothing that can be done - no one (administrators) cares what happens in the school b/c most of the kids are ESL students.
This is a copy of the email I just sent to the school administration and board of Blount…
I am appalled that this young woman who simply exercised her “right” to free speech was treated in this manner.
The school board and Principal can say what ever they like, but Bridget was suspended because she made the school, and those that run, it look bad… plain and simple. What she said to the press is “protected” by the Constitution. It was said away from school grounds. it was said on her own personal time, not time that she should have been in school.
It was also apparently the truth. Are we to punish our children for being honest now? That’s not how I was brought up.
If Bridget were my daughter, there would be some serious litigation going on right now, especially for the threats to have her arrested. That was inexcusable.
If you’d care to try and alter my opinion, I’m perfectly willing to listen to any reply any of you would care to make.
Sincerely,
Mark Dickinson
Pottstown, PA.
Even before finding Amber’s comments via Google,
I had a strong opinion about what was happening at Blount. The school is being savvy about liability issues, most likely, but it seems obvious to anyone with knowledge of these kind of incidents that the possibility of the “minorities” named on the hit list have generated the incident themselves. If this possibility isn’t being investigated, then the school is nuts. Certainly the media won’t bring up the possibility- it would violate their sacred code, and might weaken their case that every white male (and most females) are haters.
Most of these bias incidents usually follow the same theme, and this one at least seems to be headed that way. Could be wrong, but my strong feeling is that the school already knows or suspects that the targeted “minorities” created the incident themselves, and that the suspended student was lying about her knowledge either due to some misguided white guilt/equality fixation or because of a need for attention. The school would have already stated exactly why she was suspended if this was not the case.
Here’s one recent example (of many):
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050426trinity,1,3102007.story?coll=chi-news-hed
-and the hysterical hand-wringing that preceded the confession:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/mitchell/cst-nws-mitch24.html
My apologies, as this is my first time posting anything on this site, so I’m not sure of all the protocol for posting new incidents. My post does not relate to this particular incident, but the URL below references a Yahoo story that is worthy of this site. You would think the administrators would at least check to make sure there was a real threat before calling police and locking down the school.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/burrito_lockdown
Actually, b8hoven, seeing as how they didn’t arrest the person or actually apply any sort of ZT policy, I’d say they did exactly what they should have…other than putting everyone in one convenient location if there actually were a weapon.
I’m still struggling with the First Amendment issue here — is it my understanding that Blount County School District is claiming jurisdiction over any discussion of schools and school issues by students in any place and at any time, with the full right to censor or censure studen comments?
That seems to raise the issue of when and where school authority ends, as well as the issue (I thought settled by Tinker) of student rights under the Bill of Rights. It seems that not only does this district believe that students surrender their liberties at the schoolhouse gate, but that they permanently surrendered them the day they were enrolled in a district school.
It seems that not only does this district believe that students surrender their liberties at the schoolhouse gate, but that they permanently surrendered them the day they were enrolled in a district school.
Yes they are saying exactly that. It doesn’t matter if parents, teachers and students all think it’s awful, because they are under political pressue to produce the correct numbers. There is no competency checkpoint. It is the obligation of the individual to fight for their rights. Every individual must have a lawyer stand up to city hall if they want a public education for their kids. The fact the schools have a big budget and control most of the lawyers in the area allows them to attack anyone who gets in their way. It’s a percentage game, you can target part of any population and no one will question authority… in fact they will nearly alway help.
I know parents who regularly check with the schools before allowing their child to associate with someone at the school. It works as well for attacking teachers as it does for students too. The administrators job is focusing on the numbers. It works because people trust an authority that is working for the majority of the people and most people don’t have the resources to resist.
what in gods name is wrong with this school
I mwan WTF. poor girl
Hey I went to that School its hard ok . Leave the girl alone . Martin is a Bitch any way