Janesville surges off the line with five more expulsions
Janesville School Board votes to expel five students
Last year Janesville had a strong finish, wrapping up the season with an eight expulsion performance. They’ve held the momentum through the off season and their stunning five expulsion return on the 18th brings their annual tally to seven. At this point last season they had managed only a single expulsion.
The students were accused of:
– Going to Parker High School with the intention of starting a fight. This student was expelled through his or her 21st birthday.
…
– Going to Parker High School to incite a fight and possessing a baseball bat on school grounds. She or he was expelled through the end of the 2006-07 school year– Fighting and repeatedly refusing or neglecting to obey school rules. He or she was expelled through the end of the 2007-08 school year.
– Fighting and repeatedly refusing or neglecting to obey school district rules and participating in gang activity. The student was expelled through his or her 21st birthday.
– Possessing marijuana on school grounds. She or he was expelled through the end of the 2006-07 school year
The Janesville school board wasted no time in pulling out their trick play; the “expelled through the 21st birthday” loophole. School systems in Wisconsin cannot, by law, permanently expel a student. Janesville strategists came up with this creative alternative of assigning a definitive term to the expulsion instead. By making that expulsion term last longer than a citizen’s eligibility to attend public school they get a permanent expulsion without calling it one. Some critics have decried these methods but league officials have consistently ruled that they are within the law. Besides, “all’s fair in love and school”, right?
Contact Information:
Superintendent Thomas Everet
Board President Nancy Sonntag*
Board Vice President Dennis Vechinsky*
Board Treasurer DuWayne Severson*
Board Clerk Steven Engelbert*
Board Commissioner Kevin Murray*
Board Commissioner Bill Sodemann*
Board Commissioner Debra Kolste*
Board Commissioner Mike Rundle*
Board Commissioner Todd Bailey*
* Email address is inferred from district email format. Published contact information is unavailable.
Jim,
I’m not sure about these cases — they may very well be warranted. I haven’t seen a single outcry from parents, with any information suggesting their kids were falsely accused or such. I know the Janesville school district has seen a recent upsurge of Hispanic students, so there could be some stereotyping involved … or maybe, it really is a bunch of troublemakers.
Janesville schools seem to go out of their way to limit explusions, with “pre-explusion” and other intervention steps. Read
http://www.gazetteextra.com/jvlskuls_discipline090105.asp
for example, and
http://www.nsba.org/site/doc_sbn.asp?TrackID=&SID=1&DID=35966&CID=1662&VID=58
about “restorative” justice. So, they don’t seem to fit the zero tolerance mold. Not sure, though, but that’s my opinion.
hmm… hard to judge, but i mean… bringing a baseball bat to school??? what if the kid was on the baseball team?!? or even, meeting some friends after school for a pickup game? that seems a little thin.
Sorry guys, but I think the school is right on these ones. It sounds to me like the authorities are trying to be pro-active in eliminating problems before there is an escalation. Congratulations to them.
If they did nothing and things exploded everyone would be complaining that they didn’t act when they should have done something.
I’d be willing to bet these folks have been in fights repeatedly, it sounds like they were coming to school as a gang to fight.
I’m behind the school on the explusions but don’t like the end play of age 21. Maybe not for these guys but some others could be really zapped by this.
This looks legit. These look like the hard cases who are wrecking our educational system.
Looks like the authorities stopped a gang rumble.
Yup, I’m going along with the legit crowd here.
From the little we know, these folks are disruptive, violent bullies spoiling for a fight. Dollars to teachers’ lounge donuts most everybody at their school breathed a sigh of relief that they’re gone.
I’d say they’ve been clever about getting around a needless limit. Permanent expulsion should be an option.