While Texas legislators work against ZT, Houston schools enact more ZT policies
Proposal could make it easier to expel HISD students
Texas recently celebrated a legal victory against zero tolerance policies. Legislation signed into law gave school boards explicit ability to review cases on a merit basis instead of using a look-up table of mandatory punishments. Many school systems immediately moved to take advantage of this to update their due process procedures and revise their codes of conduct. Signs that pointed to the Houston Independent School District taking the same path were apparently false as the district is instead implementing new zero tolerance policies.
Simply put, it makes it simpler to expel students.
Before all the students within the Houston Independent School District walk the hallways again, HISD wants a new, tougher conduct code in place.
“And we’ll continue to make the code of student conduct tougher when we find the need to do that,” said Terry Abbott, HISD spokesman.
There are three new zero tolerance policies going into effect. Any student who creates a “hit list”, recruits a “gang member” or engages in “high tech cheating” will be automatically expelled. Scare quotes are used around each of those terms because they are genuinely scary. The terms are not defined so they will apply or not as administrators choose.
Contact Information:
School Board President Dianne Johnson
School Board general delivery
So, “high tech cheating” will get you expelled, but “regular cheating” won’t?
And, of course, the ubiquitous “we’ll use terms and not define them” course of action.
“Hit list” == “top 10 songs this week”?
“Recruit a ‘Gang member’” == “want to join the scouts”?
Say, theres always a bunch of fundamentalists handing out pamphlets at school. I wonder if that’s gang activity…
*gasp*
what about the honor roll!
Well now that ZT is illegal in Texas, this won’t stand. Someone will sue and the new rules will be thrown out.
The funny thing about these zero tolerance policies is the people who implement them actually beleive that it deters all the behaviors they are putting them in place for. Most kids who are going to do something stupid (as we all did when were teens) don’t think about the consequences until it is too late. That’s why it is our responsiblity to give appropriate punishments for the “infraction” committed and not throw them out of the school for the first mistake they make. There needs to be a consequence, but they don’t need to be thrown out of the school system like a piece of dirt.) This has to stop. We will find ourselves living in our communities with a bunch of uneducated and unmotivated citizen’s that get into more trouble and live on welfare beacause they have no skills or education to get a job. We just toss the responsibility from the teachers and administrators of the school system and put it on the community. Active parent involvement in the punishment process with the school would go a long way in most cases too. It is important for the student to see that the parents and the school look down on the behavior and are working together to establish the appropriate consequences and the support to help change the behavior. Throwing them out of the school hurts all of us and helps no body……..
Deb