ZeroIntelligence.net

Hypocrisy.

As defined by dictionary.com, hypocrisy is a “pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess.” That word has surfaced, yet again, as the first vocabulary word for the new school year in South Florida.

New Florida Teachers Website
As the first day of school was the headline news of the day, The Florida Department of Education, the State School Board if you will, unceremoniously put a new piece of it’s website online. The Board decided in July to publicly post its Disciplinary Actions Taken on Educators and their licenses. The local paper reported a week earlier that this website was coming and will be posted on the first day of school. That was the last you heard from the local papers. Why? Because the elected hypocrites have the media in South Florida in their pockets. Controlled like puppets.

To see the list for yourself, go to myfloridateacher.com. It’s a catchy name, although I certainly would not be quick to admit any of these “teachers” were mine. Simply click the search button and you will be provided the entire state list and plenty of water cooler talk for months to come.

Those Crazy Teachers
Welfare fraud, accessing pornographic websites on school computers, child abuse and neglect, and plenty of grand theft charges will have your mouth dropping. DUI’s and drug possession are commonplace, some with multiple counts of DUI. The majority of “Final Orders” are simply letters of reprimand and various, small fines. There is no consistency within these Final Orders. The Final Order on the same complaint of “possession of marijuana” can range from revocation to a letter of reprimand.

Where’s the Zero Tolerance Now?
How does this affect zero tolerance rules in our schools? Parents whose children have been excessively or unfairly punished by local School Boards may need to take an extra blood pressure pill before perusing this list. Back in March, 2005 we published an article about Lynn Deering, a high school anatomy teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, Florida. The “incident” involved an 11 inch knife and the “stabbing” of a stack of papers on a student’s desk. We all have common sense.

Common sense tells us that this individual has no right to be in charge of children - especially when those children are teenagers. If a child in that classroom had committed the very same act, he would have been escorted out in handcuffs and splashed all over page one in the papers. Right? Well, wasn’t that what happened to Deering?

Slapping the Wrist
Actually, no. The complaint was “Reckless Display of a Weapon” and “Inappropriate Conduct with Students“. The disposition (or Final Order) on this case was just decided on 7/31/07 - two years later. I hope you’re sitting down, the final order was a Letter of Reprimand and a $250.00 fine! Move on, pay your fine over there, next in line please.

Fair? Certainly not. Next question? Was this Deering charged by local law enforcement? Continuing research of the public records in Broward County has turned up nothing in the court system as yet. If I ever find a case I will certainly share with all but I do not believe that will happen. Was this Deering fired? Don’t know. But if this had been a student, one can bet the parents would still be paying enormous legal fees as the case winds its way through the justice system.

Just remember your word for the day: hypocrisy.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a clearer example of “Zero tolerance equals zero intelligence” than a recent article in the Gulf Breeze News.

A female student was expelled for bringing prescription drugs to school and giving them to another student. (The mother has claimed she finally succumbed to sustained peer pressure from the other girl.) If that was that, I’d have to agree punishment is deserved. Her mother didn’t want to see her daughter sent to the alternative school, so chose to tackle the disciplinary effort herself and appeal to the school board to allow her efforts to replace the standard punishment.

The mother required her daughter to research the dangers around the abuse of prescription drugs and put together a program that could be used to teach other children on the subject. Having completed this work, managed voluntarily by the mother, she requested her daughter be readmitted to her regular school. She further offered to put her daughter through any kind of drug program or other summer school program if this could happen.

School board? No dice.

Superintendent of Schools John Rogers admitted it was great what the mother had done, but fell back on the precedent of previous punishments meted out for similar offenses. He said to the mother, “How would we explain to them, if we made an exception here, why they have to go there and your daughter does not?”

I have an idea. Rogers could say something like, “Her mother took an active interest in her subsequent discipline and worked with her through a community service effort designed to directly counter the problem at no expense to taxpayers. Perhaps you could do the same and return to your regular school.”

School Board Chair Hugh Winkles said, “When it comes to weapons and drugs, we cannot do anything less than zero tolerance. We have drawn this line in the sand, and we cannot change it now.”

My interpretation: “We had a thought and we are disinclined to entertain a different one. We must instead stick to this one and only way of handling things.” I sure wish Winkles would go on record in opposition to the ever-changing ways schools seem to use in teaching arithmetic. None of the techniques used when I was a child apply anymore and it seems each of my three children has been taught differently.

Two other school board members asked to see the program, anticipating incorporating some or all it into next year’s curriculum. How many other students sent off to an alternative high school have supplied such a tool? And how many more parents will bother to attempt alternative and highly educational discipline of their own children after understanding how little good it will do them directly?

Girl arrested for butter knife in backpack

An 11-year-old sixth-grade student at Fox Chapel Middle School in the Hernando County School District was suspended for 10 days when a butter knife was discovered in her backpack. She was also handcuffed and arrested for third degree weapon possession.

“She’s, like, “I don’t get it,”‘ the mother said of her daughter. “Why am I getting in trouble for this?”‘

Here’s why, said Deputy Donna Black, spokeswoman for the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office: “For bringing weapons onto school property, there is zero tolerance. It’s been that way for years. And this is not just here. That’s nationwide.”

According to Florida law possessing any weapon on a school campus “including a razor, box cutter or knife” is a felony. Deputy Black explained that a butter knife is a knife and therefore a weapon according to law.

School officials do not seem keen on discussing the matter.

The county’s schools were closed Monday because of Hurricane Wilma. But when reached at his home Monday morning, Dave Schoelles, the principal at Fox Chapel, said he was out of town last week and didn’t know the particulars.

