Seven of 10 Teachers Quit Mo. School (link is dead)
Penalty leads to rockslide of protest
Christa Price was fired from East Lynne School District in Cass County. She had objected to the punishment applied to an 11-year-old student. When her objections were rebuffed she helped the child complete her punishment. She lost her job for this insubordination.
The fourth-grader in the East Lynne School District in Cass County was assigned the task last September for refusing to do her schoolwork, but she was unsupervised except for a security camera. The playground was near a road but inside a fence.
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At contract time in March, Superintendent Dan Doerhoff recommended firing Price, a popular teacher who had had good performance evaluations, for insubordination. Seven other teachers then chose not to return their contracts.
“If a teacher who advocates on behalf of safety of a student is not fit to be a teacher at East Lynne or anywhere in Missouri according to this administration, then none of us are fit to teach at East Lynne,” the teachers who resigned said Tuesday in a statement.
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First Grader Punished for Bag of Dirt
Updated 16 February, 2005: Follow-up article from Heartland News includes quotes from police, school leaders. Details at bottom of post.
6-year-old Michaela Boyd, a student at Matthews Elementary School in the Sikeston School District, received two days in-school detention for giving a friend a bag full of dirt.
After finding the bag much like the one disposable utensils come in, Michaela says she decided to make her friend a bag of goodies, “They said what did you make this out of. and what did you tell them. I said out of dirt. And what else. I made it with rocks, clover and dirt.”
Her mom, Michele, says after Michaela put the mixture into the bag, she tied the top with a purple ponytail holder and gave it to her friend saying,”here’s a bag of dirt.”
After recess her friend gave the bag to her teacher. School administration determined that the bag of dirt and rocks was a look-alike drug simulating marijuana. They then sentenced Michaela to in-school detention under their anti-drug policy.
Heartland News spoke with superintendent Stephen Borgsmiller about what happened here on the playground last Tuesday and he says while he can not comment on this particular case given the childs age. He did tell me that after gathering all the information an assessment was made and now they are moving on.
Michaela will be moving on as well, with the drug infraction entered in her student record.
Additional contact information: Principal Marisa Bowen
(Tip credit to Joanne Jacobs)
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Child Suspended After Finding Toy Gun At Bus Stop
10-year-old Frasier McCart found a gun at his bus stop. He thought it was real so he hid it in his backpack so nobody would get hurt. He planned on turning it over to his principal at Oakwood Manor Elementary School.
“I was thinking, ‘I’ll give it to the principal, she’ll know what to do,’” Frasier said.
“It did look like a real gun,” Principal Marla Wasserman said.
She said the boy had good intentions, but while making his way through the hallway to her office, he told another student what he had in his backpack. Wasserman said the boy should not have told another student. She then suspended him.
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ACLU Sues Missouri High School for Censoring Gay Student
16-year-old Brad Mathewson has been punished twice for wearing shirts with a pro-gay message. Anti-gay messages are allowed at the school.
Mathewson was disciplined twice in October by Webb City High School officials for wearing t-shirts supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, and was later suspended after school officials refused to meet with his mother without the Mathewsons� attorney present. Although Mathewson had worn one of the shirts to school at least six times before without incident, Principal Stephen P. Gollhofer now claims he was concerned the t-shirts might offend other students. Students with opposing beliefs on the same issues are allowed to express their views, as anti-gay t-shirts and bumperstickers are common in the hallways at Webb City High School.
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Female Student Accused of Writing Hit List - Indiana. A freshman at West Vigo High School is accused of making a hit list with over 40 names on it. She will likely be expelled.
Middletown Student Discovered With A “Hit List” - Ohio. A student at Middletown High School made a hit list and it was discovered by another student. He was immediately removed from the school property and suspended. He faces expulsion and criminal charges.
Channelview “hit list” student pleads guilty - Texas. Channelview High School junior Christopher Hayes made a list. He was suspended and charged with several counts including making a terrorist threat. He plead guilty and was fined $300 and sentenced to two years of probation.
Lely student on probation after plea agreement - Florida. Elwood June and two other Lely High School students were accused of plotting an attack on their school. Elwood had a hit list. The boys were expelled and faced felony criminal charges. Elwood is on probation until he turns 19 and will be performing 100 hours of community service.
Joplin student removed from school for making ‘hit list’ - Missouri. A 14 year old girl at Joplin High School made a list with 16 people on it. She’s in police custody.
‘Hit list’ turns up at school - California. Two boys, 17 and 16 years old, made a list. They are being held at Riverside County Juvenile Hall, charged with felonies.
Two students expelled for creating ‘hit list’ - Michigan. Three boys were involved in this list. Two were expelled. The other is a special needs student so will have punishment fitting the convoluted laws involved there.
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Family Kicked Out of Graduation for Cheering
Clapping and whistling got Brandon Sample’s family (including his mother, father, aunts, and even his 86-year-old grandmother) kicked out of his graduation ceremony. Grandview High School had a strict dress and behavior code for the ceremony and they had the police there to enforce it.
On home video, a police officer said, “You’ve got to leave.”
A woman said, “This is a celebration, sir.”
The police officer said: “I know. The school didn’t want you, them doing that. You don’t leave, you go to jail. You understand that?”
It was all over this short burst of celebration.
“We were proud. It was one those where it was like the proudest moment in your life, and so we cheered. It was just a cheer, and then we were quiet,” said Joy Sample.
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