“I’m not going to have any comment on it,” he said.
…
Fox Chapel Parent Teacher Student Association president Sheri Noriega did not return a phone message left on Monday afternoon at her home.

Messages also were left for all five members of the School Board.

No response.

That’s par for the course. Just what could you say to defend this action?

Contact Information: (Note that these email addresses are interpreted based on the district email address guidelines. No email contact information for any administrative member is published on the district or school websites.)
Principal Wendy Tellone
School Board Chairperson Jim Malcolm
School Board Member Pat Fagan
School Board Member Comments (11)

St. Petersburg 5-year-old cuffed after school outburst

Updated 25 April 2005: Tantrum and arrest were caught on video. Details at bottom of post.

I have a serious problem with cops handcuffing little kids. It’s a great way to terrify and traumatize a kid. It works really well at instilling hatred and fear of police too. What it doesn’t do is anything at all constructive. If a trained police officer cannot restrain a small child without handcuffs then that person should not be a police officer.

A 5 year-old student at Fairmount Park Elementary School in the Pinellas County School System acted up in class. Her teacher took away her jelly beans as punishment and the little girl had a tantrum. The police were called.

The students were counting jelly beans as part of a math exercise at Fairmount Park Elementary School when the little girl began acting silly. That’s when her teacher took away her jelly beans, outraging the child.

Minutes later, the 40-pound girl was in the back of a police cruiser, under arrest for battery. Her hands were bound with plastic ties, her ankles in handcuffs.

(more…)

7th-Grader Suspended After Hit List Found Online
4th-Grader Suspended For Having Hit List

Two young students at different schools in the Miami-Dade School System were recently suspended for having hit lists. They had several things in common: they were not serious about threatening anybody, they were the victims of bullies and they never actually did anything threatening or violent.

On the 7th grader:

A student at Southwood Middle School in southwest Miami-Dade County was arrested after being accused of posting a hit list online.
…
“We moved immediately to suspend the student and take him out of the school and moved to have him expelled. We are proceeding with the expulsion and cooperating with the police, who are investigating,” Joseph Garcia, of Miami-Dade Public Schools, said.

Students describe the boy accused of writing the hit list as a gifted, intelligent seventh-grader who has been picked on in the past.

(more…)

C. Fla. 8th-grader faces expulsion for ‘kill list’

An eighth grade student at Teague Middle School in the Seminole County Public Schools was getting picked on. He made a list in his journal titled “Kill List” and put the names of his thirteen tormentors on it. Months later the list was forgotten and he was friends with some of the kids.

The names were found when the assistant principal confronted the boy after hearing he might have a cigarette lighter. She leafed through his journal and saw a drawing of a knife dripping blood before the list caught her attention.

The student is serving a 10-day suspension, and school officials are recommending expulsion.

(more…)

Broward Officials Investigate Alleged Knife Incident

Zero Tolerance is a system to be on students only, as evidenced by this incredible tale from Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in the Broward County School System. Lynn Deering, an anatomy and physiology instructor, stabbed a student’s desk with a pocketknife.

The students told school administrators that Deering showed them a knife during Wednesday’s class and then plunged it into a stack of papers on a student’s desk.

Donzelli says they don’t have all the specifics but that they’ve determined Deering may not have used the knife appropriately.

(more…)

School Officials Ban Photo Of Female Student Wearing Tuxedo
Decision To Bar Picture Of Student In Tuxedo Stands
Mother To Appeal Senior Picture Decision

Principal Sam Ward of Fleming Island High School in the Clay County School District decided that Kelli Davis’s yearbook picture would not be permitted. The openly lesbian student wore a tuxedo for the photo instead of the approved female drape. Keri Sewell, a senior and student editor for the yearbook, was fired for objecting to the removal of the picture.

The county school board and its superintendent backed the decision, which was debated at a Thursday night School Board meeting attended by about 200 people.
…
School officials have maintained that sexual preference is not the issue, it is gender. They said since Davis did not follow the rules on dress, she will not be in the yearbook.

Bruce Bickner, an attorney representing the School Board, said there is no written dress code for senior pictures, but also said the district gives principals the authority to set standards.

Kelli’s picture will still appear in the yearbook. Her mother bought a two page spread in the book for around $1000 and the tuxedo photo will appear there.

(Tip credit to Huebner and Delusional Duck)

Indian River school board won’t suspend teacher for slapping student

Katherine Cairns, an art teacher at Vero Beach High School in the School District of Indian River County, had an encounter with a willful student. The girl screamed at her when Cairns was trying to restore order in the bathroom and Cairns slapped the girl in the face. Schools Superintendent Tom Maher recommended a ten day unpaid suspension for striking a student. The School Board voted 3-2 to ignore the recommendation. Why?

Board member Kathryn Wilson said she was concerned about the students in Cairns’ class not being able to get work done because of the suspension. She said she wanted to see Cairns back in the classroom.

(more…)

Florida boy accused of assault with rubber band

Updated 24 February 2005: School district and school contact information corrected. Thanks to Jim Taranto for catching the error.

Robert Gomez, a 7th grade student at Liberty Middle School in the Orange County School District, found a rubber band and put it on his wrist. When his teacher demanded its surrender he tossed it onto her desk. He was suspended for 10 days and now faces expulsion for threatening the teacher with a weapon.

“They said if he would have aimed it a little more and he would have gotten it closer to her face he would have hit her in the eye,” mother Jenette Rojas said.

Rojas said she was shocked to learn that her son was being punished for a Level 4 offense — the highest Level at the school. Other violations that also receive level 4 punishment include arson, assault and battery, bomb threats and explosives, according to the Code of Student Conduct.

The district said a Level 4 offense includes the use of any object or instrument used to make a threat or inflict harm, including a rubber band.

(more…)